A Thousand Boring Suns

This book, commercially, exploits the  military activities in Afghanistan, that all of us are aware of. It sells because of the affairs going on in Afghanistan are so controversial. Would this book of sold so well if not from a Afghani author and setting? Not to mention The Kite Runner and movie success. You must ask yourself what constructs the fundamental aspects of a decent novel. Prose, character development, description, narrative, etc.

Many of us would find the insight into a life that the book supposedly portrays intriguing. The book is hard to review negatively due to its sensitive content. I however felt that the book was not well written, and did not classify as a good novel. The characters were mediocre, the villainous character had the potential to be portrayed as the evil man he was; the victim's suffering always implied, never orchestrated, never profound, never moving. The author holds back, leaving the reader wanting more. Unfortunately this is what motivates the reader to complete the book, but it is the reader that ends up being the author – filling the gaps the author has left.

This was the female-orientated Kite Runner. How can a book dealing with such a sensitive issue in a country as war-ravished as this come across as so mediocre, so subtle?

Either a book that demands a high cultural understanding of women in Afghanistan. or a mundane book that had so much potential, but failed to be written in the way that would inflict emotion in its readers. You appreciate the content of the book not for what is written, but for what isn't. Questions are left unanswered - not in a profound, contemporary fashion, but as the badly written novel it is.