New to the Book Club Scene...

[dawn1862]

Hi All,
Just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner. Absolutely loved the books. Wanted to try my hand at joining an online book club.

[Andeka]

Hi ~

My friends call me Ande and I currently live in Colorado. I just finished reading the Kite Runner about a month or so ago, and absolutely loved it!! I also have A Thousand Splendid Suns but haven't started reading it yet - but now that I found this book club, I'm going to go dig it out and start reading. Can't wait ~

[Sunltcloud]

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Pakistani4life wrote:
Hello. My name is Osman and I am from Maryland. I am originally from Pakistan and lived there for about 8 years. These two books are simply amazing. While reading them I could vividly imagine all the events that took place and all the surroundings because I am from that area and so it brought back some old memories. This is my first book discussion and I am very excited to discuss ATSS.

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Hello Osman,

isn't it thrilling when you find a part of yourself and your past in a book? It can be a neighborhood, a certain food, even some familiar words; suddenly certain scenes, like short videos, come into your mind. I am from Germany and I just love to read travelogues in which people write about places I have lived at. And when I read about places I have traveled to I keep on nodding my head, saying to myself: "Yes, that's right. That's just how it is."

Funny about "Kite Runner" though. I live in the area Mr. Hosseini describes in it (after Amir and Baba move to California.) I have driven up and down the freeway he mentions and when I first came here going to the Fleamarket in San Jose was one of my favorite outings. I haven't been to the Fleamarket in years but reading the book made me want to go there and see how much it has changed - or not.

From Kite Runner: "We mapped our route - Fremont, Union City, Newark, and Hayward first, then San Jose, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, and Campbell if time permitted. Baba drove the bus, sipping hot tea from the thermos, and I navigated."

[PB684]

Hi, I'm Paula from Long Island. I read The Kite Runner last year after my son was assigned it as part of his required reading for a college English class. I actually saw it on his bed and picked it up while I waited for him to get out of the shower. I read the first chapter and was hooked. I read A Thousand Splendid Suns just a few weeks ago and was thoroughly engrossed. I kept reading excerpts to my 13 year old daughter just so she realizes how truly lucky she is to be born into a country that treats girls as equals.
I am looking forward to discussing this book with you and reading your opinions.

[PRN]

Hi, I'm new to the online book club. I have just finished reading this book today and was deeply moved by this disturbing, emotionally filled read. It has really stuck with me. I read The Kite Runner last year and really enjoyed learning some history from this part of the world. I am anxious to read how other people feel about interesting book.

[viva2]

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IBIS wrote:
Hello, I'm in Boston. I read The Kite Runner when it first came out, and was gripped by the characters' sense of "home" in the story. I'm a naturalized American citizen; this story made me intensely aware of my love for my adopted country.

When A Thousand Splendid Suns came out, I read it all in one sitting. I fell in love with both Miriam and Laila's stories... two women so intimately shaped and bound by Afghanistan's politics and culture. I compare their stories with those of contemporary American women.

I am excited to share everyone's thoughts about this amazing novel.

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Your posts are so enjoyable: I look forward to seeing what your views will be as a newcomer to the US.

(Welcome, by the way. On my mother's side of the family I am third generation American and I can remember how immensely proud my grandparents were to be American.)

[viva2]

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rkubie wrote:
Please tell us a little about yourself. One question I'll start with -- is this your first time reading Khaled Hosseini's work, or did you read The Kite Runner?

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Hello All,

I have read and immensely enjoyed both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both were choices by my land-based Barnes&Noble book club.

To think that without that book club I might not have read either book, is strong reason to hope that the book clubs of Barnes&Noble, both land-based and computer-based, will prosper and continue to exist for a long, long time. (An avid reader has spoken!)

Perhaps because the latter book centered around women, found it more compelling than Kite Runner, although it may be simply that I have just finished reading it and, therefore, it is still fresh in my mind and feelings. I was strongly moved by The Kite Runner at the time that I read it.

