And the Mountains Echoed

objectively, i know this is a good book,,,

subjectively, i had to read this for school & so, i'm basically conditioned to hate it already ¯_(ツ)_/¯

“You say you felt a presence, but I only sensed an absence”

Being completely honest, I found it a lot harder to connect with this book., It lacks the cohesion of Kite Runner & Thousand Splendid Suns. Sticking with it and finishing it, however was hugely satisfying and yes, I was a blubbering mess at the end.

Khaled Hosseini's “And the Mountains Echoed” tells many stories across generations and places. It shows Afghanistan before major changes very well, but the story moves slowly and feels broken up. Each chapter brings in new characters and plots, which can make the story feel less focused. Even though there aren't many exciting parts, Hosseini's writing paints a clear picture of Afghan life and culture, making it an engaging, though slow, read.

This just wasn’t as good as The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns, I’ll just say that up front. I hate saying that because those books are very good books, but this one just felt disjointed and not altogether what I was hoping for from Hosseini.

Abdullah and Pari, brother and sister, grow up in a small village in Afghanistan—at least, until their father, lured in with money by his brother, sells Pari off to a well-off family in Kabul, breaking the two apart for the rest of their lives. Apart from the very beginning and the very end, the rest of this book concerns tangential people in Afghanistan and Paris, people who have contact with either Abdullah or Pari, or people related to them, and we hear their stories unfolding alongside these two siblings. A doctor, a neighbor, a friend of the family, several generations of stories are included here, all with their own related story that we hear instead of resolving what happens to Abdullah and Pari.

It’s an interesting format, but the feel of the whole book was like a compilation of short stories more than it is a cohesive whole. Some of these short stories are written well and compelling, but others (the one involving the son of the commander comes to mind) felt rushed and incomplete. These could be entire books in their own right if given the time and the pages, but instead are condensed down into 80 or so pages each. It just made the whole thing feel fragmented. I also wasn’t quite satisfied with the resolution to the "main" Abdullah/Pari story either, because we spend so much time on other characters, I never really got to know them enough to really feel invested in what happens.

I don’t know, this was kind of a miss for me. Still a decent book, but I feel like it isn’t the author’s best work by a long shot.

I think the only reason I bumped a star up is because I found it a lot less depressing and shocking than his other works

I had high hopes (or rather standards) for And The Mountains Echoed considering the undying adoration for Hosseini's first two novels. This one was really disappointing in the way that it read. My main issue was that it had too many characters; it jumped from one to another, breaking up the story and causing me to flip back through the book multiple times trying to figure out who this character now telling the story is. Hosseini broke up this story into pieces, so many pieces that I honestly don't know what story he was trying to tell anymore. It lacked in feeling and flow and made me yearn for the powerful voice I read in The Kite Runner. I won't stop reading Hosseini but I won't have such high hopes for his next book and that's what is most disappointing.

Khaled Hosseini writes gripping fiction here that pulls out the import of each of the choices and actions we make. This story is far less difficult to read, graphically, than The Kite Runner and takes a different perspective than A Thousand Splendid Suns ( which is a fantastic novel). The tragedy of human relationships, mental blocks, fears, and loves are magnified through the lives of generations.

Characters are developed internally, so the reader can relate to their views, biases, hopes, and pains while still able to see the characters mistakes and misjudgments by having the bigger picture supplied by other characters.

The story is certainly a tragedy (to me) but it is beautiful and real. Read it!

Okay, what the fuck just happened?
The writing is gorgeous of course but the story, I mean what the hell? I liked the different point of views but it started well and then it didn't go on as well as it did before.
And the whole account of Markos's life, I mean what the hell was the point of that? Instead, I would want a full account of Pari's visit to Kabul from his point of view. that would have been nicer. But the 70 pages of pointless rambling about his life back in Greece was that, pointless, meaningless, boring, and frustrating. I got so angry when I was reading that that at the end of that chapter I left the book for a whole day
I hate you for doing this Khaled.
I want to slaughter you in your sleep.



