Outside Reading: A thousand splendid sons

1) "One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls" (172 Hosseini)
This quote here is very important because, for instance, the title of the book is in the quote. Also, it shows how this use to be Laila's favorite poem, but she had forgotten it and everything because she was so excited to leave Kabul to be safe and finally be with Tariq. I think the 'she' in the poem, to Laila and Babi, represents Kabul and how she is with her walls and the way she causes things to happen to their beautiful city.

2) "Mm. He smiled sadly. "I still can't believe I'm leaving Kabul. I went to school here, got my first job here, became a father in this town. It's strange to think that I'll be sleeping beneath another city's skies soon" (172 Hosseini).
This quote represents when Babi(Laila's father) if telling Laila of why it feels so strange to him that he is finally leaving Kabul. Babi was raised there and made a life from then until now which was going well for him. Unfortunately with this war going on, he had no choice but to leave for his own and family's safety. It's such a sad thing to hear him describe how he must leave and how he must leave some cherished things behind.

3) "Let me marry you, Laila. Today. We could get married today...Don't say that. I love you" (165-166 Hosseini).
This quote was said by Tariq, Laila's best friend and lover. After they had made love, after Tariq telling her that he was leaving for Pakhistan tomorrow, Tariq asked Laila to marry him. He thought that it would be a great idea because they would always be together. He then told her those big 3 famous words that he finally had said after so long; they both loved each other, but they couldn't bring themselves to say it. Laila then told him that she loved him back too, but that she couldn't leave her parents because she was all that they had left. Tariq could understand where she was coming from, and then like that...he was gone.

4.) "Laila peeked from the top of the stairs. She watched the stranger sit down with her parents. He leaned toward them. Said a few muted words. Then Babi's face was white, and getting whiter, and he was looking at his hands, and Mammy was screaming, screaming and tearing at her hair." (123 Hosseini).
This quote represents when one day, while Babi was teaching Laila math, they received a knock at their door. Quickly, Laila ran up to it and opened it. "I need to speak to your parents" the man said. Then while he was welcomed and in and when Laila made sure she had a good spot to listen, it ended up being information that she did not want to hear. The bad news given to her family was that her 2 older brothers that were in the war were now dead. After the funeral, Laila's mom did not recover from their death for about 5 years!

5.) "I miss the boys too, you know, Babi said. His eyes welled up a tad. His chin trembling. I may not...With your mother, both her joy and sadness are extreme. She can't hide it either. She never could. Me, I suppose I'm different. I tend to...But it broke me too, the boys dying. I miss them too. Not a day passes that I...It's very hard Laila, so very hard. " (135 Hosseini).
This quote represents how Babi doesn't really have a say in things. Fariba (Mammy) is very controlling; in a good way that is. But when her sons died, she had something taken away from her that was rightfully hers; her own. It was very hard fro Babi because Fariba blamed their deaths on him because it was his idea for them to go to war and it was even harder to see the woman he loved in so much deep, hurting, pain.

6.) "Giti was dead. Dead. Blown to pieces. At last, Laila began to weep for her friend. And all the tears that she hadn't been able to shed at her brothers' funeral came pouring out" (161 Hosseini).
This is another important quote because Giti was a close friend to Laila; they went to school together, played together, and talked all the time. One day, Babi told Laila that she could not attend school anymore because it was just too dangerous for her to go. So, Laila was very lucky because that could have been her walking with Giti and the two other classmates. Since Laila couldn't let out her tears at her brothers' funeral, it finally came out when her best friend is now gone to the war that wont end.

7.) "Laila dropped the books to her feet. She looked up to the sky. Shielded her eyes with one hand. Then a giant roar. Behind her, a flash of white. The ground lurched beneath her feet. Something hot and powerful slammed into her from behind. It knocked her out of her sandals. Lifted her up. And now she was flying......." (174 Hosseini).
This is probably the most important quote because it's Laila's first near death experience. While she was loading books outside, getting ready to leave Kabul with her family and be united with Tariq again, she looked up and saw a rocket coming towards her home. Slamming right into her house, the force threw her boy flying in the air with the wood and glass, cutting every inch of her body. After slamming into a wall, she land and get a piece of metal stuck in her shoulder. Then before she lost consciousness, she could see a bloody chunk of what was left of a family member. Its also very important because she survived the rocket into her house!

