Our first book selection for the 2006-2007 school year is Yasmina Khadra's The Swallows of Kabul. There is an excellent discussion guide at the following link: http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400033768&view=rg
Feel free to get this discussion started by responding to any of the questions or by posting a comment or question of your own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think the loss of intimacy, in the marriages portrayed as well as all other aspects of Afghan life, is one of the greatest tragedies shown in this novel. It seems to be a crime to feel emotionally close to someone or sympathize with them. Atiq's supposed friend seems to think that it's wrong for him to feel pain because his wife is dying. All aspects of relationships between all people are brutally taken away by the Taliban regime. Husbands and wives cannot even touch each other, women cannot have relationships with friends since they cannot walk unescorted, and sympathy has gone out the window. Qassim, the head of the jail, does not even seem to be upset at his mother's death. All human feeling, apart from religious and warlike feelings, are considered reprehensible in Kabul. Intimacy of all kinds is lost in most relationships, and if it survives, it must be concealed from everyone else.
It was a really depressing book. I kept trying to look for a happy ending, but couldn't find one! I think that the only good part was that they were freed from that sad life! It still was a good book though, it has changed my perspective on the lifestyles over in the East.
It is, I agree, a dark book written amidst dark times. I also think that we are so insulated from the realities of everyday life in a culture and place so very different from our own that we cannot fathom what that life is like for those who live there. While the book can be depressing, I think it awakens readers. We can read accounts and view reports about what is going on in Afghanistan, but moving from statistics to stories about the human heart is what awakens within us the empathy and compassion and connection with those who suffer.
Post a Comment