By Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 1400033764
Release Date: 2005-04-12
List Price: USD 12.00
Paperback
Buy it from: amazon.com ( from US$ 6.76)
Book description:
Set in Kabul under the rule of the Taliban, this extraordinary novel takes readers into the lives of two couples: Mohsen, who comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers whom the Taliban has destroyed; Zunaira, his wife, exceedingly beautiful, who was once a brilliant teacher and is now no longer allowed to leave her home without an escort or covering her face. Intersecting their world is Atiq, a prison keeper, a man who has sincerely adopted the Taliban ideology and struggles to keep his faith, and his wife, Musarrat, who once rescued Atiq and is now dying of sickness and despair.
Desperate, exhausted Mohsen wanders through Kabul when he is surrounded by a crowd about to stone an adulterous woman. Numbed by the hysterical atmosphere and drawn into their rage, he too throws stones at the face of the condemned woman buried up to her waist. With this gesture the lives of all four protagonists move toward their destinies.
The Swallows of Kabul is a dazzling novel written with compassion and exquisite detail by one of the most lucid writers about the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists and the complexities of the Muslim world. Yasmina Khadra brings readers into the hot, dusty streets of Kabul and offers them an unflinching but compassionate insight into a society that violence and hypocrisy have brought to the edge of despair.</p>
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Reviews from people like you (1)
2 out of 3 found this helpful: An Eye Opener
Jebbie74(Torono)
I wasn't sure how much or how little I would enjoy reading "The Swallows of Kabul".
It was quite an eye-opener to read about a woman living in the middle of Kabul who would not leave her home as she refused to wear the traditional burka. It was also interesting to read about how some families were so afraid of "big brother" that they would not even speak ill of the Taliban within the confines of their own home.
To read of the stoning was dishearteneing, but atleast the author had the decency of not explaining in graphic detail about the whole ceremony. I am not usually adverse to gory details, but I felt that some sense of decorum needed to be upheld, and the author wrote that nicely.
I also expected there to be a "happily ever after" type of ending, and was very surprised to have the story end the way it did (although I truly do understand why it was written that way.) 2007-02-12 16:34 | comment
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