My Favorite Maxim

"28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances."

This maxim from Sun Tzu's The Art of War stands out to me more than any other maxim in the story. In most circumstances, if something works, you stick to it. For example: if studying with flashcards helps a student get an A on their test, they will always study with flashcards. This is not the case with an army at war. If a specific strategy leads an army to a victory, they cannot use that strategy again because their enemy will expect it. If an army decides to attack their enemy at night and that leads them to success, they can never attack at night again because their enemy will be on higher guard at night from that point on. An army has to use different strategies at every battle if they want to win.

I added this picture to my blog because it says "Be Original" which is what a good army has to do if they want to continuously win battles. They have to think of original tactics so the enemy cannot predict their moves.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns Commentary Topic: How the Book Was Written

Khaled Hosseini, the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns, used very interesting writing tactics for this book. The book was written in four parts, with different points of view, and multiple plot lines. Another thing that Hosseini did that I found intriguing was how he made the separate plot lines intertwine. Most people love this style of writing since it’s less common but I think that there are ups and downs with Khaled’s writing strategies.

            Although the fact that A Thousand Splendid Suns is written in four parts is exciting, I think it can confuse readers. Because each part starts with a different persons point of view, I was easily confused while reading this book. I think that the author could have made it a bit clearer who was narrating each part of the book. Otherwise I found that having four parts made the book more fun to read.

            In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the story lines intertwine. Mariam and Laila’s lives are separate at the beginning of parts one and two but the two girls’ lives crossed at the end of part two. I actually have nothing negative to say about how Khaled made the plots interweave. It did not seem like it was forced or unnatural. The way that Hosseini made Mariam and Laila come together felt very believable and normal to me. I really enjoyed how Mariam and Laila worked together despite their differences. Overall Khaled Hosseini’s novel was very impressive to me and I highly recommend reading it.

Book Cover^^