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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Wow, what an innovative collection of short stories. My mind was blown especially after the first 2 stories. I hadn't read anything like them before. Not every story was a home run but I still think overall these stories are the most creative I've read in a long time. Not surprised it is up for many awards. I was not successful in listening to this on audio, I needed to concentrate a bit more and read this in print.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A couple of the stories blew me away and will definitely stay with me, but others were boring. I wonder if I would have liked them better in print rather than audio.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
What a thought-provoking collection of interconnected short stories. Kochai does a phenomenal job bringing attention to the contemporary political landscape of Afghanistan in a way that openly challenges a Western (especially US) audience to consider the ramifications of war and imperialism. While taking place primarily in Afghanistan, Kochai draws attention to the Afghan diaspora as well, particularly in the Sacramento area, and how they, too, are impacted by war.
These stories are tragic; after all, Kochai is showing us the impact of war, death, and displacement. But, critically, he explores these in the everyday lives of Afghans (sometimes in fantastical ways), bringing to attention that there are names and faces of the people who are living through this violence. Considering this, I appreciate how Kochai shows that people aren’t in a constant state of despair; there were moments of humor and tenderness throughout this collection that breathed so much life into these characters.
I really look forward to Kochai’s future work, because I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and feel that this is a must read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, War
Moderate: Islamophobia
Minor: Rape
dark
reflective
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The Haunting of Hajji Hotak is made up of interconnected short stories that combine into a searing portrait of familial trauma and connection to place. A young man thinks he has found his dead uncle in a violent video game. A son turns into a monkey, which allows him to put radical thought into action. An American soldier is forced to live in close proximity to goats. A father searches for a lost nugget of gold. Whether the circumstances in these stories are straightforward or magically real, the overarching theme is always the fractured reality of diaspora. The characters in this book constantly grapple with staggering loss: of physical place, of community, of loved ones I'm ways both gradual and abrupt... Every character is touched by the destruction of their country, their home. Even members of the younger generation who don't remember (or never knew) Logar are still shaped by the ramifications of that loss.
These stories became even more poignant for me after reading the author's biography. Jamil Jan Kochai's family is from Logar. He was born at a refugee camp in Pakistan before immigrating to the United States. This reality of Kochai's clearly shapes this collection and ultimately allowed him to create a fictional world full of empathy and perseverance.
These stories became even more poignant for me after reading the author's biography. Jamil Jan Kochai's family is from Logar. He was born at a refugee camp in Pakistan before immigrating to the United States. This reality of Kochai's clearly shapes this collection and ultimately allowed him to create a fictional world full of empathy and perseverance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, War