8.) "Do you know who i am? The Girl's eyes fluttered. Do you know what happened? The girl's mouth quivered. She closed her eyes. Swallowed. Her hand grazed her left cheek. She mouthed something. Mariam leaned in closer. This ear, the girl breathed, I can't hear." (179 Hosseini).
This is when Laila is saved by Rasheed and Mariam and is in good care. The only problem is that she now cannot hear in one of her ears, but she is healing which is very lucky for a girl her age. Ever since the rocket explosion, Laila has been in their home being taken care of very well as if she were their child.

9.) "But I came back, because in the end, i think he would have wanted you to know" (188 Hosseini).
This is when a man named Abdul Sharif came to visit Laila; he had come to tell her that he had met Tariq in the hospital-that Tariq had been in a explosion...and that he lost his other leg. Laila tried to take deep breaths and think happy thoughts from when they were together. Then the man explained to her that one morning he woke up and found out that Tariq had died, but that he wanted the man to tell Laila that he loves her and missed her so much. This of course was more bad news to Laila: First her brothers, then Giti, then her parents, and now the love of her life; all gone.

=[

All the pretty horses

Going back to Don Hector's ranch, John Grady talks with Alfonsa(Alejandra's aunt) and she tells him that they just werent mean to be together. He then meets up with Alejandra at the plaza and they make love. They then go on a walk, cath up and make love again. John Grady Cole tells Alejandra that he loves her so much and that he will always take care of her. Unfortunatly, she still says no. After all the sneeking around, fighting, love maiking, and pain, they still wont be together. John Grady then heads back and talks to a judge. With the court shocked with his story he tells them, they let him go free. Then John Grady tries to find the owner of the horse he still has from Blevins, but there was no luck. In the end, John Grady is just heading back home...under the sunset.

A thousand splendid suns

Laila is not 13 years old andafter 5 years of her brothers been dead, Laila's mother finally gets out of bed and decides to throw a party. At the party, Tariq and Laila run off together and Tariq tells her that he only has eyes for her. To her this was good to hear, but she was still a little weirded out by how much hes changed. So one day when they were walking in the streets together, Tarique showerd Laila his gun. Quickly, she seemed frightend. Then Tarique told her that he would onl use it for her safety, then he held her hand and kissed her. From then on, everyday they would see eachother and kiss; they were truely in love.
When the war started to progress, rockets started landing very close to where Laila's home was. Because of this, Babi(her father) out of his will decided to take her out of school because it was just too dangerous. A couple days later, Laila's friends had been walking home from school and a rocket landed right on them. This was the first time she had cried in a while...she didnt cry at her brothers funeral, so all the tears came out now. Then a few weeks after that, Tariq came to her house and told her that he was leaving for afghanistan...tomorrow. Laila slapped him twice and pulled at his hair. Then suddenly their foreheads touched eachother, hand on each others faces, and then they started to kiss; then it progressed to the living room floor where they made love. Tariq asked her to marry him; to go away with him so they could be together, but Laila thought about leaving her after and mother and she just couldnt bear it because she was all they had left now. She told him no, so they departed from eachother. 17 days later, Laila heard her dad yelping with joy from upstairs. "We can finally go! Your mother has agreed!." Laila's mother finally agreed to letting them leave because it was getting too dangerous. This was good to hear for Laila because she then would get to be with Tariq. While they were packing and getting ready to go, Laila stepped outside the house...thinking about Tariq and what was going to come. Then all of a sudden a big flash of white light came to her and she found herself flying in the air; debree flying at her face, blows to her body coming from everywhere, then hitting the ground very fast, getting a piece of metal embeded in her shoulder. When she opened her eyes, she could see a woman giving her pills, they fixing up her cutts. This woman happened to be Mariam.
Mariam and Rasheed happen to save Laila from this horrible tragedy that killed her parents. "I cant hear" she told the woman Mariam. Laila had gone deaf in one of her ears, and was badly cut & bruised everywhere. Mariam thought to herself of how Laila was so lucky to be alive. Even if that was true, Laila couldnt help but blame herself. "I should have been in the house" she thought to herself. Her parents werent the ones who deserved to di she thought. Then one day while she was healing at Mariam&Rasheed's home, a man came to the door asking for her. He told her that he had met a young boy named Tariq in the hospital and that he use to tell him so many stories abut Laila. He then explained to her how e told Tariq he would be going to Kabul, so Tariq asked him to visit Laila and tell her that he misses and loves her so much. Unfortunately, the day before he left for Kabul, he saw doctors rushing around Tariq's bed. He then later asked the nurse why his bed was empty; "he fought very hard" she said. Tariq was truely dead. Everything in Laila's life and what she was feeling was dead.

