And the Mountains Echoed

By Khaled Hosseini

From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Richard & Judy Summer Book Club pick

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: May 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781408842447

Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. His first novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, published in forty countries. In 2006 he was named a U.S. envoy to UNHCR, The United Nations Refugee Agency. He lives in northern California.

Reviews for And the Mountains Echoed

[midkid88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an okay book for me. It almost kept my interest. It had good solid characters but not the ones I'm into as much.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the start of this book as it focused on the close relationship between brother and sister, Pari and Abdullah, but after a while I lost interest in all the different, intertwining stories even though they came full-circle after a fifty-five year gap. For me, "And the Mountains Echoed" lacked the beauty and emotional appeal of the author's first two books. A disappointment!

[patl_53 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful, simple storytelling. I love the imagery and the characters. I was hoping for a bit more complexity in the interrelationships, but a good book. I will read more of Husseini.

[debbiemccauley-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1952: 10-year-old Abdullah and his 3-year-old sister Pari live in a remote and impoverished village in rural Afghanistan. Abdullah has raised Pari since their mother died giving birth to her. The family is very poor, so much so that one of their stepmother’s babies died from the cold. Their father decides to sell Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul for whom their uncle works as a chauffeur. On the way to Kabul, their father tells the children a story about another poor farmer who was forced to give up a beloved child. The significance of the story doesn’t register with Abdullah, until he realises what his father has done. The following chapters are told from the perspective of different characters, similar to a collection of short stories, but with the various narratives woven together. The other characters include their uncle Nabi, stepmother Parwana (who caused her twin sisters paraplegia and became her caregiver), Pari’s adoptive mother Nila (narcissistic poet) and her husband Mr. Wahdati, neighbours and cousins Idris (Afghan-American doctor) and Timur, Roshi (suffered terrible injuries when an uncle murdered her family), Amra (Bosnian nurse looking after Roshi in an Afghan hospital), Markos (Greek plastic surgeon working in Afghanistan), Thalia (friend of Markos, attacked by a dog as a child and victim of botched surgery), Adel (son of a wealthy war criminal) and Pari (daughter of Abdullah). 58 years later, in 2010, Abdullah and Pari are reunited in California. It’s not the happy ending though, as Abdullah is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is upset by her presence. These complex characters and their stories are set against Afghanistan’s tumultuous history; from the pre-Soviet era through the years of the mujahedeen’s fight against the Soviet Union, the rise of the Taliban and the American invasion after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. The major theme is sibling relationships tied up with guilt and gratitude and affected by the past and present. A complex and well written novel by deeply insightful Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini.

[beth.clarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hosseini writes with wonderful imagery. The relationships between siblings and those that feel like siblings is heartfelt. I got a little lost with the narration which I'm guessing others will find intriguing. For me, not as enjoyable at The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns, but definitely a very good read.

[loveatfirstbook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After months of waiting for it, And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini finally came in from the library! And it was worth the wait for sure!And the Mountains Echoed is a story about family and connections, about having and loss, about remembering and forgetting. . . It’s amazing.Khaled Hosseini really did it again with this one. I loved The Kite Runner, enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I have to say that And the Mountains Echoed lived up to the author’s fabulous reputation as a writer.This book should be on your to-read list. And so should his other novels, especially The Kite Runner.One of my favorite things about this author is . . . For the full review, visit Love at First Book

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

while in general i like his writing style, with this book i was disappointed. the start was great an pd i got engaged with thr characters but thrn he started to trll the story of the side characters to eventually come back to the main characters. i wish it would have been a more streamline story and not a style break but all in a sudden starting to tell the story out of other characters views.

