This novel is different from his first two novels, and it is similar to a collection of short stories. The whole novel is divided into nine chapters, with nine different characters as the first person to tell the story.
Character 1: Sabl, the father of Abdullah and Paley.
At the beginning of this book, Husseini told us a wonderful and sad story with the help of Saber. There are many stories in my father Saber's head. He is an honest man selling coolies. So brothers and sisters often have good stories to listen to, but sometimes dad is unhappy or tired, and it is too late, so he often doesn't tell them stories. Or just one.
This time, this story about the demon king coming to the village to steal children was told very late, and it was difficult to beat his brothers and sisters. And this story is by no means an ordinary story. Husseini predicted the tragic fate of their family with the inevitable result of the ferocity and strength of the demon king and the cowardice and helplessness of the farmers.
Fortunately, Baba, a child who was taken away by the devil, experienced the devil's test twice, and had the opportunity to see that his child was not eaten by the devil, but had fun with so many lively and lovely children in the fairy tale garden.
Baba saw this scene behind the scenes, feeling gratified and complicated. But in the end, he chose to give up again, drank the black liquid the devil gave him before he left, and forgot everything he saw here. His beloved son will never exist in his real world again.
However, in spite of this, in the heart of this father, his debt and yearning for his son, as well as his inner sadness, are with him all his life.
Smart readers have long realized Husseini's intentions, and this story is the story of Baba's helplessness in selling his daughter Paley.
Character 2: Brother Abdullah, who regards his sister as a treasure.
Although Abdullah is only 10 years old and his sister Paley is three years older than him, their brotherhood is particularly deep. Due to the death of his mother and the hard work of his father, Abdullah took the initiative to take care of his sister. His sister was almost brought up by him. He felt that it was God's mission to take care of his sister Paley.
So, when my father put my sister on a red Lele car and they were going to Kabul, he would follow even if he was beaten. Although he didn't know what his father was going to do with his sister.
In order to make a living and prevent the children at home from starving, my father sold Bali to a wealthy family in Kabul through the introduction of his wife and brother Abdullah's uncle Nabi. That is, the Wahdati family where Nabi is a chef and driver.
Thus, the separation of life and death of a family began, and 60 years of joys and sorrows were staged here.
However, the author Housainy did not let us pay close attention to their tragic fate, but led our eyes in other directions.
Character 3: Parvana, a woman who made an irreparable mistake because of jealousy.
Parvana, Abdullah's stepmother, Saber's second wife. She likes Sabl since she was a child, and so does her twin sister Masooma. But she, Parvana, is not as good as her sister in character or appearance. Sabl likes her sister.
Finally, Parvana pushed his sister off the branch, and Masuma was paralyzed. Parvana can't escape the torture of guilt, so she has been taking care of her sister's daily life. Neither of them was able to marry their beloved Sabl.
Love and jealousy lead to irreparable evil, which indicates that the sisters' next life is full of tragedy. Later, Masooma finally persuaded her sister to abandon herself in vilen to fend for herself. So Parvana can marry Sabl who lost his wife and needed a woman to support her life.
This is human nature, selfish human nature, cowardly human nature, which makes people unable to tell and write. There is love, care, reluctance, helplessness, cruelty and sin.
Character 4: Nabi, Parvana and Masoma's brother.
Nabi is the initiator of the main story in the book. Although he is inconspicuous among many characters in the story, the key plot of Vahdati's adoption of Paley happened under his arrangement.
He was employed by Mr. Wahdati as a driver and cook. When he had time, he drove out on business with his beautiful young new wife, and gradually he fell in love with her, Nella.
Nabi arranged for Sabl to sell his daughter Parry to Vahdadi's house for the survival of his sister Parvana and Nyla's heart.
Let's not judge Nabi's behavior for a while. Let's just say that the tragedy of the Sabl family has already formed, but Nabi himself failed to get what he wanted.
Shortly after Paley came to Vahdadi's house, Vahdadi suffered a stroke, and Nyla took her daughter Paley to Paris. Nabi flatly gave up the idea of pursuing Nyala and stayed to take care of the boss alone. These days, he was surprised to find that Mr. Vahdati had a crush on himself for a long time. Although he couldn't accept such a thing for a while, he felt that he was very kind to himself and decided to stay and take care of his boss and spend the rest of his life with him.
This passage is very touching. Although Nabi is poor, he is handsome, natural and unrestrained, capable and organized. The important thing is that he is kind and kind-hearted. Husseini initially arranged for him to sell his brother-in-law's daughter, which seemed so hateful and intolerable, but fortunately Husseini finally gave him a chance to make up for this sin. Although decades have passed, everything has already changed.
