Monday 28 November 2016

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini


And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 
First published in May 2013.

I registered my copy of this book on BookCrossing

How I got this book:
Swapped for at a book exchange

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ten-year-old Abdullah would do anything for his younger sister. In a life of poverty and struggle, with no mother to care for them, Pari is the only person who brings Abdullah happiness. For her, he will trade his only pair of shoes to give her a feather for her treasured collection. When their father sets off with Pari across the desert to Kabul in search of work, Abdullah is determined not to be separated from her. Neither brother nor sister know what this fateful journey will bring them.
And the Mountains Echoed is a deeply moving epic of heartache, hope and, above all, the unbreakable bonds of love.

And The Mountains Echoed starts off with an interesting fable which is then reflected in the lives of young brother and sister Abdullah and Pari. Their story is beautifully told, poignant and ultimately heartbreaking. However this is only half of the book and I was disappointed by the melange of other tenuously connected tales that followed. Each is, of course, well-written and could have made good novels in their own right, but I felt that the disparate ideas within one book made for a confusing sprawling structure. It was often difficult to identify which character we had jumped to. And The Mountains Echoed is still certainly a good book, but I had thought both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were brilliant so this one does pale significantly in comparison.

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Books by Khaled Hosseini / Contemporary fiction / Books from Afghanistan

2 comments:

  1. Sad to read that this one didn't measure up. I also loved The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Sounds like after the half way mark there were just too many storylines for one book. I do really want to read another one from this author though!

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    1. This one is still very readable so do give it a try. I just think I would have thought more of it if I hadn't already read the other two!

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