A Thousand Splendid Suns AGAIN!

I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns a few minutes ago, and I must say that I love this novel more and more with each read. Tomorrow, I will start student led discussions on this novel, and I can't wait.

Today, my students turned in all of the preliminary work that I expect to be completed before we start a discussion on a novel. After collecting the work, we had a discussion about what they thought about the novel or anything else that they would like to discuss about this novel. One of the students stated something, I can't remember what right now, and one of my quiet thinkers started smiling. I turned to him and stated "What made you smile; do you have something that you want to say? He stated "I don't have anything to say, and I was smiling because you are so excited." Everybody, including me, started laughing, because it is true that I am very excited about A Thousand Splendid Sun.

As my students left the room, I told them that I wanted them to think about women and our roles in the world.

This novels never fails to make me think about the life of a woman and how much we can endure and how much we should not have to endure. The women in this novel were faced with so many adversities, and they were able to stand boldly and move forward in spite of all that they went through. (I want to start a women's revolution all over the world! Really..)

There are some women, such as the women in some parts of Afghanistan, who have to take the oppression because it is dictated by the law. However, there are other women in countries, like the United States, who are oppressed and sometimes it is self-inflicted by things that we allow into our lives.

You know that I love freedom, but I am not speaking of the freedom of being a single woman, I am talking about the freedom to make decisions for myself, the decision to be able to state what I like and don't like, the freedom to chose my career etc. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a reminder that not all women have freedom of the mind and/or body, and there is not much that they can do about it but maybe start a revolution.

"Freedom IS a beautiful thing!"

If you want to read just a good, old-fashioned story, then this is the book for you.

I can't wait to discuss this novel with my students and read their essays on this novel.

You must read A Thousand Splendid Suns!

Before I go to bed tonight, I am going to started reading The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. This book was recommended by my friend, T. Smith, who is one of the most well-read brothers that I know. So, you should get this book, and join me in reading it. If T. Smith recommended it, then it is a must read.

Happy Monday!!!!

What happened Jonathan Franzen?

 

Jonathan Franzen

Most authors stay true to their craft; a good writer normally writes good books. Take, for instance, J. California Book; a modern day master storyteller. I read In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Cooper, and it was awesome. Because In Search of Satisfaction was so good, I decided to read other books by J. California Cooper. To date, I have read everything that she has ever written: Life is Short But Wide, A Piece of Mine, Family, The Matter is Life, Future Has a Past, The Wake of Wind etc. I am anxiously waiting for her to write something new.



J. California Cooper: Please check her out!

Jonathan Franzen sent an early copy of his novel Freedom to President Obama, and Jonathan was spotted leaving the White House. I thought, let me read the book that may have inspired the President to invite Jonathan Franzen to the White House.

I downloaded Freedom, and I must say that it was captivating from the first to the last page. You know that feeling you may get when that last piece of peach cobbler is gone: satisfied but wish you had more. Well, that's how I felt when I finished  Freedom: I was satisfied, but I wanted more.

Being that good writers typically write good books, I download The Corrections and decided that I would save it for when I desired a sho' nuff good read.

Recently, while on one of those extremely long flights, I decided to start The Corrections. (A good book definitely is a distraction from the hunger that is experienced on long flights since we are no longer given real food).

Just like Freedom, The Corrections caught my attention right away. The characters were all interesting, and I absolutely loved all of the details that he included that added insight to why the characters did what they did. But, in The Corrections, something went wrong.

Jonathan absolutely over did it on the details. Some of the details were difficult to follow and did not add much and actually distracted from the main story line. Needless to say, I was disappointed by The Corrections.

Being a reader and loving his novel Freedom, I have not given up on Jonathan Franzen, but it will be upon recommendation only that I read another one of his books.

What happened Jonathan Franzen??

As said by Jay Z, "On to the next one".......