As to me, Austin, Texas, is my home and I love travel, photography, and, of course, book clubs and reading.

I am glad to be here and look forward to hearing others' views.

[kiakar]

Ok. I have read Kite Runner: And it was the most wonderful book I have read in a long time. And I couldnt wait until I could get my hands on this one A thousand Splendid Suns to divulge it. I am a old faithful at Barnes and NOble. So glad to have you back in the reads, Rachel. This really will be a marvelous discussion.

[Mockingbird]

Hello to all. I am Trudy, from Oklahoma City. In the late 1960’s, my older sister, who is a medical technologist, worked two years for MEDICO in Kabul, Afghanistan, enabling me, still a child, to vicariously experience a world so different from my own. When The Kite Runner came out, I devoured it hungrily and felt that I was somehow visiting a place I had once known. Like my sister, I lost my heart to the Afghani people who have themselves lost so much in the last half century. With A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I like even better than The Kite Runner, I was hooked from the first sentence. I am amazed at Hosseini’s ability to write with such empathy and insight from the perspective of the two women, Mariam and Laila. I look forward to the discussions!

[mildone]

Mockingbird, I experience the same feeling you stated. My wife and I read the book and were both deeply moved.
mildone

[ciburke]

Hello - my name is Carey and I am looking forward to participating in my first online book club. I devoured A thousand Splendid Suns in 2 days just a few weeks ago. Like everyone else, I felt immediately connected to the 2 main characters and could not wait to see how their two worlds would come together. Last summer I read the Kite Runner and was again thoroughly impressed and engrossed. Both books have truly stayed with me and serve as a reminder of all that I take for granted in my own life. The window into Afghan culture is fascinating as I know nothing about it!

[IBIS]

Hello Viva2, thank you for your post.
I can understand and feel the pride your grandparents felt when they became US citizens. I've been a citizen since I was 15, (more than 30 years ago!) and today am more American than my birth nationality.

In The Kite Runner, I identified very strongly with the main character who fled to the US and became an American citizen. I sensed obvious autobiographic parallels between Mr Hosseini and his protagonist.

If nothing else, his novels are windows into Afghani history and culture. His gift is to introduce us to, and love his characters who struggle daily to overcome their country's violence. His books opened my eyes to the contrast of my current life in America (a multiple thousand splendid suns!) to war-torn Afghanistan.

[daytona]

Hi, I'm Becky. My 14 year old son bought me Kite Runner for Christmas. I couldn't put it down. I read A Thousand Splendid Sons every spare moment. I recommend it to everyone. Mr. Hosseini is currently my favorite contemporary author. I look forward to everyone's comments.

[Claudia413]

Greetings,
I'm a thirtysomething avid reader from Houston. I thoroughly enjoy reading books that take place in other countries, of other cultures but often of people like me and you. I have read both of Hosseini's books. You can't help but feel the love, the betrayal, the sorrow and everything in between through his characters. Completely unforgettable work. I look forward to the discussions.

[Chaser]

Hello everyone!

I am Abbie, currently hailing from Chattanooga, TN. I have taken a break from the book clubs since the extinction of Barnes and Noble University. I was a little put off by the new format at first, but I love book clubs, and I had to give it another try for Hosseini's new book.

Like most of you, after reading The Kite Runner, I eagerly awaited A Thousand Splendid Suns. I was at Barnes and Noble the day of the release to pick up the book.

Like someone expressed so well, I also lost my heart to the Afghan people. I know as a result of these books, I have been online finding out as much as I can about Afghanistan and its history, and my ears perk up whenever I hear words about Afghanistan on the radio or TV. I have committed - unlike Zaman predicts at the end of the book - not to forget Afghanistan.

I am excited to share perspectives on this influential book. I have already learned a lot from links that some have posted.

I was a little disturbed by a discussion I jumped into on Amazon about the book in which the initial poster condemned the book as American propaganda. I am hoping to explore this idea further - in a more civil arena.

