• A Thousand Splendid Suns

  • By: Khaled Hosseini
  • Narrated by: Atossa Leoni
  • Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (14,373 ratings)

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A Thousand Splendid Suns  By  cover art

A Thousand Splendid Suns

By: Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by: Atossa Leoni
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Publisher's summary

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of 30 years of Afghanistan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss, and by fate. As they endure the ever-escalating dangers around them, in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul, they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

©2007 TKR Publications, LLC. All rights reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Another searing epic....[Hosseini's] tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters." (Publishers Weekly)
"Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini's magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable follow up." (Booklist)

What listeners say about A Thousand Splendid Suns

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    10,236
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    7,311
  • 4 Stars
    1,680
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    89
  • 1 Stars
    59

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Completely brilliant

It's not a good thing when you're driving along in your car crying, yelling, cheering and experiencing all kinds of powerful emotions!

But..that's the reaction I had to this masterpiece about 2 amazing women who begin as enemies and end as soul mates because of all they had to live through.

We have NO idea how lucky we are, living in the freedom called America, until we read about the lives of those who suffer in third world countries. It's hard to even imagine that there are still people who believe and behave as Rashid did...and yet...we know there are.

And, while this doesn't purport to be a true story..it might as well be because it is so believable that you picture everything as if it was in front of you. It is magnificently written and, the reader is equally as wonderful.

I loved Kite Runner and I equally loved a Thousand Splendid Suns. I could not stop listening and I anxiously await his next novel.

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91 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

This is truly a magnificent book. Having read the Kite Runner, I was expecting the book to be good, and I was not disappointed. The main character in Kite Runner was not an exemplary character although his character takes a turn for the better in the latter part of the book. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the characters are true throughout. This was a book that I could not put down, once I had started. I would not recommend that this book be read in the abridged format. Reading the abridged version of this book would cause the reader to lose too much.

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53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

AWESOME!

This book did not disapppoint! If you liked Mr. Hosseini's first book, The Kite Runner, then you will LOVE this book! This book is a beautiful story and I was hooked from the opening chapter. Atossa Leoni does a magnificent job reading this wonderful book as I felt like I was "in" the story. I HIGHLY recommend this book...a must for your summer reading list!

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50 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful

This is not a happy book, although the ending is much happier than the beginning. It does offer much to think and talk about, and reminds me that I have so much to be grateful for. The situation in Afghanistan for women is abysmal, to put it nicely. This book lets us have a glimpse into what it must be like for women over there, and it is not a pretty picture. I have often wondered how I could live under such circumstances because I have a rather spunky attitude. As a child I fought for my own identity with everything within me because of two older brothers whom I perceived as being more valued than I was. Would I be inclined to do likewise under the thumb of the Taliban or Sharea Law? (sorry if I am misspelling those words) I know I would want to fight back, but the fact is, women, even strong, spunky women, are helpless over there. It breaks my heart.

This is a heartbreaking book that, nevertheless, needs to be read by everyone. It underscores the fact that, even in the face of incredible hardship and injustice, many people are inherently good and loving, and can make it through some pretty tough situations if they will turn to love instead of hate.

Beautifully read by Alossa Leoni.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Thousand Splendid Applauses

It was unbelievably good. I thought after the Kite Runner that would be hard to match, but this is just as good if not better. If ancient customs of arranged marriages bother you, the Taliban incense you and spousal inequality make your blood boil, you're going to love this book. What a cleverly woven tale of how 2 woman's lives merge for the better, then the worse, then the better...

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Splendid Indeed

For a man from beautiful mountains near beautiful Sydney Australia, this book is so far removed from my experience that I thought this fact alone would serve as a barrier to my enjoyment of this book. Blessed am I to live where I live and have the history I have.
But such is the power of this author and narrator, to pick me up, swirl me, and drop me into this sprawling, gorgeous epic. This book, narrated beautifully, took me from laughter, to tears, to sick in the stomach. The characters are so alive, so pressed into reality, that it felt like I was there beside them.
Never has an audiobook had me inventing reasons to drive, just so I could continue listening to it. Part romance, part history and part epic, I can not recommend this highly enough. I now cannot wait to buy and listen to The Kite Runner.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Powerful and Enlightening

Like so many others I was so excited to listen to this one because I enjoyed The Kite Runner so much. Hosseini set the bar very high with his first book and I wondered if he would be able to meet it with this one.

When I first started reading the book, I started having my doubts. Where The Kite Runner brought the relationship between Amir and Hassan into play much earlier, in this book the relationship between Mariam and Laila didn't happen till much later. The first half of the book dealt with background information of the two women seperately and how their lives were before they actually crossed paths. The second half of the book concentrated on their relationship together and how it grew. For me, the second half of the book was incredible!

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a book that will leave you thinking and wondering about how so many people survive a life like this. It made me think about the devastation some woman endure. The strength, courage, faith and love that can come from a tragic life.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I thought the narrator was mediocre. Of course her pronunciation of the foreign words was perfect, but I just felt she wast a bit too monotone. It does not ruin the listen in anyway though. You will totally enjoy this one.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely beautiful

This book moved me so much that I had to take a break in the middle of the book for a few days to 'recuperate' before continuing. I just couldn't continue because i was so emotionally affected by the injustice and cruelty experienced by the two women. I honestly think this book is better written compared to the kite runner, although I absolutely loved that book too. However, while there were some degree of caricaturization of characters in kite runner, the depiction of personalities and experiences in this book is so stark, so vivid, so palpable - so much so that it hurts.
This is my first review.. i just had to recommend it to everyone!

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching book. At its core, this book is about love, resistance, and resilience. However, the story is filled with such random violence and subjugation, both of the Afghani people at the hands of the Soviets, Jihadists, and Taliban, and of the two women through whom the story is told, that it made my heart ache. I am at a loss to describe just how powerful this story is.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartwrenching and Emotional

While the Kite Runner was about fathers and sons, this book focuses mainly on women and their relationships, while also giving the listener a glimpse of daily life in Afghanistan before and after the Taliban. Once I started listening, I couldn't stop. It is very emotional, but gripping and exciting, too. Don't miss this deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith....and love.

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19 people found this helpful