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    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic
    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic
    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic
    Ebook758 pages15 hours

    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic

    By Khaled Hosseini

    4/5

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    كتب خالد حسيني روايته الجديدة ليعلمنا كيف نحب، وكيف نعتني ببعضنا، وكيف نجعل أيضًا خياراتنا تؤثر عبر الأجيال. في ھذه الرواية، التي تدور عن آباء وأولاد وعن إخوة وأخوات وأبناء العم والقائمين بالرعاية، يستكشف حسيني شتى السبل التي تقوم فيھا العائلات بالاعتناء ببعضھا، وكيف تحدث الجروح والخيانة والفضيلة والتضحية فيما بينھا، وكيف نتفاجأ غالبًا بتصرفات المقربين منا في وقت نكون فيه بأمس الحاجة إليھم. نتابع خطى شخصياتھا وتداعيات حياتھم وخياراتھم وقصص حبّھم حول العالم من كابول إلى باريس إلى سان فرانسيسكو إلى جزيرة تينوس اليونانية، وتتوسع مجريات القصة بالتدريج نحو فضاءات أرحب، لتصبح أكثر تعقيدًا وقوة من
    الناحية العاطفية مع كل صفحة من صفحاتھا.
    Languageالعربية
    PublisherHamad Bin Khalifa University Press
    Release dateApr 21, 2020
    ISBN9789927101908
    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic

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    • 4/5
      Hosseini writes eloquently of his home country -- it's an elegy for Afghanistan's past before it became a pawn for powerful and ruthless regimes. The various stories and generations that are entertwined with history are haunting and memorable. Kite Runner is still the gold standard, but this does not disappoint.
    • 1/5
      I can not read the book in Arabic, the alignment is not right .. it should be from right to left .. this is unreadable. what a waste!
    • 3/5
      I came to And the Mountains Echoed expecting an historic tale which would sweep me away, given the literary acclaim Khaled Hosseini received for this epic novel set in Afghanistan.There is, in fact, much to praise in the novel. The writing is gorgeous, the characters well-drawn. But the plot and the way in which Hosseini chose to tell his tale fell short, at least for this reader. Hosseini chose to tell his story employing a literary device of recounting one story through several perspectives, and it is perhaps this device which diminished the impact of his work, at least for me, having never been a fan of this style.What I was left which was an unresolved story, which left more questions than answers. But perhaps this was in fact a clever device on Hosseini's part, because the issue of Afghanistan itself remains an unresolved nation, spilling from question to difficulty to question again.At its kernel, the story revolves around the separation of a brother and sister, brought about by staggering poverty, and their lifelong quest to find each other, and in the end, submit to the necessity of the metamorphosis of their lives.Recommended.
    • 4/5
      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!
    • 4/5
      Unlike Hosseini's first two novels, this one is more a collection of related short stories rather than a novel. Much of the book involves a series of interspaced stories involving one or both of the story of Abdullah and Pari, two Afghani children of a poor laborer and his wife. Abdullah is more a parent figure to his three-year old sister than a brother. The father's brother-in-law facilitates a job offer from his wealthy employer, who is married to a young barren wife of Afghani-French descent. When the wife meets Pari, she falls in love with her. Her uncle arranges for the wife to adopt the child in exchange for an easier lifestyle for the remaining family. This particular story thread continues with other stories following Pari as she grows to old age told from differing characters perspectives.This novel is about what it means to be family, the loving relationships and the joy and pain that can arise from these relationships. Readers who were bothered by the graphic depictions displayed in the author's previous two books will be relieved with the lighter, although still touching, novel. Hosseini continues to impress me by his grasp of the English language and his ability to weave a beautiful tapestry of a story.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      The latest novel by Khaled Hosseini once again looks at the harsh life in Afghanistan. I don’t think this book matches the standard set by his excellent two previous works, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Hosseini tells the story of an intertwined group of people all linked by a single event. At the risk of giving away too much, that event is of a father giving away his daughter in order for the rest of his family to survive. The story is well told, the images are gripping, and I quite enjoyed the book, at least partially because I’m fascinated by Afghanistan. This novel was one of the few books of fiction that I allowed myself to read this year and as such I was a little disappointed. It is possible that my expectations for it were too high. I would recommend it to folks that liked Hosseini’s previous novels. But if you have not read them yet, I think one of those two would be a better choice.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      ”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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      In Afghanistan in the mid-1940s, a father tells his young children a bedtime story. The next day, they depart for Kabul, setting in motion a series of events that will change their lives - and those of their descendants.