[lesliehurd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy each of Hosseini's books more than the last. While primarily set in Afghanistan, this book doesn't center on war or politics as did The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. And The Mountains Echo is a study of people, their relationships, and the impact their choices make on the individual and those whose lives they touch. The story begins when a poverty stricken father gives up his daughter Pari, who he can't afford to support, to a life he hopes will provide her what he can't. In the process, he breaks the heart of his son Abdullah who loves Pari like a father and will remember and search for her the rest of his life. That first decision ripples through families, time, and countries, covering three generations and sharing stories of love and betrayal between husbands and wives, sisters, employers and employees, doctors and patients. Hosseini has the ability to let us care about all his characters, even those whose selfish choices damages themselves and those around them. This was heartbreaking, and heartwarming, and completely engaging. He writes with complexity and ambiguity and beautiful language. I highly recommend this book.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

And the Mountains Echoed opens in an Afghan village in 1952. Abdullah and Pari plead with their father to tell them the legendary story of a div (evil giant) who knocks on the door of a poor family's house and demands the man give him his favorite child. The child is thrown into a sack, taken away, and never seen again. Years later the father, still consumed by grief, goes in search of his child and finds him living in the lavish palace of the div. Given the choice, should he take his child back, returning to him to a life of hard toil and misery, or leave him in luxury? The next day Abdullah's father takes him and his sister to Kabul where he leaves one of them with a wealthy childless couple in the hope of helping his family make it through the harsh winter. The separation of the siblings leads to a novel built as a series of stories, each told in a different style and from different viewpoints. At first it's a bit confusing because it skips backward and forward in time, as well as with multiple characters. The author was skillful at turning this complex, multi-stranded plot into one long sweeping novel rather than a collection of short stories. I've owned this book since it's publication and for some reason have never picked it up. Maybe it's because A Thousand Splendid Suns was one of my very favorite books and I didn't want to be disappointed in a possibly over hyped book. I'm glad I finally took the opportunity to read and enjoy this beautifully written story.

[rascalstar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another good read from Hosseini. I will read any novel he writes, after reading the first three. The only thing I didn't like about this one was the way the story jumps around. This format seems extremely common in books in the last few years, and it's mostly annoying. It works sometimes but not all the time. If the reader is forced to stop and backtrack to find out how something relates, then the story doesn't have good flow. For all editors and authors reading this, don't use this format unless it truly works with the book. And a little goes a long way.

In all fairness, I was moving across country while reading this and have much to think about. Still, the writing was engaging, as usual, but the format jumped around too much.

If you liked other books by this author, this one won't disappoint.

[johnwbeha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much as I enjoyed this book, I would not place it alongside Hosseini's earlier works, mainly because it is a little fragmented for my taste and not all of the fragments work within the context of the whole. While the Afghanistan elements combine well over the long period of the book, I found the later European sections less compelling.
So, a slight disappointment, but still a book well worth reading and one which I will remember over the years to come.

[josephking6602 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

AN "OK" book, but I liked his earlier books better. It might have been better-positioned as a collection of short stories which it essentially was!

[rena75 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

And the Mountains Echoed

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini And the Mountains Echoed And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled HosseiniI liked this book but I found it a little difficult to follow all the characters at times. Hosseini weaves a complicated fabric of the past and present and how each life has progressed. I would have liked to have known more about the lives of some of the main characters and the one fault of the book is that it seems to jump around a lot from times and places and leaves you somewhat dissatisfied and wanting to know more

[goldiebear · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did not like this book as much as his previous ones, but I still liked it. It was more short stories than anything and just went I got really excited about one of the characters or the plot, it was over. I really like the story about the twin sisters and I really wish there would have been more about what happened next. That being said, I really did enjoy it. I will always look forward to more books by Hosseini.

