Splendid Indeed

In a world with so many good books, I read for so very many reasons. This one I read because I wanted to know about Afghanistan.



I read the author's "The Kite Runner" and was deeply moved by the pathos of the city under several regimes and skirmishes. With class society and betrayal as themes, it was a dramatic book, grim and worthwhile.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is twice a illuminating to me. The author, Kahled Hosseini, has been living here in California since the 1980's but grew up on Afghanistan. He obviously has some knowledge of the situation in Kabul after he left. I was engrossed, following the political situation more clearly than I had before (I always have a hard time with straight info...a plot always seems to engage my mind more fully). There are two very different protagonists, both female. They reveal so many beautiful and terrible things about the Afghan culture as they negotiate the relationships they are confronted with. There is brutality but also loving sacriface. The burqa is both a repressive tool and a comfort. I recommend this book, although it is not for the faint of heart. I'd say his second book is the more Splendid of the two.



On to knitting: I stayed up late last night to finish my embossed leaves socks:



I still hate photographing my own feet. It is hard enough to keep the momentum when dieting...but with THAT kind of discouragment, ugh!

Tammy and I are looking to reading "The Robe" next I think. By Lloyd C. Douglas.