All the pretty horses

Out of nowhere, Rawlins and John Grady are arrested. They are taken to the Encantada jail where they see Blevins and Rawlins is tortured until he confesses to crimes he did not do, though they did not torture John Grady. Later they guards put Blevins, John Grady, and Rawlins in the back of the truck; they are headed South for the Saltillo prison. Finally, when they arrive at an abandoned farm, they take Blevins out and shoot him, then they proceed going South. In the prison, it is brutal. John Grady and Rawlins fight for survival everyday. Later they asked to see Perez, a wealthy prisoner who is trying to bribe them. When they refuse, Rawlins is stabbed and cut up, so he is sent to the infirmary. Then, John Grady goes and talks to Perez, curious to see why this all happened to Rawlins. Perez explains to him that he basically must take the bribe. John Grady refuses it again, and goes out to but a knife; getting ready for the attack that awaits him. The next day it does, but holding up, John Grady manages to stab the guy in the heart. Later he is also taken to the infirmary because he is badly hurt. Days pass and John Grady is finally taken to the warden with an envelope of money. Rawlins and John Grady are then set free from the prison. Soon then find out that Alejandra's aunt, Alfonsa, was the one who bailed them. Scared for life from Blevins death, Rawlins starts heading home-back to Texas.John Grady cole then looks for a ride back North to Don Hector's ranch.

All the pretty horses

Forbiden love should be the theme now.
One night, John Grady Cole goes skinny dipping in the lake...followed by Alejandra. There they connect. Ever since then, Alejandra has been visiting him for nine consecutive nights and they make love. Now, they are both deeply in love with each other and will never be broken apart, until John finds out Alejandra is being sent to her mother's home in Mexico city. Later, John is asked to play pool again, but this time is told that Alejandra is being sent to France for school. Soon enough, he finds out that it was all a lie-Alejandra was being held captive in the ranch house.

All the pretty horses

In the book, the main characters are:
-John Grady Cole
-Rawlins
-Blevins
-Alejandra.

In the beginning, John Grady and Rawlins set out for Mexico to start a new life. When they arrive, they meet a young boy named Blevins, who they go on many adventures with him and fine his horse. Then he just kind of disappears. Then they go to work at Don Hector's ranch. Later, John Grady meets Alejandra and hopes to see more of her. Rawlins and John Grady buy suits, then they go to the dance at the ranch. There, John Grady and Alejandra had a connection...love at first sight. Later, they go on a walk together; telling each other of their family back round. After she leaves, John Grady is love-struck <33

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Before i go on, the next posts might sound confusing. Just to let you know, its going to be from Laila's (Fariba's daughter) point of view now. So far, Laila is having trouble deciding if she likes Tariq more as a friend. Tariq is a one legged boy who is her best friend who always stands up for her. Since hes crippled, people don't dare to hurt him. Then one day when Laila was studying math with Babi, (her father) someone came to the door. Laila was then sent to her room. While waiting on the stairs trying to listen, she heard her mom screaming in pain; soon to find out her two brothers have died in the war.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

One day, Rasheed suggested that Mariam go and take a bath at a place where everyone would go and take one. When she got there, she started to scream because she saw blood everywhere. "Its normal isn't it?!?!" she screamed at Fariba. That was Mariam's first miscarriage. Rasheed got angry. 5 more miscarriages later, Rasheed had enough. Mariam would try to talk with him or make conversation with him, but to him she just seemed like a dumb young woman just there for his pleasure. One evening when Mariam was making him dinner, he spit out the rice she had made. "Whats wrong?" she asked. Rasheed got up and left the house. Mariam stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. All of a sudden Rasheed stormed in and demanded her to open her mouth. Mariam took a look at his palm and saw that it was filled with pebbles from the yard. "Open your mouth!" he demanded again. Finally, Rasheed forced her mouth open, put the pebbles in, and forced her jaw to chew it. After he was satisfied, he left...leaving Mariam on the floor covered in blood and with her teeth on the ground surrounding her.