[brenzi_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

”So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. But just the one. Don’t either of you ask me for more…Listen, both of you, listen well.”So begins Khaled Hosseini’s new novel, his first in six years but, somehow, it seems so much longer than that. Also, it’s not too soon to get out the tissues because this book induces one crying jag after another. The fable that Saboor tells his two children, Pari and Abdullah, in Afghanistan, sets the stage for a multigenerational saga that spans more than half a century, and crosses three continents. And honestly, who better than Hosseini, to prove to us once again the resilience of family and love and honor and betrayal and respect for one another? He does it so well and so ably with storytelling skills not to be rivaled.The book almost reads like a series of interconnected short stories which really plays to Hosseini’s skill as a storyteller. And it’s hard to summarize without giving away too much. So let me just say that Pari and Abdullah are there in 1952, with the telling of the fable and they continue to be important characters in the story throughout the book. But Hosseini also extends the connections to brothers, sisters, cousins and caretakers, and expands his tale from Afghanistan to France, Greece and the U.S. as his characters move on and abandon their homeland. It’s quite striking and very powerful. And he fills each location with strong, vibrant characters: selfless, Nabi, uncle to Pari and Abdullah, who brokers a deal that impacts two families for years to come and never gets over his guilt; the young son of an Afghan warlord, who doesn’t really understand his father’s affairs, but gets a hasty education from Abdullah’s adolescent cousin, whose future is in the warlord’s hands; a young Greek girl whose face is chewed off by a dog and who confronts shocked observers bravely and with great audacity, daring acquaintances to accept her; a young California woman, who accepts her Afghan parents left-over allegiance to their Muslim faith, while giving up her bright future; and a Greek plastic surgeon who gives up everything to care for the mutilated children in Kabul. Hosseini weaves their stories together to produce a tapestry that displays all the hopes and dreams of the characters over the course of half a century.As good as it was the book isn’t without its faults. Some of the stories dragged a bit and when Hosseini wrote about his homeland, he produced a much stronger narrative with writing that was much more urgent and compelling than the writing about life outside of Afghanistan. That’s a trivial complaint for what is overall a wonderful novel, possibly his best novel. If you enjoy a continually shifting narrative, one that travels back and forth through time and space, one that exposes the wrongs that have been done to the people of Afghanistan by the Russians, the Taliban and the U.S. then this is a novel that will satisfy. Very highly recommended.

[tinkerbellkk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was the sad story of two children torn apart by a decision their father makes to give one of the children a better life. The story follows many of the people affected by this decision and how their lives changed as a result. I loved much of the book however found sometimes it was confusing at the start of a new chapter as to who's vantage point we had shifted towards. Other than that, I enjoyed the characters and their difficult choices over the period of many years.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am almost embarrassed to admit I have yet to read Khaled Hosseini's first acclaimed works, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns so I couldn't pass up on the chance to read And the Mountains Echoed, the author's third novel.This novel begins in 1952 as a father recites a bed time story to his young son and daughter during an overnight trek across the Afghanistan desert on their way to Kabul. The tale, we soon learn, tells the truth of the father's journey for desperate to provide for his new wife and growing family, the father has agreed to sell his daughter to a wealthy couple unable to bear their own in a deal brokered by their valet, his brother. The separation of the brother and sister, Abdullah and Pari, provides the catalyst for Hosseini to share several stories, within a larger arc, that explore the bonds of family and love, and the devastation of separation and loss.Abdullah returns to their village with his father but feels the loss of his sister keenly,"She was like the dust that clung to his shirt. She was in the silences that had become so frequent in the house, silence that welled up between their words, sometimes cold and hollow, sometimes pregnant with things that went unsaid, like a cloud filled with rain that never fell." but never relinquishes the dream of being reunited with Pari.At just four, Pari quickly settles into her new life but it is the story of her adoptive parents - the wild, provocative Nila and her introverted and much older husband Mr. Suleiman Wahdati, that unravels next as witnessed by Pari's uncle, Nabi. A marriage of convenience it soon disintegrates when Wahditi suffers a stroke and Nila flees to France, her mother's birthplace, with Pari. Nabi is left to nurse his invalid employer, remaining with him even as the war begins to rage around them.Moving then to Paris, America while never straying far from war torn Afghanistan, the fates of Abdullah, Pari, and those connected to them are slowly revealed. It is an emotional, poignant journey that weaves it's way in and out of character, time and place.I do have to admit And The Mountains Echoed was not without its flaws for me. At times I felt the narrative was disjointed and while eventually Hosseini merges the threads of the splintered journey is not always an easy path to follow. Characters come and go and their importance, or their relationship to Abdullah and Pari, are not always clear.Still, I was captivated by the powerful prose and the heartfelt emotion infused in this tale. And The Mountains Echoed is an epic tale of heartbreak and hope that exposes humanity at it's worst and best. A fine novel that I am pleased to recommend.

