Aarushi Singh

I just completed this novel and I've got to say, I have never read anything so beautiful and heart-wrenching. The way Khaled Hosseini has depicted the horrors of Kabul and Afghanistan along with the nasty politics of US, Soviet and all others involved is just too depressing to read. I couldn't read the novel in one go as it was deeply affecting my mind and soul. I started to question that, are these really the doings of human beings? Are we even capable of such despicable acts? Laila and Mariam were the two centerpieces of this great story. The most hateable character for me was Rasheed. He was the symbol depicting men in their worst sense of mind. The masochism, sick mentality, possessiveness, treating of women as an object are a few of his many worst traits. On the other hand, there was Tariq. Oh, how beautiful his nature was even in those disastrous times. Tariq and Laila have the most beautiful and yet full of horrors story. Although there were a few other occasions that could cut your heart out, for me I had just 2. The one was Tariq comes back to Laila, who had been lied to about his death by Rasheed. The 2nd was the story that happened as the consequence of Tariq's meet with Laila. The courage that Mariam finally gathered and killed her evil husband, and then walked towards her death as if she was tired and was ready to sleep after accomplishing her life's motive. I truly wish I had someone like Tariq in my life too.