When they arrived in Kabul, Mariam had never seen anything like it, since she lived in a KabaRasheed's home-nothing what the wives said it would be: his garden consisted of weeds and rocks, his house was not as big as Jalil's, but big, and the inside was dirty and crowded. When they got inside, he showed her to the room she would be staying in. They wouldn't be sharing a room, which Mariam was very grateful for. After he left for work, which was a shoe making shop he owned, she lay in bed all day without unpacking her things. Everyday when Rasheed would come home from work, he would tell her about his days at work and all the famous people he had made shoes for. Then one day he told her that she couldn't just lay in bed and not unpack her things; "this is not a hotel, its a home i have provided for you" Rasheed said. Rasheed was a tempered and sad man. Not too long ago, he had lost his wife, and then his son in a drowning accident. He had nothing left now, but a new wife. Mariam then decided that she must do something for him. When he rode off to work one day, she got up and started cleaning up the place and also started to cook Rasheed dinner. One day she needed to buy some dough, so got went outside and followed the other women walking to buy some. All of a sudden the women crowded around her and started yelling and saying "oh you must be Rasheed's new one!" "oh your so young!". Finally a helpful woman named Fariba came to her rescue. Fariba was the "gossip girl" of Kabul. She was also very pregnant. Scared to death, Mariam started running away, then fell and scrapped her knee. When she got up, she couldn't remember where she lived, so she had to keep going in different peoples fences until she got to the right one. After that whole ordeal, she never wanted to go out again. On Fridays, Rasheed didn't work, so he would usually take Mariam to the city of Kabul and give her a tour.


One day when Rasheed was done eating dinner he came up to Mariam's room to say goodnight. Right after he shut the room, he came back in and lay next to her in bed. He then started to squeeze Mariam's breasts roughly. "I cant do this now" Mariam said. Forcefully, Rasheed got on top of Mariam and forced himself into her. This wasn't really considered rape then because the men had all the control in the home. After he was done, he left. For the rest of the night she lay on her back looking at the ceiling in pain. Later, after a doctors visit, it was announced that she was pregnant. When Mariam heard those words, she started to feel so much joy. Rasheed too became happy. "It is a boy, i know it" he said. "What if it is a girl?" Mariam said. "If so, you can name her whatever you want" he said.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

After Nana's funeral, Jalil took Mariam in his arms. "You can stay with me" he said. When they arrived at his house, she was given the guest room to stay in. For a couple of days, she would lye in bed all day, not speaking to anyone. Jalil would always come in and try to talk to her, but nothing would work. Mariam was still angry at him for letting her sleep outside. After some days, One of Jalil's wives came into her room and told her to come downstairs. When she arrived downstairs, she was seated at the table, across from Jalil and all his wives. One of the wives started to talk to Mariam and told her that they had all agreed that it was time for her to get a suitor and that they have already found her one. Mariam started yelling. "Tell them you don't want to do this!" she said to Jalil; he couldn't even look at her. She knew that he didn't want this to happen, but he had to do this because his wives didn't want any suspicions about having a love child on the side. So it was decided. Mariam was to be married soon at the age of 15. The next day, Mariam got clean and was given a nice dress to wear. When she got downstairs she sat at the table with her suitor next to her. Rasheed was his name;40 some years old, reeked of smoke, and was a fairly big/strong man. After they were announced husband and wife, they headed out for the bus. "Wait!" Jalil said. Mariam said nothing. He then grabbed her tying to say something. "I never want to see your face ever again, leave me alone" she said. After that, she boarded the bus with Rasheed. The bus started to move, and she could see Jalil chasing after it, trying to say something to her...then they headed for Kabul.

