Khaled Hosseini - And the Mountains Echoed Book Review

After such a long wait for his latest book I can truly say I am rather disappointed with the result.

For those of you familiar with Khaled's work, he is a genius at story telling and his words flow into a magical swirl of enchantment, which creates emotion and a yearning to know the characters. Although this continues with his latest instalment, I feel it lacks the finesse.

I'll give you a brief overview of the plot. A brother and sister are separated and over years we follow the intricate tales of where their lives take them and where they end up. We begin to fathom their need for each other and their unbreakable bond and initially I was all set for another masterpiece.

However, the plot begins to lose its trail, we spiral further and further away from the main characters exploring so many other characters who, over generations and various countries, have some minute link to the brother and sister.

Whilst I enjoy books which flick between different characters or time periods, I found this book to be overwhelming and tiresome in keeping up with the current situation. There were too many characters which the reader is given extensive background information on and the story would still have the same effect, less a few paragraphs of pure description.

I still love Khaled's choice of vocabulary and his literary ability to allow the characters to come alive. Although the story itself did not materialise to the piece of magic I hoped for, as always his books are woven with a moral deep within. Family bonds are the root of this book and makes you reflect on your own.

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