[lasharp24]

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Chaser wrote:
Hello everyone!

I am Abbie, currently hailing from Chattanooga, TN. I have taken a break from the book clubs since the extinction of Barnes and Noble University. I was a little put off by the new format at first, but I love book clubs, and I had to give it another try for Hosseini's new book.

Like most of you, after reading The Kite Runner, I eagerly awaited A Thousand Splendid Suns. I was at Barnes and Noble the day of the release to pick up the book.

Like someone expressed so well, I also lost my heart to the Afghan people. I know as a result of these books, I have been online finding out as much as I can about Afghanistan and its history, and my ears perk up whenever I hear words about Afghanistan on the radio or TV. I have committed - unlike Zaman predicts at the end of the book - not to forget Afghanistan.

I am excited to share perspectives on this influential book. I have already learned a lot from links that some have posted.

I was a little disturbed by a discussion I jumped into on Amazon about the book in which the initial poster condemned the book as American propaganda. I am hoping to explore this idea further - in a more civil arena.

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Hello from Lucille living in Revere, MA. I absolutely loved the Kite Runner and was anxious to read A Thousand Splending Suns. Although different in substance, it kept me glued until the end and left me with a great deal of compassion for all woman of Afghanistan as well a great deal of emphathy for the men. The stuggles of some are something I cannot even imagine.

[viva2]

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IBIS wrote:
Hello Viva2, thank you for your post.
I can understand and feel the pride your grandparents felt when they became US citizens. I've been a citizen since I was 15, (more than 30 years ago!) and today am more American than my birth nationality.

In The Kite Runner, I identified very strongly with the main character who fled to the US and became an American citizen. I sensed obvious autobiographic parallels between Mr Hosseini and his protagonist.

If nothing else, his novels are windows into Afghani history and culture. His gift is to introduce us to, and love his characters who struggle daily to overcome their country's violence. His books opened my eyes to the contrast of my current life in America (a multiple thousand splendid suns!) to war-torn Afghanistan.

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Hello IBIS, I am happy that you have adapted so well to life here.

When my grandparents' first child was born he had heard only the native language of his parents and so he did not respond to the greetings of Americans in the park who were admiring him. Having noticed this, his parents decided then that they would speak only English at home. For this I admire them, although, I do, at times, have a sense of loss in not knowing the language of my forbears, especially in a world that is increasingly multilingual.

I hope that your own flight to America was not so dire as that of the protagonist in The Kite Runner, but whatever your circumstances, you have chosen, in Boston, a fine place to live. Both my husband, our son, and I all separately went to school in the area and have fond memories of our time there.

You are so right: the comparisons between war-torn Afghanistan and our lives here are compelling and fill me with gratitude for my good fortune.

I feel that the main characters in both books have a depth and vibrancy that transcends nationality. Hosseini is a fine writer and I hope for the gift of many more books from him.

[aireloom]

Hello Everyone,
I enjoyed both books and am looking forward to this discussion. I am an antique dealer,artist and activity director for the elderly.

[Rachel-K]

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Hosseini is a fine writer and I hope for the gift of many more books from him.

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Isn't it exciting to find such fine novels from a younger writer? We can hope for decades full of novels to follow these!

This is a lovely group!

Rachel

[IBIS]

Viva2, thank you for your post.

Being a naturalized American citizen gives me the dual perspective, to compare and contrast, my birth country and my adopted one. I compare and contrast and give thanks daily to my blessings.

You are absolutely right: writers like Hosseini give us opportunities to compare our contemporary lives with those of the people he creates. All his characters -- major and minor, good-hearted and mean-spirited, male and female -- transcend their nationality and capture the joys and sorrows of our common humanity.

Nana and Marian, trapped inside the borders of a hostile and violent nation, are condemned to live with the cruelties of a misogynist culture. But its their flawed and damaged humanity that draws us to them.