The Odessy

In class, we have a essay (rough draft) due on Tuesday. my topic is if Odysseus is really a hero.

any thoguhts?!?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Today i finished book one. From where we left off, Mariam was on her way to town to find Jalil. After getting lost, Mariam asks an old man if he knows where Jalil lives. "Everyone knows Jalil's house!"he said; the kind old man ended up giving Mariam a ride for free. When Mariam arrived at Jalil's home, a woman with a tattoo over her lip opened the gates. "I am Jalil's daughter, i need to see him" Mariam said. The woman left, but a big man came back at the gate. He was Jalil's driver-he told Mariam to go home...that it was getting late and cold. Mariam said that she wouldn't leave until she saw Jalil. The man offered to give her a ride home, but she refused. When they closed the gates, Mariam sat on the ground and would not move. The woman with the tattoo came again but with food. Mariam refused to eat it, but eventually got very hungry and did so. After a long time, Mariam finally fell asleep, and had awoken with a blanket over her and the big man shaking her shoulder. When she got up, she immediately ran past him through the gates and into the garden. Then as she tried to get a glimpse of Jalil in the window the curtains closed and she was caught by the man. Kicking and screaming and crying, the man put Mariam in the backseat of his car. When they arrived in the valley, they got out and he started to walk her to her kaba. Before he could cover her eyes, Mariam saw the willow tree with a rope around it...with Nana hanging from it.

The odessy

So far, I feel that the book was very slow in the beginning, but more and more events started to come along the way. We also just took a quiz in class that i was very dissapointed about because we only had 1 hour for 20 questions...so i did quality vs. quantity. I feel that it should have been half of that. Only 2 or 3 people finished, and the rest of us had at least One and a half pages left.

thats just how i feel....

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is as powerful as his other novel "The Kite Runner" so far. In the book, Mariam is one of the 11 daughters Jalil has. Her mother Nana is one of the wives that doesn't live with Jalil. Instead he had people build her a kolba, which basically is a tiny little hut; no room. Nana has been through a lot and usually doesn't like Jalil's visits with Mariam because he abandoned her.
On Mariam's 15th birthday, Jalil payed a visit. "I know what I want" Mariam said. She told him she wanted him take her to the cinema. Jalil and Nana looked at each other with grief. He said that he couldn't do that. Mariam didn't get why. "Ill have my driver take you" Jalil said, but Mariam wanted him to take her. Then Jalil said he would meet her the next day to take her. Unfortunately when that day came he didn't show up, so she started for the town by herself.

I can feel bad things on the way....

My sisters keeper review

Overall, I think that Jodi Picoult is a fabulous author! Her writing is so powerful that it brought me to tears. In this book, I learned a lesson that not all families are perfect; people have to understand that everything is not going to be the way you want it sometimes and that you just have to deal and fight to get what you want.

This book showed me how 1 family dealt with like 100 problems! It was very sad to see that all their children had personal problems and in the end, some were not resolved. Unfortunately Anna dies which broke my heart because i did not see that coming! I hope families all around the world who have problems like these learn how to deal and not forget to love one another.

AHH I AM FINISHED!
Even through all the troubles the family went through with Kate and the disease, she does not die and survives the transplant. Out of no where, ANNA DIES! While Brian was on call, he was asked to go help with a horrible accident; a car had T-boned another car. While he was trying to get the badly injured bodies out of the car, he notices that one of the young girls in the car was Anna. Frantically, he tries to get her, but his partner red said that he had to calm down and let him take care of it. Anna was rushed to the hospital and Brian soon finds out that the person in the other car was Cambell and his dog. While they were leaving the courthouse they all got in this huge accident. The doctors later on tell Brian and Sara that Anna is brain dead and has to be on life support. Brian and Anna then decide to pull the plug. So, when Anna is dead, they take out her organ which is given to Kate, and she survives.

My sisters keeper

Sorry Its been a long time!
Campbell has a guide dog named Judge even though Campbell seems to have no disabilities. He keeps the purpose of the dog a secret. Julia and Campbell spend the night together with Campbell being the first one to leave. Feeling abandoned again, Julia is frustrated about her relationship with Campbell when he has a seizure during Anna's testimony. The purpose of the dog is to be a seizure dog. She discovers Campbell developed epilepsy after a wreck before graduation, and he broke up with her because he did not want to be a burden. She supports him, and they reunite. They eventually marry.

Much Ado About Nothing!!

In act 4 that we read in class today, Claudio ruins the wedding by accusing Hero that she is no longer a virgin. Leonato was furious, but Friar came up with a plan to pretend that Hero died so Claudio and don Pedro could feel bad, later on we will see what happens.

Also, Beatrice and Benedick confess their love for each other, but on one condition that Benedick fights Claudio because Beatrice was so angry that he had done this to her Hero.


More tomorrow!!