I read A Thousand Splendid Suns (second novel) before The Kite Runner (first novel). A Thousand Splendid Suns has a female protagonist who depict a story of two women separated by a generation, brought together by war, fate and family. The Kite Runner on the other hand has a male protagonist who depicts the story of two brothers and the way their life is shaped by family, culture, war and customs. The book is very well written, you can pretty much “live" the characters - though the ending could have been shorter and apt. The book ends with not necessary a happy note but certainly with full of hope. The book describes the protagonist life in the California bay area; as I lived there for some period of time; it was interesting (for me) to see how the author portrays the region. Overall, it’s a good read.
Favorite quotes:
“There is a way to be good again.”
“For you, a thousand times over.”
“If America taught me anything, it’s that quitting is right up there with pissing in the Girl Scouts’ lemonade jar.”
“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the Volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the Off button. Shutting it down. All of it.”
“Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors.”
“A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.”
“They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.”
"it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place."
"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything"
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
"Time can be a greedy thing-sometimes it steals the details for itself."
"People say that eyes are windows to the soul."
“lifting him (a young boy, protagonist’s nephew) from the certainty of turmoil (Afghanistan) and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty (United States)”
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