A Thousand Splendid Suns

I am an early bird by nature... I fall asleep early (usually around nine or ten, at the latest) and my eyes inevitably pop open before the sun has risen. We have roosters that live down the street from us who crow all day long, but I definitely beat them to the punch. So, when I stay up to finish a book until 1:30 in the morning... you know it has to be good. Because it doesn't matter how late I fall asleep, I'm still rolling out of bed at the crack of dawn.

"So," your asking, "what book, pray tell, kept you up until the wee hours of the night?" (Actually you probably aren't asking that since I have a picture of the book right there... darn... so much for the suspense.) Yes, it's A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Now, I certainly would never claim to be a masterful book reviewer, and it's easy enough to look up what the book is about, but I have to say... this gut-wrenching tale captured my attention through every last page.

I've always been a sucker for historical fiction, particularly notable events that affected entire societies and cultures. I go through phases where I continue reading about certain time periods until I have exhausted my own patience. For example, after reading "The Tale of Two Cities", I became obsessed with learning as much about the French Revolution as I could. Not exactly a highlight in human history, but wow... it amazes me what people are capable of doing to each other and also how much people can take and still maintain a thread of hope.

I guess that's why this book caught me so off guard. It's not really historical fiction because it takes place almost entirely during my lifetime. And as old as I often feel, I just can't bring myself to call that "history"... yet. I guess this would be more "contemporary fiction" based on people that have gone through horrifying events at the same time that I was relaxing in many hot baths, vacationing in several exciting places, and enjoying the luxuries that we so easily take for granted. I laid there after reading this book and thought about how many times I have been depressed because our house wasn't done, or a meal didn't turn out well, or my car had a flat tire. Man... I know I've had these epiphanys before and I often think about how thankful I should be for what I have... a wonderful family, a warm home, a car that gets me where I want to go, etc... but sometimes it takes reading a heart gripping account to rock you out of your spoiled little world.

These people don't live too far from us... just around the corner of the earth. And once again, I am in awe at what people can do to each other. I laid there in the dark just picturing God looking down on our selfish little planet shaking his head and wondering where it all went wrong. Liberal or conservative or somewhere in between, the politics seem so trivial when you read about how much people can take in life yet still have hope. And I guess that is what keeps God from just giving up on us altogether... hope. The hope that someday we will realize that we are all in this together... no matter what we "believe" -- political, spiritual, philosophical, or any other "cal" word you can think of.

I can't help but think about one of John Mayer's songs. He says "Belief is a beautiful armor but makes for the heaviest sword". If only we could stop the wars based on everyone's different beliefs. If I were a contestant in Miss America, I would definitely ask for "World Peace"!