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A father tells his children the story of a div, a creature who forces parents to choose one child to give away so that they could save the rest of their children from death. It feels like a fable, but its dark edges have a ring of truth. And then it is the autumn of 1952 and four year old Pari her older brother, Abdullah, make a journey across the desert with their father to Kabul. Neither one understands the implications of this journey, but it will forever change their lives. From this one moment in time, Khaled Hosseini’s newest novel spirals out through the decades, taking readers to Paris, San Francisco and the Greek island of Tinos. But it all begins in Kabul, under the searing Afghanistan sun.And the Mountains Echoed tells the lives of many characters – Abdullah and Pari, their Uncle Nabi, Nila Wahdati who is married too young to a wealthy man, cousins Idris and Timur who could not be more different, the deformed Thalia and the mother who abandons her, a Greek doctor who spends his life helping Afganis, and many more. The novel is, in essence, a series of linked stories about these characters – all of whom are strong enough to carry an entire book had Hosseini wished to do that.The reader does not always see the connections between the characters immediately, but as their distinct voices ring out across the pages, it becomes clear how their lives have intersected with those of the other characters. The effect is powerful.Khaled Hosseini is a magnificent storyteller. His prose is captivating, deeply moving, and insightful. But it is his characters which elevate his novels. His latest effort after six years of work, is another example of the range of Hosseini’s talent.I did not want this book to end. I savored the pages. I found myself completely engaged in the lives of the many characters. I was transported through time and across thousands of miles. And the Mountains Echoed is a novel about family, loss, identity, and connection with others. Hosseini explores the idea that a simple choice will echo across time and have deep ramifications for generations to come.At the moment I heard that this book was to be published, I began to anticipate it. I longed to read it. And it did not disappoint. If you have not read a Hosseini novel yet, I urge you to pick up a copy of this one when it goes on sale later this month.Readers who love historical fiction, multi-generational family sagas and character-driven novels of the highest caliber will not want to miss And the Mountains Echoed.Highly, highly recommended.

[2lz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

SPOILER ALERT:I won a copy of Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed from Bookreporter.com. My review consists of my honest thoughts and opinions of the book.I loved just about everything in And the Mountains Echoed. The author has such an amazing gift for story-telling and character development that the reader felt compassion, not only for the victims of the story, but the deeply flawed characters as well. Mr. Hosseini made the reader think and recognize that, as with all human beings, we possess incredible kindness as well as inconceivable selfishness and self-absorption. We are neither all good nor all bad. We are a combination of the two, and that even with our regrets and moments of cruelty and thoughtlessness, we can still contribute extraordinary good to this world. Our mistakes build our character and can make us better people; our mistakes shouldn't define us. One of the prime character examples of this, was Nabi. His desire for Nila was so powerful, all-consuming, and overwhelming that he sets in motion the sale of his own niece in order to win the love and recognition of Nila. He paid a price for such a horrific act of manipulation. He lost his family and even the woman he loved. Yet, Nabi was also a wonderfully inspiring character. I hated what he did, but when he made his life’s work caring for fragile, ill Mr. Wahdati, a man who repressed his own feelings for Nabi, I couldn’t help but empathize, and, in many ways, adore him. The effects of Nabi’s actions rippled from chapter to chapter from character to character throughout this novel. The chapter about Idris, the doctor, and Roshi, the deformed child due to familial abuse, was another touching story for me. Idris, who while in Kabul made a connection with Roshi and became bonded with her, so much so, that he made unlikely promises regarding caring for Roshi when he returned to America. Yes, he failed miserably in keeping his pledge to her, but I believe that when he made such assurances, he meant them and he meant to keep them. Idris did the wrong thing, definitely, but in the end, I felt for him. He lost so much by not keeping his word, and he also learned that though Roshi remembered him and his false promises, she did not seek revenge against him in her book. His disappointment in himself made me feel for Idris. Abdullah was the character that moved me the most. He was a young boy in charge of caring for his only sister, Pari, his mother having died during childbirth. He loved Pari so deeply and so dearly that you could feel his pain and helplessness when his sister was ripped away from him and sold to another family. I will never forget that, though poor, he traded his shoes for a feather that he knew Pari would cherish. By the time he walked home his feet were cut, bleeding and bruised, but Pari’s appreciation for the feather made it all the worth while to him. Abdullah never forgot Pari. As a father he gave his only child Pari’s name, and he told stories to his daughter about his sister, the love he had for her, and how she was sold away. There were a couple of problems with the work for me. It was somewhat confusing. It took me a little while into each chapter to realize which character was speaking. The chapters skipped around in time, and despite the years provided, I had to work at determining when the story occurred in the timeline of events. My biggest disappointment was that Abdullah never found out that Pani had found him. Why would the author deprive Abdullah of this gift? Abdullah deserved to know. I was looking for the most heartwarming reunion between the two, and I found the ending heart-breaking. In fact, most of the book had a melancholy feel to it. That being said, it was one of the best books that I have read in a very long time. I highly recommend it.

