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| Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Category: Book
List Price: £11.99
Buy New: £6.99
You Save: £5.00 (42%)
New (41) Used (13) Collectible (1) from £4.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  174 reviews
Sales Rank: 30
Media: Paperback
Edition: Export Ed
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0747582971
EAN: 9780747582977
ASIN: 0747582971
Publication Date: May 22, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Just couldn't put it down August 17, 2008
On my way to the airport I realised I had forgotten to bring a book, so bought this one in duty free. I'm not a huge book reader, but just couldn't put this book down, every time I finished a chapter, I was itching to find out what was happening in the next. Although a fictional book, you could easily have believed it wasn't. I don't get moved to tears whilst reading, but I became very emotional at stages throughout the read. I've just lean't this to my god mother! Best read in a long time and an opporunity missed if you don't read it.
 Very good August 15, 2008
Really enjoyable, at times upsetting story. Like the Kite Runner, it pulls you in and makes you taste life in Afghanistan. The story of Mariam and Laila is compelling, tragic, touching, enlightening, and in places funny. I read the Kite Runner first, so the setting didn't give me the same feeling of discovery that I had reading Hosseini's first novel. Having said that, I was at times shocked and appalled at the treatment of Mariam and Laila not by their brutal husband, but also by the Taliban authorities.
I had a bit of a problem with the ending - it seemed too good to be true. Perhaps a political comment on the arrival of American and Allied troops in Kabul, designed to make one support the ongoing efforts there? This was accentuated by the author's note at the end, and left a slightly strange feeling. Did he write this book as a novel, or as an (admittedly powerful) way of making us see that as far as the Afghan people are concerned, the troops should not withdraw? I had read the book and enjoyed it, and now I was feeling guilty for my previous sentiments that our troops should pull out of Afghanistan. Don't get me wrong - I have a far better understanding of what was once a civilised and peaceful nation, of the turmoil and tragedy the people there have suffered, but I felt a little tricked.
Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it; it opened my eyes and made me think, which is all I ask a good book to do.
Unforgettable August 13, 2008
Beautiful but heart wrenching story. I enjoyed Kite Runner but this book is his best. Mariam and Laila's story is very moving and what they have to go through is very upsetting. This should not put you off as these two women were very strong and Hosseini portrayed them very well.
a gripping book July 31, 2008
This book drew me in, and I could not rest until I'd finished it, however even then I felt uneasy. Like one of the person that rated this book 3 stars, I agree that some of the characters were too black and white, too good and too evil, which annoyed me immensely. After the book I felt angry at the world, knowing that there are some people, like Rasheed that do exist, which is perhaps why I was more relieved with the ending. I very much welcomed the return of a certain character, because by that point I loathed Rasheed to the point where the fact that he was a fictional character became blurred. All in all, it is well written, gripping but very annoying, because the evil person in this book is is simply too evil, and thus would not reccommend it for the light hearted.
Just when you thought The Kite Runner was amazing... July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
...he comes along with an even more heart-wrenching, addictive novel!! Give that man a prize!
This is such a great read. I finished it in just 2 sittings, staying up till the early hours of the morning to do so. The style, as others have commented, is similar to Kite Runner. He gives such a fascinating insight into being a female in Afghani culture and an understanding of the frustrations of their lives as subservient to the men in the household. This book really, really pulls at the heartstrings, and has gone on to become one of the most famous books of recent years for very good reasons.
If you enjoyed the Kite Runner, you will love this...but also do read "The Bookseller of Kabul".
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