The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini’s first novel. The story set in the Afghanistan of the early 70’s and today, about Amir and Hassan, best friends who grew up together and live in Kabul. They are as close as brothers. One day there is a local kite-fighting competition, Amir is determined to win to get Baba (his father)’s approval and with the help of Hassan he is even able to achieve it. What happens after the event change their friendship, the course of their lives changing as they try to deal with the repercussions of a single day.
Amir’s and Hassan’s story was so appealling, powerful and beautiful at the same time. It left me completely broken. Pardon me if my review sounds illogical. I found my eyes wet sometimes while turning some pages. This book was brutally heartbreaking, but redemptive. It’s relatively easy to read. This is a fiction book that has a historical background. This book highlights vividly the hardships of Afgahnistan and give a view of the world which most readers have never been exposed to and it is worth reading. The only problem is several 'twists' are just too coincidental.
My Name is Red is one of Orhan Pamuk’s most famous novel and will be the one he is most remembered for. Set in the 16th century Ottoman empire, four miniaturist painters (Elegant, Butterfly, Olive, and Stork) and Enishte Effendi (the person in charge of the manuscript) find themselves caught in a cauldron of envy and suspicion, to the extent that Elegant get murdered. It won’t be the only murder of course! Who among the painters is the murderer? Then there are some parts of love story betwen Black and Shekure, part of meditation on Islamic art, the cultural clash between the East and the West.
This book deserves the reader’s full attention (it wasn’t light reading). The story is narrated through many points of view. Not only the humans, Pamuk also gives voice to a corpse, a gold coin and even a dog. You should push through the first hundred pages if you find yourself not liking it and you would be amazed. Yet, this book is a piece of art in itself. It is deeply rich in history and culture. It also gives you deep insight and represent the intricate details in such a beautiful way.
Persepolis is graphic novel that serves as an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi (the author). This was my first time reading a graphic novel. This is just such an amazing book I'll joyfully approach more in the future. Persepolis emphasized the struggles that the Iranian have had to go through. Marjane Satrapi vividly portrayed of what it is like to be a woman in Iran during this time of political and cultural shift. The changes in their culture, the forming of an Islamic Revolution and its consequences.
Through Marji's thoughts and eyes, we see the rise of the Islamic Revolution and how it affects both the public and private life of her family. However, I found her rude sometimes. It could have been something she just had to go through. We can see her rebel in her own ways- fighting for freedom and modernisation, her daydreams, her daily life and struggles, through family turmoil and her own identity through religion and it's governed customs. Hence, I guess y’all will enjoy the story. And, you will definitely learn something new!
This book is essentially unfolds two parallel storylines. The main storyline involves Ella, and the second storyline reconstructs the historical story of a 13th century poet, Jalal ad-Din Rumi and his spiritual advisor, Shams-i-Tabrizi. This book presents Shams’ Forty Love Rules and explains how he transformed a fame and prestige scholar into a sufi through love. Meanwhile, the main character in our present time, an American Jewish editor, Ella Rubinstein is reading the story of Rumi and Shams through a book called ‘Sweet Blasphemy’, which is written by Aziz Z. Zahara. Ella is going through a midlife crisis in her 40. Then, she eventually falls in love with Aziz after a series of correspondence through email. And the story continues to tell what happened to their relationship. They got engaged in a forbidden relationship that seem romantic, but I am at the same time feel irritated!
However,
I adore Elif Shafak’s knowledge of politics, culture, and her lively eloquence. The writing was so smooth and I loved so many perspectives,
so many POVs, and the way she explained everything in such simple words.
This book feels like a sweet and warm coffee chocolate in the morning (ps i dont drink coffee😅).
The story in this book is told from the perspective of the two women named Mariam and Laila in Afghanistan from the time of the war. Mariam is an illegitimate daughter who lives a pitiful life with her mother, while Laila is born in a loving family. They live separate lives until an awful fate brings them together. The characters in this book are fictional but their life stories are really tragic and I felt sad for the whole day while reading this. The rules in their society restrict the freedom of the women. Hence, it makes me grateful for the life I am living. This book stretches over decades and talks about Afghanistan’s neverending war history (the revolutions, Soviet invasion, the Taliban) and time after that. It shows me how the war destroyed lives of so many innocent people which were forced to seek shelter to different countries, or the loss of everything they love in an instant.
I really enjoy Khaled Housseini’s transportive narrative, he also makes it easy to picture the areas of Afghanistan and the culture. The plot was amazing, yet I was a bit weary of attempting this book. This book left an indelible impression on me.
Set in 20th century Egypt, Woman at Point Zero recounts the life story of Firdaus, as told on the eve of her execution to a prison doctor. Firdaus story is definitely one of those stories that need to be read. A woman faced with the ugly side of life ever since she was a child. After escaping from an awful marriage, Firdaus was forced into prostitution, but later discovers that it's in fact preferable to being a wife or an office worker. It’s the only way she can gain the freedom and comfort. So we can’t help but sympathize that Firdaus is driven to kill someone who tries to take away the human dignity she struggled. It's a frustrating and horrible story, from beginning to end.
Woman at Point Zero is a short book, a worth to read. This book wasn’t really my cup of tea but I’m quite enjoyed the positive message along the story. It's an examination of what patriarchy can do to impoverished women born in a third-world country, without the benefit of support from family or community.
It all starts with a bedtime story about a mythical creature ‘The Div’ who comes to the village and takes children to his fort in the mountains. One day a farmer was so heartbroken because of the loss of his son that he climbs the mountain to kill the div. After a brief battle between them, the div shows him the most beautiful place where the children all happy. The div tells the farmer that he has come to test him and he has to choose what is best for his son.
This story told by a father to his children—Abdullah and Pari on a trip from their small village to Kabul. What happens in Kabul will greatly affect these children and all who knew them for generations to come.
I did enjoy reading this book and I appreciated Khaled Hosseini’s other books a lot but it was a bit struggle finishing this one, I lost my interest somewhere in the middle. The beginning was pretty good. The story spans over 60 years, and there are too many separate sets of stories, introducing different characters, some of which had tenuous links to the main plot. The problem was he didn’t really tie all the threads together and as such it lacked focus. Despite all, you should give this book a try!
images source: bookdepository
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