A review by savvylit
The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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.
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