Fiction | Book Chatter

And the Mountains Echoed
By Khaled Hosseini
(Riverhead Hardcover, Hardcover, 9781594631764, May 2013, 416pp.)

The Short of It:

A multi-generational saga that begins with a difficult decision, a decision that manages to echo repeatedly throughout the lives of this family.

The Rest of It:

I can’t say that I’ve read Hosseini before this book. I was supposed to. The Kite Runner was a book club pick many years ago but I could not get into the writing so I gave up on it. However, this was not the case with And the Mountains Echoed. In fact, I was immediately pulled into the story and kept with it no matter how many families appeared or what happened to them, but I must be honest, I lost interest during the second half of the novel. For me, there seemed to be too much going on and too many characters to keep track of.

But, that is why it’s good to read these types of books with a book club. You get to discuss the hell out of it and then after all of the discussion, you typically have a new-found appreciation for the writing and that is very much the case here.

The story begins in an Afghan village. Abdullah is ten-years-old and his baby sister Pari, is only three. They live with their father and step-mother but have struggled with money all of their lives. After losing a baby to the cold the previous winter, Abdullah’s father, Saboor, takes Pari to a wealthy family, where she will live out her remaining years. Abdullah is devastated by this decision. The two of them were very close and losing his sister causes him great pain. Saboor, also greatly affected, has to believe that he’s made the right decision. With so little food and the harsh winter ahead of her, he doesn’t see how keeping her would be in her best interest.

The story then bounces back and forth between Afghanistan and the West as we follow the families involved. All in all, I lost interest in the other generations. Their stories didn’t resonate with me as much as Pari’s or Abdullah’s for that matter, but I can’t deny the fact that Hosseini knows how to tell a story. He does.

As a book club pick, there was actually plenty to discuss. I worried that the conversation would fall flat but everyone had lots to say and most enjoyed reading it. What weighed heavily on me was Saboor’s decision to sell his daughter to the wealthy family. As harsh as the decision was, was it the best thing for her at the time? Most agreed that yes, it was. I wasn’t so sure. Surely, money and position do play a role in a girl’s survival, but was it a better life? I am still pondering the alternative and I finished the book a few weeks ago so that just goes to show you how the book manages to stay with you.

Have you read it? I can’t say it was a favorite but it made for some excellent discussion.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Fangirl
By Rainbow Rowell
(St. Martin’s Griffin, Hardcover, 9781250030955, September 2013, 448pp.)

The Short of It:

Oddly captivating and yet, slightly disappointing.

The Rest of It:

After loving Eleanor & Park, I HAD to get my hands on another Rowell book and this one just happened to be available from the library.

First off, it’s not Eleanor & Park. Sigh.

Cath and her twin sister Wren, head off to the University of Nebraska. It’s their first semester and they’ve chosen to live apart so they can meet new people and experience new things. This is more Wren’s idea, than Cath’s but Cath has little choice in the matter so she reluctantly goes along with it. The timing is not perfect. Their mother left them long ago, but Cath isn’t sure that they should both be leaving their father at the same time. What will their dad do? How will he get along without them? As it turns out, not all that well.

As Wren surrounds herself with the party scene, Cath has a hard time fitting in. She chooses to stay in when she can, eats more than her share of trail bars and spends nearly every waking moment thinking about the fan fiction she writes based on the Simon Snow novels that she loves. When she falls for her roommate’s ex-boyfriend Levi, her life gets complicated.

As captivating as these characters were, I did not love this one. Too much of the novel was dedicated to Simon Snow. I get that Cath is obsessed with Snow but these parts were my least favorite. I could not get into Snow’s world so every time he came up, I almost immediately tuned out.

Aside from the Snow stuff, I felt that Cath’s pain over losing her mother at such a young age was enough to carry me through. Cath and Wren are both so damaged by the event, but when Wren admits to being in contact with her mother, Cath just can’t believe what she’s hearing. The woman left them at the age of ten. How could Wren welcome her back with open arms? This is really the crux of everything that is wrong with Cath. Her lack of self-esteem, her inability to open up to anyone… all because of her mother’s rejection. It’s heartbreaking.

However, by the end of the story, the characters haven’t grown enough for me to feel that all is well. Perspective has changed and some maturity has taken place, but I never got the feeling that everything that could have been explored, was. This left me a little unsatisfied.

That said, Rowell accurately captures what a first semester away from home feels like and really, that is why I read her. She seems to have a real knack for conveying awkwardness and that is no exception here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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