Kite Runner/Thousand Splendid Suns

Two books...same author...both splendid.
I had made a promise that when i had my head all about, I would write more on these two books. Well the Kite runner is now a movie too...(but I cant bring myself to finish the movie, not matter how hard i try. it is very rare for books to move me to tears...but these two could move the toughest to tears. The movie...makes it even hard to watch it because you cry, you laugh, and become angry, joyful all at the same time...
To think of a culture so distinctly different from the one here(US), you have to wonder if there is knob missing somewhere.
Both books explore a theme of adultery, and how such an offense is dealt with, in both cases-execution. Their moral codes are( or maybe used to be) of the highest order, yet, in the eyes of the american society, oppressive to women. For the women looking from the outside in, we see women who have no freedom, those who are living with double standards, and education is a privilege.(something that is slowly changing...thankfully)
To slowly move into a tangent here...but double standards are found everywhere, por ejemplo...women, so delicate(or expect to be treated so...but want the same rights as men)....or the whores are women, but men are just men when they sleep around...double standards...they are everywhere.
okay, back to the books.
So the thought is then, what is society's influence on individual choices? I mean this to imply to the fact that these women have no way out of that cultural boundary they have been put in...or do they? Can they possibly escape? or would women do what Mariam(A thousand splendid suns) did by sacrificing her own life so that her co-wife(for lack of a better word) would have a better life?
Here is another question, are we all then victims of our own cultures or benefactors? I was almost at loggerheads with my brother over this issue a couple of weeks ago. I admit...being raised in an african society has given me some prejudices that are hard to get over. So it is not surprise that I find it surprising that men can cook as well as women, if not better. Shocking! lol
I love these books, and I've read them more than I should, and I will probably read them again. There is a lot of history, and for a history lover, i cant get enough of that.
Hosseini is probably one of the most talented authors i've come across.
So definately, if you ever have the chance, grab the books and they are worth every penny