And the ending, I mean what the fuck? That's your idea of a reunion? I mean no hugs, no kisses, nothing? Just a fucking sad and pointless and unsatisfactory ending no matter how "realistic" it seems on the outside.
To me, Khaled was relying on the emotions he can spring from his vivid description of suffering and not actual skill or story telling.
This was a huge disappointment.
I was willing to give a 4 stars review up until the last 140 pages when he blew it.
Oh, and Khaled, you know what?
FUCK
YOU.



AND A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS AND THE KITE RUNNER WERE A LOT BETTER.


FUCK
YOU
AGAIN
INFINITELY


I HAD PUT MY WHOLE BELIEF IN FAITH IN YOU, KHALED!!!!! AND YOU FUCKING DISAPPOINTED ME!!

I absolutely love a Thousand Splendid Suns. This one wasn't quite as gripping, but it was definitely still worth the read.

I'm usually not a fan of books with more than a handful of main characters. This author, surprisingly, made it fairly easy to keep up with who was who and why we're hearing about them.

So... in short, not as good as the first book I read by him, but good enough to make me want to check out The Kite Runner.

P.S. It probably deserves 3 and a half stars if I had that option.

Review originally featured on Quiet or Loud? The Mind of a Young Lady: https://bookreadersthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/and-the-mountains-echoed-by-khaled-hosseini/

This is the first book I have read by Khaled Hosseini. I have heard that his book The Kite Runner is a very good book. In And the Mountains Echoed, every chapter is narrated by a different person, and each is a first-person narration. The time period is this book span over many years with the book sometimes going back in time (usually some years before the chapter that preceded it). This book also took place in many different locations, such as Paris in France, Kabul in Afghanistan, California in the United States and Tinos in Greece. I liked the theme of family that was presented in this book. When this book starts a father is telling a story of a father losing his favorite child to his children on the way to do a job. A story in which well eventually become true to them in a different way from the family in their father's story. The father has his two children with him, Abdullah and Pari, even though Abdullah was supposed to stay at home. The father ends up selling Pari to a wealthy family by the name of Wahdati, which breaks Abdullah's heart because he has lost his sister.

Why did the father sell Pari? How does this affect Abdullah's family ? Will Abdullah ever see Pari again? How will Pari's presence affect Nila and Suleiman Wahdati? And are they prepared for parenthood?

When it came to reading this book I was very hooked for the first 4 chapters. After those chapters, the book really dragged for me. I started this book as part of a group read in January, but I didn't finish it with the rest of the group. I ended up finishing this book in March. The ending was pretty amazing, so I guess he saved the best stories for last. There were a lot of things I didn't understand. It seemed like every character's story had a sad part to it and it made me a little insensitive to some characters because I was expecting a sad story. However, I did like that every chapter was from a different point of view. It made some stories that involved more than one character a little more understanding, and makes you able to understand why some of the things happened the way they did.

I would probably read more books by this author because when I looked at reviews for this book, many people said his other books are way better than this one. Therefore, I still have some faith in Khaled Hosseini. Also, this book wasn't that bad of a read to make me not read anything else by him.

I would probably encourage others to read this book, but those people would have to be people that have already read a book by Khaled Hosseini. I wouldn't want this book to be the book they based their decision of him as an author on. It is a good book, but I wouldn't to highly recommend a book that I sat aside for about 2 months before actually finishing it.

I was on the edge between giving this 3 or 4 stars.

I really enjoyed the way all of the stories tied together without being so obvious. A beautiful and sad story.

A beautiful book about the love between a brother and sister and by making one choice, the circumtances than span for more than 50 years.

Beautiful book. The character-crafting and word economy is impressive.

Wonderful

I didn't like this book as much as Hosseini's other books and actually struggled to get through it in places. I nearly gave up about 40 pages to the end but I knew that the main story would eventually resolve itself (and I was satisfied in how it did).

I guess my only complaint is the sidestory of the doctor (this isn't really a spoiler). I understand that the character is important and that the story is important to why he's important but it seemed like a diversion and was the hardest part for me to get through.

Amazing. I loved how the author weaved the stories of all of the characters together. Such a great story :)

I own Hosseini's first two novels, but I STILL have not read them. I will be getting to those soon!

Must read, as are all of Hosseini's books. Particularly gut-wrenching of the three.