      While war and politics are heavily featured, this is ultimately a portrait of an Afghan family from the 1940s to the 21st century. Each chapter tells the story of one of the family members, and though many of them live in America or Europe, the heart of both the story and the characters is rooted firmly in Afghanistan. These separate narratives are brought together by a common link, showing that this newly globalized world truly is a small one after all.

      And The Mountains Echoed reminds us that the choices we make do not only affect us, but impact those around us as well. It critically examines familial relationships, touching on love, loss, grief, and sacrifice. Most of all, it shows how unpredictable life is: filled with sadness and misunderstanding, love, joy, and hope.
    • 4/5
      This is another powerful story by Hosseini.pari is separated from her brother Abdullah when she is 3 years old. Their father makes a painful decision that thinks will improve his familys life. th This decision reverberates through many lives.
    • 4/5
      Three-year-old Pari is separated from her ten-year-old brother Abdullah when their father makes a decision which he thinks will improve his family’s future. The novel examines the reverberations of this difficult choice – consequences which are felt far from his small rural village in Afghanistan and for 50 years hence.Spanning the years from 1942 to 2010 in various locations (Afghanistan, France, Greece and the United States), the novel is really a collection of nine interconnected stories featuring a large cast of characters, some only tangentially related. The stories set in the past, particularly those of Parwana and Nabi, are the most powerful. The ones set in the present have less emotional resonance. Sometimes there is extensive description of the lives of people who did not engage me emotionally. Markos and Idris fall into this latter category. Nonetheless, what is positive about the characters is that they are all three-dimensional. Most are good, well-intentioned people with flaws. What is striking is that sometimes a character will be viewed in one way because of his/her actions in a scene but being shown that same scene from a different perspective forces the reader to reconsider first impressions. What is also notable is that despite the myriad characters, I experienced no confusion; it is not difficult to remember who is who. As mentioned, the various characters are related to varying degrees, although all have some connection to Pari and Abdullah. One chapter, for example, focuses on Pari and Abdullah’s stepmother; another, on the Greek doctor who takes up residence in the home inherited by Pari and Abdullah’s step-uncle; a third, on the son of a drug warlord who becomes friends with the son of Pari and Abdullah’s half-brother. There are also other connections, however. All either lose someone or reject/let down someone in some way. Usually this someone is a sibling/pseudo-sibling or a parent. Several yearn for “escape, reinvention, new identities” and unmoor themselves “by cutting loose the anchors that weigh [them] down” (328). Naturally, many of the characters seek redemption for their betrayals. Parwana and Masooma, and Markos and Thalia, and Pari and Nila are obvious examples. Pari perhaps best summarizes the shame and regret many characters feel: “’I did careless things. Reckless things. . . . I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that. . . . It would not have been so difficult . . . I should have been more kind’” (382 – 383).Readers should be forewarned that not everyone finds a satisfactory resolution. For some it is too late to have a happily-ever-after ending. There are, in fact, several unanswered questions: What happens to Gholam? Does Thierry really reconnect with his mother? This open-endedness may bother some people, but I found it realistic. To have Pari remember an object from her infancy would have been unbelievable. Early on, one of the characters says, “A story is like a moving train” (74). Reading this sprawling tale is like hopping on a train and encountering various passengers who tell you their stories; some disembark without your knowing what happens to them. Nonetheless, at the end of your journey with this book, you will have a feeling of shared humanity and the interconnectedness of people across time and space. It is definitely a journey worth taking.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      “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.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Abdullah, though only ten, has been practically a father to his three-year-old sister, Pari, and the two are inseparable. Their uncle and father make a terrible choice, separating the two and setting in motion events that affect their children and grandchildren in unimaginable ways.I had high hopes for Hosseini's latest, since I greatly enjoyed The Kite Runner and loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. Abdullah and Pari's story starts out as promising as the others, and I was drawn into their lives and came to care for them at the beginning. But changes over the years and in character's perspectives kept me rather distant and unfocused. Some characters I would get close to, only to find them fading away as the next part of story came into focus; others I spent too little time with to feel like I knew. One character's story in particular left me scratching my head why it was there at all. The sprawling family saga became quite a lot to keep track of, not just as I moved from 1952 to 2010 or back and forth in time as needed, but also as the format changed from third person here, to a letter there, to third person again, and finally to first person. The premise was intriguing, but unfortunately the story was not up the the standard of his first two novels.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      I did not like this book as much as his previous ones mainly because of the way it was written where it jumped from one character's perspective to anothers and did not tell one consecutive story. It got confusing at times and the characters were not so well drawn

    Book preview

    And the Mountains Echoed Arabic - Khaled Hosseini

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