[cacky_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An old oak tree in a small Afghan village and a grand house in Kabul - from these two locations, Hosseini creates diverse characters, each with a compelling story but all with a touch from these locations. I am a big fan and think this might be his best novel.

[sheilaref · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hosseini's previous books were masterful, and I thought this one was, too, until the last part of the book. The last few chapters tied all the loose ends together in the manner of a cheap romance. I was really disappointed. Some readers liked this aspect, but for me, it was disappointing. Life isn't like that, life is messy problems do not get solved neatly and tied with a big red ribbon. I felt as though the author was hurrying to finish or had gotten bored with his own plot. I didn't mind the loose stringing together of individual stories, nor the shifts back and forth in time. In fact that seems to occur in many contemporary novels. What I do mind is the silly ending. I gave it 4 stars because 4/5 of the book are great.

[helengress · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I 'read' this book in audio format- listening to the author himself, Navid Negahban and Shohreh Aghdashloo. I loved the voices- and the way the various characters are introduced. Each character adds another segment of the overall story of how a family -torn apart by poverty, still longs for reunification even if they don't even know that each other exists. Insights into longing, culture, dedication, personal sacrifice abound.

[pjhess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wanted to love this alot more than I did. Hosseini is an awesome writer but, felt like he tried to tell too many stories in this book. His writing is beautiful and I do always learn something from his novels about a place that I know little about. It is a hauntingly sad tale and does come together in the end. It's just not an easy road to follow at times. It is a beautiful tale just not totally complete in my most humble opinion.

[lit_chick_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. But just the one. Don’t either of you ask me for more. It’s late, and we have a long day of travel ahead of us, Pari, you and I. You will need your sleep tonight. And you too, Abdullah. I am counting on you, boy, while your sister and I are away. So is your mother. Now. One story, then. Listen, both of you, listen well. And don’t interrupt.” (1)So begins Hosseini’s latest, And the Mountains Echoed – with Afghan father, Saboor, telling his young children a story. Saboor’s son, Abdullah, and his daughter, Pari, are the novel’s central characters, siblings who share an uncommonly beautiful bond. The story Saboor tells them is about a mythical Afghan ogre, a div, which separates children from their families – a fate which, according to the tale, might not be so horrible as first imagined. Unfortunately for Abdullah and Pari, such a separation will shortly become their reality. Going forward from this point, the novel spans some sixty years, 1949-2010, moving ever outward to encompass a huge cast of characters, whose lives and loves we follow around the globe, from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos. All of the characters’ stories, of course, across generations and continents, will come back to Abdullah and Pari. Certainly Hosseini is a consummate storyteller. I adored both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns when I read them several years ago. This one I did not enjoy quite as much. I think the wide-reaching scope of the family saga is both its strength and its weakness – so that finally I found it getting bogged down in itself. Nonetheless, I did very much enjoy and definitely recommend, particularly to fans of Hosseini.

[knittingmomof3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was both excited and nervous to read And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, I absolutely loved his first two books and while I hoped the third would be as wonderful, I also feared I had built my expectations too high, luckily I had not. And the Mountains Echoed is a book I feel enriched for having read. Hosseini once again transported me to not only another culture, but through several generations, and around the globe, holding me close to the characters and savoring each sentence. I cannot praise And the Mountains Echoed highly enough and I would recommend the book to all readers and most definitely to book discussion groups.

