February Book Club Selection

I had seen an interview with Khaled Hosseini on the Today Show and I was interested in reading one of his books, so I was very excited when I found out that this was the February selection for my book club.

This is an amazing book! I am not going to do a book report on it because I wouldn't want to ruin it for you, but I am going to share my thoughts on the book.

I have to admit that after 9-11 I have some fear of Muslims and the terrorist that are out there. This book made me realize that the people of Afghanistan are not all terrorist, but rather human beings that have been exploited and abused by the Soviet Union,the United States, the Taliban and their own warlords. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances and wars not only have the Afghanistan people been effected, but the whole world has been changed.

It also broke my hear to read about the abuse of the women and children in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. I can't fathom how a human being could beat, degrade and abuse people (especially women) the way that the Taliban has. This book even helped me understand why women would allow themselves to be hidden away under a burqa. Imagine being made to believe that you are worthless and living a life full of fear and physical, psychological, and emotional abuse and then imagine that you could cover your whole body and hide away from the world. The burqa hides your fear and your bruises and it must feel good to not have to look anyone in the eye.

This book was so eye opening for me. It also made me think about the struggles that refugees have to deal with. Khaled Hosseini has been an envoy for the UN refugee agency over the last year. I think it is admirable that he stands up and does something about the plight of refugees. He suggests visiting www.UNrefugees.org to get more information. It made me stop and think about what I could do in my own life. We have Burundian refugees at our church and there has been a plea for help for them in our bulletin, so I think that instead of just reading it, I am going to call the number and see what I can do to help.