"And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini, is a story of how families love, betray, honour and make sacrifices for each other.
It reads like a collection of interconnected short stories with each character having a connection with the others.
Although sometimes Hosseini doesn't give you much time to catch your breath and make sense of who is who in some of the stories (before you are propelled into another), this can sometimes be forgiven for such lines like;
"I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us."
Hosseini himself has described the novel as more global and less "afghan centric" than his previous books; the characters are all impacted by the events in Afghanistan (the history of the country is less central to this novel), which is more about family, morals and the love between siblings.
The story is set in the present day and some of the stories bare striking resemblance to Hosseini himself- Afghan born, Californian based doctor, who struggles for the appropriate response on a visit to his birth land.
Some of the sections of the book have less justification than others and seem simply "put-in" for validity. For example, the story of the character narrated by the Greek doctor "Markos" in a (long) flashback, which tells of his friendship with "Thalia", a girl disfigured after being bitten by a dog. This seems to be inserted solely to explain why Markos chose to be a plastic surgeon and make his way to Afghanistan. While it was well written, it just seems to add further complexity to an already complex, multi-stranded plot.
While reading, i often felt i wanted the novel to have a smaller cast. Some of the characters struck me as so much more interesting than others, like that of "Pari" when she was taken away from her family. I wanted to read more about her/them and less of others.
I particularly liked the opening of the book, with a father telling his children the fable about the choice he has to make between his children to be sacrificed. It is a brilliant opening story to set readers up for the sacrifices other characters make later in the book.
I felt this wasn't a book i could easily read, in a sense of its not something you can pick up when you have a spare 20 minutes. I had to devote big chunks of time to the book to really divulge myself and sometimes i felt like i was rushing through some stories in order to get to others.
With all this being said, Hosseini wraps everything up very well and at the end of it readers can finally make sense of why everyone had a role in the book.
As always, Hosseini writes beautifully. As a reader i felt quite captivated and at times profoundly moved by some of the stories. Its is not a novel i would necessarily re-read, however i would definitely recommend it to other book lovers. I am looking forward to what's next!
-Carey
Hosseini has once again proved to be a master of the emotive story. He has managed to find tenderness in some of the most horrific circumstances imaginable, whilst captivating the reader.
The book left me feeling both sad and happy, shocked and relieved (that i have not had to go through such a level of hardship).
It deals with the extraordinary along with the mundane, in a way that it made it difficult to put the book down (i read most of it in a weekend).
A very satisfying read, my only criticism is that the story line tends to jump about a bit too much, making it difficult at times, to grasp the thread of where i was.
- Dave Howell
I found the book had too many characters, i enjoyed some stories more than others. I'm glad Hosseini has come away from Afghan more in this novel, his previous works are very Afghan central. I preferred "The Kite Runner" and found this one a disappointment in comparison to it.
As ever, Hosseini writes beautifully, and instantly grasps writers and absorbs them into the book. My criticism with Hosseini is he leaves so much time in between his books. I would like them to be more often and for him to try something of a different genre.
- Ann
In contrast, i enjoyed the jumps between stories as i feel the characters didn't need too much depth to be understood. It encompasses how morals can affect people's decisions and Hosseini had a good way of keeping readers in suspense and guessing to what would happen next.
Some of the countries the stories are set in, Hosseini assumes that the reader has some sort of cultural association with them (ie; Paris), which made it sometimes difficult to visualise places.
The characters are evocative and descriptive and the ending made the start poignant.
-April
I enjoyed all the different stories and points of views from the characters. I was especially intrigued by the story of Pari. The opening story made the rest of the book understandable. Throughout the book i felt such an array of emotions; happy, sad, confused, all of which i can honestly say no other book has made me feel that way.
-Autumn
At first i thought this book was a fantasy, as the opening story was misleading. Because of this i was disappointed in how the book suddenly changed genre. That said i enjoyed how the stories jumped and changed.
Pari and her brother have strong character likeability and it made the book quite sad and difficult to read at times. I particularly enjoyed the deep underlying point of morals.
The book could have almost been written backwards; the fable could have been at the beginning or end.
