"For You a Thousand Times Over"
Saturday, August 29, 2009 Read more → books, muslim authors, reviews, the revert, views In the name of God, entirely Compassionate, especially Merciful | Peace be with you
In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ | Peace be with you السلام عليكم
Asalaamu Alaikum.
I wanted to talk about two books that I've read over the past two months, and one that I really, really want to read.
The first book I read this summer was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This book is about the journey of the lead character, Amir's struggle for redemption in a war torn. Many horrible things happen to him throughout the book, but the insight into the possibility of purity in the human heart is worth the emotional roller coaster.
I wanted to talk about two books that I've read over the past two months, and one that I really, really want to read.
The first book I read this summer was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This book is about the journey of the lead character, Amir's struggle for redemption in a war torn. Many horrible things happen to him throughout the book, but the insight into the possibility of purity in the human heart is worth the emotional roller coaster.
I really love the structure of Hosseini's writing, he doesn't fill each line with 6 syllable words, and try exceedingly to be profound; he simply let's the story speak for itself. I also like the way he introduces horrible events in a very human way. He doesn't immediately venture into the occurrence, but captures them in light of the shock. The following excerpt is from the first chapter, and possibly my favorite:
"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years."
The second book I read was also by Hosseini, it was A Thousand Splendid Suns. I preferred this one, but that could be because it is from a woman's point of view.
This story is told from the view points of two Muslim Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. Destruction and hardship makes their paths cross in a most distressing way. The book is filled with twists and will keep you on your feet. If you're like me, you'll be hooked. I read it in two days! The following quote still give me goose bumps. I always get so attached to characters:
"Mariam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings."
I really want to read Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azir Nafisi. It's a memoir of the defiance and struggle of a college professor and six of her students who fight to read western literature in Iran, despite the laws forbidding it. Bombs whirl over their heads, as they read and discuss books like Lolita. I will read this book. I don't know when or how, but, inshallah, it will happen!
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