A thousand splendid suns

Finish this idea: “I love the way the author…” Be complete and give examples to support your opinion.

I love the way the author builds up the tension in the story. He has a fantastic narrative technique within he creates an atmosphere, that reflects the feelings and moods of the main characters and the whole afghan society during the time the story is set. He makes you feel the way they are feeling, makes you feel their hopes and their fears. And the description of the two main characters emotional life detailed and extended.

There is no specifically description of how the author succeeds making you smile, or making yours eyes fill with tears. The feelings appear in a abstract way, created by a fantastic metaphorical and emotional language, like this quote that expresses Mariam's desire for her father; “When it was time for Jalil to leave, Mariam always stood in the doorway and watched him exit the clearing, deflated at the thought of the week that stood, like an immense, immovable object, between her and his next visit. Mariam always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds . She pretended that for each second that she didn’t breath, God would grant her another day with Jalil.”

Often histories that tells you a story in more than one perspective easily can become a bit muddled and kind of hard to follow, but in this book it does nothing more than enrich the story. By this the author gives hunches of what will happen to one or the other of the two main characters, often through the other persons perspective. “Mariam signed her name – the meem, the reh, the ya and the meem again – conscious of all eyes on her hand. The next time Mariam signed her name to a document, twenty-seven years later, a mullah would again be present. “You are now husband and wife,” the mullah said. “Tabreek. Congratulations.” This quote does not only show how the author reveals a future happening, it also gives us an example how he uses the Arabian language, by taking some words and put in the conversation. This makes you aware of where you are, in what culture the story is set.   

The whole story is melancholy, and the feelings that you experience is enhanced by the fact that everything you want to happen, almost never happens. And everything you do not want to happen happens. Still, you can not predict what will happen.

Finally, I can say – if you want a good story, told in a fantastic way – you should read Khaled Hosseini’s “A thousand splendid suns”