Role 5: Afghan-American doctor Idris
Idris is the son of Nabi and Wahdati's neighbors, and his family fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. In 2003, he returned to Afghanistan with his narcissistic and naive cousin Timur, hoping to recapture the land left by his family.
During his stay in Afghanistan, he felt deeply about the situation in his country and condemned his original intention of returning to China. In the hospital, he met his orphan daughter Luo Shi, sympathized with her tragic situation and decided to pay for her to go to the United States for surgery. However, when he returned to America, he lost the motivation to help her. It is also revealed in the story that it was Timur who finally funded Roche's action.
Through Idris, Housainy described and expressed his experience as an exiled Afghan and the differences between them and local Afghans. In other words, when the motherland was killed, some of these people left, even if they left, they still cared about the motherland, while others seemed to have nothing to do with Afghanistan.
Character 6: Nyala, a young Afghan poetess.
For a long time, the image of Nyla in our hearts has always been a rich woman. Although she is eccentric, she is also very sensitive and kind. Although she is cold to her husband, she is friendly and respectful to Nabi, her servant, and dotes on Paley, her adopted daughter.
With the development of the plot, she went to Paris. After she became famous, her identity, present and past true temperament were all presented to us.
Her poems are famous for their sexual implications. She is extremely beautiful, straightforward and always dissatisfied with life. Perhaps, it is because of her temperament that she has an unfortunate life.
Her poems are frank and bold, casual, smoking and drinking. All these are incompatible with and run counter to the Afghan people's cultural tradition of restraining women. Before the story happened, her uterus was removed due to illness and she lost her fertility. Even if she buys Paley as her own daughter, we can see that Paley doesn't agree with her.
She is a beautiful, arrogant, ambitious and narcissistic woman. Finally, although she was very ill, she committed suicide.
She is a rebel against all Afghan women who are discriminated against and oppressed. She seems to have succeeded and become a promising young poet. However, it seems not, because her fame is abroad, in developed and progressive Paris. However, in Afghanistan, her poems can never be made public.
Role 7: Adel, son of Afghan war criminals
Adele, who grew up in an isolated mansion, has always witnessed her father donating money to help others and build schools. His parents tried their best to create an illusion in front of him. And he never doubted all this and thought his father was a war hero.
But when he got to know Gholam, he gradually realized the true face of his father. It turns out that his father is a war criminal and has been making huge profits by drug trafficking. Although he felt that he had been hit hard and suffered a great deal, in the end, when he stood in front of the open space, he imagined the life scene of poor workers. "When he turned and walked home, the biggest feeling was comfort." He will unconsciously accept his new identity.
Some wicked people originated from initial cowardice and depravity.
Character 8: Marcos, a plastic surgeon from Aegean Sea, Greece.
At the invitation of Aram, Marcos went to Afghanistan to help local children and lived in houses in Nabi and Wahdati.
He is the second doctor in this book and one of many international friends who come to Afghanistan to help. The first time I studied medicine, I was a good friend who was attacked by a vicious dog when I was a child and then had poor plastic surgery. What inspired him to travel around the world and eventually become a medical volunteer in developing countries stems from his strong desire to escape from his mother since he was a child.
Husseini gave Marcos a happy ending. At the end of the story, he vaguely felt that what we lost did not seem irreversible.
Character 9: Aunt and niece, two Paleys.
After a long detour, Husseini finally brought us into the original story in the ninth chapter, and the protagonist of the story finally reunited. In the past 60 years, things have changed, and people have changed.
When my sister Paley came to her brother who didn't exist in her memory, she was worried about her for decades, but her brother Abdullah, who had been looking for decades, couldn't recognize her because of illness.
In Abdullah's mind, his life was full of sadness. He gave his daughter the same name as his sister. I was crazy about Paley, and I kept looking until I found my illness. I still held the hope and belief of finding my sister, and left my sister's favorite feather to my daughter to help him fulfill his long-cherished wish.
In Paley, she is luckier than her brother. 3 years old, she doesn't remember much. All along, the faint lack in my heart is a response to my brother.
Husseini said that the experience of the two brothers and sisters echoed the plot of "erasing memory" in the story told by his father at the beginning, and "memory" itself was both beautiful and cruel.
So, Paley can't remember what "those beautiful feathers" are.
However, this reunion of brother and sister is not what we expected.