This is THE BEST book I have ever read in my life. I am a soldier who just returned from Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom a couple of days ago.

I was in modern Kabul just a couple of months ago. Having been there, it made me innately curious to read about the place in this fictional book by Khaled Hosseini. I kept having to remind myself that it was fiction, because it seemed like a true life story with the author's vivid descriptions and accounts of events and life there.

The book is graphic and disturbing and took me from shock and awe in places to very heartfelt moments. I would say it is important reading for anyone interested in modern Afghanistan.