The F-word discussion

This has been sitting on my bed-side table for ages; glad to finally get to it!

This is my favorite book of Khaled Hosseini's works. I'll be more than happy to reread it! :)

I read this one a while ago, and while I don't remember all the details I remember really loving it!

I'm about a third of the way through it.. Fantastic book!

Okay seriously, this book gave me all the feels. I literally had to put it down every now and then because I couldn't deal anymore... Brilliant!

So far it's definitely keeping my interest!

This is certainly a powerful novel. I'm about halfway through it and it's quite an experience.

Yes, I'm just about at the halfway point too. This is making me think a lot about what it takes for a man to be able to put himself inside a woman's skin.

I really enjoyed reading this and the last sentence made me tear up. Yet now, in hindsight, I'm feeling somewhat emotionally manipulated.

Yeah, this novel definitely made me cry.

This is my favourite Khaled Hosseini's book. I read when I was fifteen and I really love it!

I guess I'm in the minority, but though I'll acknowledge it's well written, I REALLY didn't enjoy it.

I have to admit it's sinking fast in my recollections.

Many parts of it were certainly brutal, but they are there for a reason: to describe a reality for women in certain parts of the world.

I had mixed feelings about this book. There were several points where I found myself bored and wondering if anything would happen. I also feel that the symbolism used by Hosseini was too conspicuous and was too easily interpreted, which took away a bit of the fun for me. Additionally, while some of his scenes offered a deeper perspective on his characters, I feel that their internal dialogue had the same voice—I would have liked for them to have been a bit more developed.

The book did have its great moments, though. Many scenes elicited a strong emotional response: Rasheed made me angry, and when Mariam and Laila finally became friends I was ecstatic. One thing I appreciate about this book is that it offers a critique of Western feminism, which can often be ethnocentric. It reveals that, while issues like "oppressive" clothing and being permitted to drive are certainly worthy of discussion, they are not the only problems faced by Middle Eastern women. It also captures the reality that regime changes and political issues played a part in reinforcing patriarchal ideals—the list of Shari'a laws proposed by the Taliban, for example.

On Goodreads, I tend to rate fiction books based on whether I was able to learn something from the reading. I gave this one 4 stars, because I was able to pull away bits of information here and there, though I also saw plenty room for improvement.

Just got this book and adding it to my TBR list. :)