Khaled Hosseini
Before I write about the book, I think a disclaimer that I haven’t read the earlier books by the author is necessary. Reviews tell me that there are patterns easily discernible in Khaled Hosseini’s works, so it’s probably good that I was introduced to the author with this book.
It’s been about five minutes since I finished the book, and my eyes are no longer moist. The thing is, I knew the ending. Pretty much everyone who reads the book and realises the intent of the story (within the story) that’s narrated by the siblings’ father at the very beginning of the novel- of a div who visits a village and takes away a child, of the father who braved odds in an attempt to win him back, and its ending, memories like ‘the tail end of a sad dream’ – can picture the frame in which the novel will end, or almost. Yet, like many other points in the novel, it did not fail to move me. That’s probably the defining character of this book – an unbearable sadness.
Beginning in Shadbagh in the 1950s, moving to Kabul and then flying off to Paris, San Francisco, and Tinos (Greece) the novel spans time and thus, generations in its journey. It is not a linear narrative – we get to read it from the perspectives of multiple characters, it also zips across time in both directions, pausing at a certain point to let other characters catch up, or zooming back for an explanation.
There are many things I liked about this book. Right up there is the narrative style, and prose that moved me. I also liked the depth of the characters – the author takes just the right amount of detours (Markos’ is probably an exception) to ensure that we know why the characters are the way they are. It is easy to visualise them, and feel for them. It is quite an experience to follow the life of a character, and see them change over time, and the author does this beautifully! To be mentioned that some of these characters are probably the least representative of the time and place they existed in, and that’s what makes them so charming. The only narrative that jutted out a tiny bit was that of the brothers who return to Kabul. That, I understand, is a personal reality for the author. But even here, I loved how the characters were used to explore the subject of morality, and our actions. What I liked most though, was the way the human condition has been captured – our yearning to belong.
It is a wonderfully poignant tale, one that I shall probably, uncharacteristically, visit again!
