A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear

Item: A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear
Author: WhichBook

Atiq Rahimi

The political and religious tragedy of Afghanistan is made clear in this deceptively simple story of a drunken student who is in the wrong place - twice. Highly recommended for those who have read 'The Kite Runner' and want to try an Afghani author whose work is less Westernised in its format. And for all who just want to try to understand a beautiful, tragic country.

Extract

Shrouded in her veil, crazy with grief, my mother sheds her tears in the backstreets of the ignorant city before finally reaching our home. She wrapped up her distress in the veil and gave it back to the laundry-woman. She squirrelled herself away in the safety of her kitchen to rewash the clean dishes. When the laundry-woman left, she took all the clean linen off the clothesline and washed it all again.

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