[kerinlo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

And the Mountains Echoed is superb. I loved the Kite Runner and was nervous that this novel would not live up to Hosseini's first masterpiece, but I was blown away by the honest simplicity of this new novel and by the fact that I loved it more than The Kite Runner. Hosseini does a brillant job of highlighting the best and the worst in his characters, and by making them human, makes them relatable. I highly enjoyed the way Hosseini entwines his character's lives and their fates together, which are set in motion by one man's difficult and heart wrenching choice in the beginning of the book. Excellent.

[snapsandreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Intertwined stories of people closely connected to each other for over 60 years are beautifully narrated in their own time. Several characters are touched into the stories, but my most favorite of all are Pari and Abdullah; siblings who were set apart when Pari was barely 4 years old and Abdullah at 10 years old I think. They were reunited after more than 55 years of separation through a touching ending.Following the stories of the different lives from 1949 up until 2010, I caught myself in great awe of the events that unfolded especially at the ending where most of my anticipation lied.

[gma2lana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very moving story, however, I was often confused at the beginning of each chapter, and even sometimes in the middle of the chapters as he changes characters without much build up. I didn't enjoy this book as much as Kite Runner, but I still enjoyed his writing and would read another book by him. I have yet to read a Thousand Splendid Suns but that is on my TO Read list.

[chrissie3-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Damn, And the Mountains Echoed made me cry. I just finished it. Gosh, why did it upset me so much?! And will others react as I have? Is it just stupid me? I can point at a million things that are wrong with the book....and yet, it has done something right since it has undeniably moved me. Rarely do books make me cry. OK, here is what I think is going on, in my head and in my heart:I will start with what is simple, but very important. This is the first book I have listened to where I would advise very strongly that you read the paper book rather than listen to the audio version. There are three narrators: the author (Khaled Hosseini), a woman (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and a second male narrator (Navid Negahban). The latter two slur English words to such an extent that you must decipher what is being said by the context of the words. Cheek sounds like chick; swim sounds like "sweem"; breeze sounds like bees; words sounds like wards; shut sounds like shot; launches sounds like lunches. Must I go on? The woman's voice is so muted that you must increase the volume. I liked Hosseini's reading of the introductory fairy tale, but then later he enunciates every darn letter. Quite simply, the narration is unprofessional. Furthermore, why in the world have they even bothered to use three different narrators? The book shifts to different locations around the world - France, Greece and the US. I would have preferred three narrators: one fluent in French, one in Greek and one in American, or just one narrator that speaks fluent English. They all spoke what I think was meant to be English with an Afghan accent; let's just say poor English. Some of the characters lived in France since their early youth. The narration is so poor that it detracts from one's appreciation of the author's words. Read the paper book!This book is about an Afghan family, starting at the end of the 40s and ending a decade into the 21st Century. It is about the how the 20th Century has split families. It isn't unusual today to find members of one family spread all over the world. What does this do to us? And what is the essence of family....if we do not live near each other and if we do not have daily contact, hands on contact. Are we still bound to each other? Does family remain family?The book begins with a bedtime story, which is as I originally thought the central message of the entire book. So pay attention. The beginning is also the best part of the book, because there in the beginning you most intimately rub shoulders with the main characters. These characters will have children and grandchildren and spouses and friends and you never really come to know them as you do the first ones. The central theme of the book IS based on the choices that are made by the first characters we meet. Later chapters deal with one family and then another family or friend. They can almost be seen as separate stories, but yes they do all come together at the end. The problem is that the book does not succeed in bringing all of these diverse stories to life. Neither are all the different places brought to life. Afghanistan was well portrayed, but not Paris, not California, not Greece! The book tries to do too much. Or is it that Hosseini has best captured that which he knows best? I will credit him in his attempt to show what happens to "family" in today's globalized world.But none of the above is really what brought the tears to my eyes. We love someone, and even if we try our hardest to make the best choices, even if we sacrifice our own personal needs, still one can be left with such emptiness. Sometimes that emptiness simply cannot be filled. Sometimes we try our best, but so much is misunderstood. Life is damn messy. There can be a wonderful blessing in forgetting. I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. The book explains this better than I have. Completed June 11, 2013

[hemlokgang · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Frankly, I was disappointed in this novel. Set in Afghanistan, this is a saga across generations. Initially powerful and engaging, I did not think the cross generational method worked well, seeming to lose momentum.