~ A Thousand Splendid Suns ~

Kinda didn't expect to get so immersed into this book.

I mean the books I read are all science fiction or fantasy. I didn't really expect to be so caught up in these sort of half-real half-fictional book. I'm not entirely sure how true the situation is in Afghanistan, but if it is as it is in the book, I kinda underestimated the situation there.

The title comes from this poem titled "Kabul", by the 17th-century Persian poet Saib-e-Tabrizim, this is the specific line:

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

I think it's talking about the beauty of Kabul... I'm not very poetic, but that's what I get from the line.

Anyway, the book is a very good read, considering that I could finish it in a relatively short amount of time. What I find powerful about the book is that it kinda crushes you with all the bad and sorrowful things that happens to Mariam and Laila, and then it crushes you some more. I was almost heartbroken around the end of part three. But the nice thing is that the book shows that no matter how heartbroken you can get, there's always something worth celebrating in life, no matter how small.

Ultimately, I do really love this book. I don't say I like many non-scifi or fantasy books that much, so this is saying something. ^^

Also loved the ending. I'm a sucker for referential endings. XD

So this does make me wanna read Khaled Hosseini's first book, "The Kite Runner", but then as I've seen this: "Just in case you're wondering whether Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The Kite Runner, here's the answer: No. It's better."

So issit worth it to read a book that is not better than the book I've just read? XD

Still, the other thing is that "The Kite Runner" is already a movie, so maybe I might as well just catch that movie and be done with it. It would be nice to see "A Thousand Splendid Suns" made into a movie too though. Which, looks likely to happen. Haha.

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On a different note, I went out to have steamboat and drinks with my friends. It was fun, relatively, but I did control my drinking as for one, I did not want to get rashes all over me as I did last time and another, I don't really wanna handle the headache that I had last time.

Although it still seems I will be getting some rashes. My right hand already feels numb as it is. Seems like I can't really take alcohol, or maybe I'm just not really used to it. Not sure I really wanna 'get used to it' though. ^^