24 November 2009, Tuesday, 2337hrs

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Dear Stirlo

You were wrong to say that I was a hard-hearted fool on The Kite Runner. Hosseni perhaps did not touch me with Amir and Hassan, but he certainly did with Mariam and Laila.

Have you read this yet? I just wanted to tell you that this novel has touched me inside out, and this is by far the first book that made me teared, closed my eyes for those seconds to recount that my Today is far better than any of Laila's in the 1980s. It could be worse, but it was not. How can I compare in the first place, between a once-Soviet ruled country to the tiny dot on the world map? This is so irrelevant.

I miss you and wish you were here to share my thoughts about A Thousand Splendid Suns, just like how Mariam shared with Mullah Faizullah. I miss Erika too. I really do. She, who was so motherly and encouraged me to pick up Hosseni's second novel. I finally completed, and I have so much to share. I miss you both.

Here's something which shall remain in my heart, and since I cannot share with anyone else who appreciates Hosseini's talents, I shall write this to remind myself that Tomorrow is always a better day. After all, Mariam is absolutely right, What good is it, Laila jo? To translate, move on, Justin.

Here's a phrase from the seventeenth-century Persian poet, Saeb-e-Tabrizi, which I am sharing and dedicating to you and Erika:

"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls" Page 186, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I wish you both well in wherever you are in this world.

I miss you,
Jus