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I've read many books focusing and educating us (quite rightly) on the traumas, restrictions and hostilities towards females under the Taliban rule. But what if you are an educated man that wants to hear his wife's laughter? Would love to walk beside her on the streets? Wants to see her face under the glow of the sun?

Here we see two marriages trying to hold onto humanity in a place where pleasure is a sin.

This book packs a punch.

This was hard to read - especially with everything that has happened in the past few weeks and because their lives are so different from anything I've experienced. It's the story of two couples and how their lives intersect during the last Taliban rule in Afghanistan. For #Booked2021 it's a book translated into English from French.
#ReadingAsia2021 @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Story is set in Kabul, that is under Taliban oppression and narrators of the story are men, but at the forefront is the fate of two women whose life intertwine after some events. As expected, the story is dark, heavy and the author has portrayed this gloomy atmosphere very well, and that, in my opinion, is also the strongest point of this story. #Afghanistan #ReadingAsia2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just didn't enjoy it at all and I can't really put my finger on why. Not memorable.

#booked2019 #muslimauthor #muslimMC

@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

In the novel, every action every character makes seems to be connected in some way, and the theme of fate and predestination is evident in the plot. In each of their lives, the characters experience violence, love, and survival that is all described to be part of their destinies. In addition, Khadra incorporates important details about Islamic fundamentalism and how complex the Muslim world truly is.

Currently reading. Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of a former Algerian army officer named Mohamed Mou-lessehoul. He was still in post when he wrote his first novel.

4.5 I have a penchant for depressing reads and this fits the bill. Some beautiful writing and poignant observations. I almost bailed in the first chapter because it felt like the translator had used a thesaurus which was distracting. But I‘m very glad I didn‘t because the rest was beautiful.

There are some wonderful passages in this novel. This one refers to the husband‘s participation in the public stoning of a “whore”, apparently quite out of character for him.

There is an earlier section of misogyny that was eye popping.

I had to share my new “Chase boy” mug I found on vacation. 🤗 He has a variety of colorful birds all along his back & tail. In real life my Lab would be chasing those birds. 😹

I just started the tagged book last night. It was translated from French, but the English feels “overwritten” in terms of the vocabulary used which is distracting.

Dramatic glimpse of a society where 'nothing turns out right..., neither joys nor sorrows'

Fast read with short chapters despite the intense topic. Definitely will continue to read more about this region.
Now off to continue the journey in the various Londons 😍😍

The shroud of condemnation

"In the middle of nowhere, a whirlwind spins like a sorceress flinging out her skirts in a macabre dance;"

So begins my next unflinchingly vivid journey into 'a dark antechamber'

My eyes popped at the blatant misogyny painted in this book

This short novel provides a brief look into the bleak lives of 4 people in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The characters are working through their complex feelings of anger, hopelessness and anxiety about their new way of life and their loss of freedom. The writing made me feel uncomfortable, in the good way that happens when you're forced to contemplate something horrible and vastly different from anything you've ever experienced. #booksintranslation