Julie's Review: And The Mountains Echoed

Summary: An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe — from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos — the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page. ~powells.com

Review: When you've waited years for one of your favorite authors to release a new book and the day has come where you get to read it, you hope it won't let you down. All I can say is And the Mountains Echoed lives up to my expectations and exceeds them. It is simply poetic. There is no other author I read that writes like him.

And The Mountains Echoed takes us to Afghanistan and the struggles of every day people. It is the daily strife of life, the subtle and heart-wrenching prose, the collection of narratives that are all intertwined, familial connections that make this book stunning.

The characters are so real that you feel their struggles, pains and hopes. The story that moved me the most was Abdullah and Pari. The love and affection that they had for each other transcends anything that I've read before. They are spiritually connected like no other siblings I've read about. Theirs is a story of love, hope, loss and second chances.

What Mr. Hosseini makes abundantly clear is that any one decision has long lasting effects and can span many generations of one family. It is about forgiveness and understanding the why of decisions, even if those decisions had irreparable outcomes.

There isn't really much more I can say other than pick up And the Mountains Echoed and read it. It will move you and make you believe in the resilience of humanity.

I can only say that I hope it's not another 6 years before his next book. In fact, I hope he's writing while he's on tour!

Mr. Hosseini is now on Facebook, where you can follow his stories. And the Mountains Echoed is on sale from fine booksellers on 5/21/2013.

Final Take: 5/5

Please enjoy the video of Mr. Hosseini talking about And The Mountains Echoed.

Thanks to Riverhead Books for my ARC of the novel.

Book to Movie: The Kite Runner

I've been anxious to see this movie ever since I read A Thousand Splendid Suns. Of course, I wanted read The Kite Runner first...book lover first and all that. That also means that I don't go into these movies with any expectations, however, I figured that the producers would have to work extra hard to ruin this movie.

Of course, some details were sacrificed for time, but the movie maintained the essence of the book for the most part. The acting here was superb, all of the actors well chosen, particularly the younger actors and especially the young man chosen to portray young Hassan. I'd heard there was quite some controversy regarding the filming of the pivotal scence, but I think that the director handled it with handled with grace.

The tone was the same as the book, you feel the sadness and despair and ultimately the hope. I think this movie was beautifully made. I shed a tear or two.

When I think about the movie, I don't count it as one of the greatest of all time, but it's good. I enjoyed it.

Final Take - 3.75/5

Lisa's Review: The Kite Runner

Summary:

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. ~www.khaledhosseini.com

Review:

After reading, A Thousand Splendid Suns, I put The Kite Runner closer to the top of my To Be Read pile, however it still took a year for me to get to it, because I felt that it would take a toll emotionally and I wasn't wrong. Frankly, there's not much you can say without spoiling this book.

Amir, a privileged young Afghan comes of age shortly before the country becomes embroiled in war. His servant and friend, though Amir could never admit it, Hassan grows up with him. Amir longs for his father's approval and try as he might, seems only capable of getting it for a short while. Tragedy strikes and Amir takes a cowardly route and has to live with that and his subsequent betrayals for the rest of his life. There are some surprises and then you saw some things coming a mile away. I suppose that's to be expected in a story about redemption. Hosseini's use of language and imagery is vivid and emotional and somewhat autobiographical, I suspect!

I'm sure I prefer A Thousand Splendid Suns to The Kite Runner, but it's a slight, indiscernible preference.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Group Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Summary: from Amazon.com
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Khaled Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

Jenn’s Review:
A Thousand Splendid Suns is an effortless read and an accessible, compelling story. It is easy to get wrapped up in the characters and their continued struggles, to keep an accelerated pace in hope of a reprieve for the women.

Certainly, this is a book I would not have picked up on my own. Yes, its predecessor, The Kite Runner, is on my list of things I should read, but the likelihood of my getting around to it? Less probable than I’d like to admit. Now I'm anxious to go back and read it! It is impossible for me to imagine living in a society where I am stripped of rights because I am a woman, and this is a journey I wouldn’t have taken without this book. It gave me perspective on historical events that, ‘til now, had been one dimensional.

Overall Rating: 5/5

Julie’s Review:
I highly anticipated the release of A Thousand Splendid Suns and it did not disappoint. As with The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini wove the history of Afghanistan into his story which made it more alive and rich. The story intersects the lives of 2 very different women. We are first introduced to Mariam as a young girl living outside of Herat. We are exposed to how her life changes in a manner that I can only think of as normal for this culture. We are then introduced to Laila and her story. I don’t want to give away too much by telling how Laila and Mariam intersect so I’ll just say to you that they end up living under the same roof. What begins there is a story of love, hardship, survival and redemption for our heroines.

I loved the book and the story that he wove together about these women and their struggles and strifes in a country that is so different from ours. What he wrote about did not surprise me since Afghanistan has been in the media for a few years now, but it still gets my blood boiling at how women are treated in this day and age. If you enjoyed the book, I would recommend the author Jean Sasson to read. They are just as, if not more enlightening about the treatment of women. I think what surprised me the most is that a man could write about women in such a compassionate manner and make them strong all at the same time. He truly is a gifted storyteller and one that I will continue to eagerly anticipate.

Final Take: 5/5


Lisa’s Review:
With three decades of political conflict as the backdrop, Hosseini tells the story of two women, from different backgrounds, brought together by unfortunate circumstances. They forge an unlikely friendship and together try to find a way to endure. His prose, to put it simply, is emotional yet completely engaging and full of hope. At times I found myself putting the book away so I could compose myself, often failing miserably. In the end, not only did I have an unforgettable reading experience, but I found myself profoundly grateful for the simple freedoms in my life.

The Kite Runner, which I totally judged by its cover, has now found itself very close to the top of the pile and I look forward experiencing it and whatever else Khaled Hosseini can dream up.

Final Take: 5/5