-David
It reads like a collection of interconnected short stories with each character having a connection with the others.
Although sometimes Hosseini doesn't give you much time to catch your breath and make sense of who is who in some of the stories (before you are propelled into another), this can sometimes be forgiven for such lines like;
"I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us."
Hosseini himself has described the novel as more global and less "afghan centric" than his previous books; the characters are all impacted by the events in Afghanistan (the history of the country is less central to this novel), which is more about family, morals and the love between siblings.
The story is set in the present day and some of the stories bare striking resemblance to Hosseini himself- Afghan born, Californian based doctor, who struggles for the appropriate response on a visit to his birth land.
Some of the sections of the book have less justification than others and seem simply "put-in" for validity. For example, the story of the character narrated by the Greek doctor "Markos" in a (long) flashback, which tells of his friendship with "Thalia", a girl disfigured after being bitten by a dog. This seems to be inserted solely to explain why Markos chose to be a plastic surgeon and make his way to Afghanistan. While it was well written, it just seems to add further complexity to an already complex, multi-stranded plot.
While reading, i often felt i wanted the novel to have a smaller cast. Some of the characters struck me as so much more interesting than others, like that of "Pari" when she was taken away from her family. I wanted to read more about her/them and less of others.
I particularly liked the opening of the book, with a father telling his children the fable about the choice he has to make between his children to be sacrificed. It is a brilliant opening story to set readers up for the sacrifices other characters make later in the book.
I felt this wasn't a book i could easily read, in a sense of its not something you can pick up when you have a spare 20 minutes. I had to devote big chunks of time to the book to really divulge myself and sometimes i felt like i was rushing through some stories in order to get to others.
With all this being said, Hosseini wraps everything up very well and at the end of it readers can finally make sense of why everyone had a role in the book.
As always, Hosseini writes beautifully. As a reader i felt quite captivated and at times profoundly moved by some of the stories. Its is not a novel i would necessarily re-read, however i would definitely recommend it to other book lovers. I am looking forward to what's next!
-Carey
Hosseini has once again proved to be a master of the emotive story. He has managed to find tenderness in some of the most horrific circumstances imaginable, whilst captivating the reader.
The book left me feeling both sad and happy, shocked and relieved (that i have not had to go through such a level of hardship).
It deals with the extraordinary along with the mundane, in a way that it made it difficult to put the book down (i read most of it in a weekend).
A very satisfying read, my only criticism is that the story line tends to jump about a bit too much, making it difficult at times, to grasp the thread of where i was.
- Dave Howell
I found the book had too many characters, i enjoyed some stories more than others. I'm glad Hosseini has come away from Afghan more in this novel, his previous works are very Afghan central. I preferred "The Kite Runner" and found this one a disappointment in comparison to it.
As ever, Hosseini writes beautifully, and instantly grasps writers and absorbs them into the book. My criticism with Hosseini is he leaves so much time in between his books. I would like them to be more often and for him to try something of a different genre.
- Ann
In contrast, i enjoyed the jumps between stories as i feel the characters didn't need too much depth to be understood. It encompasses how morals can affect people's decisions and Hosseini had a good way of keeping readers in suspense and guessing to what would happen next.
Some of the countries the stories are set in, Hosseini assumes that the reader has some sort of cultural association with them (ie; Paris), which made it sometimes difficult to visualise places.
The characters are evocative and descriptive and the ending made the start poignant.
-April
I enjoyed all the different stories and points of views from the characters. I was especially intrigued by the story of Pari. The opening story made the rest of the book understandable. Throughout the book i felt such an array of emotions; happy, sad, confused, all of which i can honestly say no other book has made me feel that way.
-Autumn
At first i thought this book was a fantasy, as the opening story was misleading. Because of this i was disappointed in how the book suddenly changed genre. That said i enjoyed how the stories jumped and changed.
Pari and her brother have strong character likeability and it made the book quite sad and difficult to read at times. I particularly enjoyed the deep underlying point of morals.
The book could have almost been written backwards; the fable could have been at the beginning or end.
-David
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