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And the Mountains Echoed

Khaled Hosseini

Start date: June 18, 2013

Finish date: July 31, 2013

Discussion: Book/Genre of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jun 12, 2013 Gayathri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, 2013, favorites, own

Read the full review at Elgee Writes

I just have to begin with I love Khaled Hossieni. There is something magical (sounds cliche I know) about his writing, his choice of words, metaphors and not the least the portrayal of human emotions. This is the second book of his that I am reading (actually his third book) and I should say I love it. I don't fall in love easily, (I mean with authors )and don't fall for the hype of the market, if it all I respond to the hype it has been negative, but this boo Read the full review at Elgee Writes

I just have to begin with I love Khaled Hossieni. There is something magical (sounds cliche I know) about his writing, his choice of words, metaphors and not the least the portrayal of human emotions. This is the second book of his that I am reading (actually his third book) and I should say I love it. I don't fall in love easily, (I mean with authors )and don't fall for the hype of the market, if it all I respond to the hype it has been negative, but this book has lived to its hype.

When Paddy asked me what the book was about, when I was in about the first 20 pages, I said comfortably about sibling love. But now I am not quite sure, as it had much more complex emotions and relationships than just the sibling love of the lead pair. In fact most of the time the lead pair wasn't leading even.The setting of the book is once again Afghanistan much alike his two other books. Afghanistan pre war, during and post war, it is not essentially war drama. The plot runs across countries like The US, Greece and Paris. Khalid had once again proven himself a master story teller by weaving the lives of several persons with some common thread, full of richness and colourful. They are so well positioned and their personalities really have an element of brutal truth - this is what we humans are capable of, this is what I could have done. Their flaws make them what they are, make us feel closer to them, make us feel that they are humane.

The most interesting factor to me was the interlinked stories, each narrated by different persons, in their point of views. The different POVs is actually a make or break factor and for me it worked yet for several others it didn't. The story runs across different time periods, well captured by each different POVs.

Coming back to the review part, though several others had expressed their disappointment, I felt the story had a complete circle, it ended where it starte. I accept it had several parallel stories running, yet they had.a common theme. The sister who prevented her sister marrying her love, ended marrying him only to take care of his children. The brother who ran away from the responsibility of taking care of a crippled sister ended up taking care of an estranged husband. The runaway wife with a very radical view of life ended her life after losing her boyfriend to her daughter.

The daughter ends up with her long lost brother, who doesn't even remember her and ends regretting having not taken care of her mother. The girl whose mom abandoned her due to her facial imperfection, chooses to.stay and take care of her friend's mom, while he becomes a plastic surgeon and leaves the country to help others. The son of a wealthy landlord understands that he could never love his dad the same way after he finds he killed his friend's dad.

Bottomline: 5 on 5 Loved it. I am so completely in love with his writing.

Now I HAVE to read his second book A thousand Splendid Suns!

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Mar 29, 2014 Kathleen rated it it was amazing

This is another book that I just couldn't bear to see the ending. As I recall I felt the same with The Kite Runnerand A Thousand Splendid Suns. This story takes the reader on a very emotional journey over several decades watching families in Afghanistan deal with extreme poverty and the aftermath of war. We see generations of families interconnected, their decisions impacting others following. I really can't put into words how special this author and this book are to me. Just read it, you won't ...more

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Mar 04, 2024 Francesca rated it really liked it

This is the second time I have read this book. I appreciated the idea behind this book and where is set. Unfortunately it is difficult to understand who the author is talking about, there is no temporal connection between the characters. What a shame

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Jul 20, 2014 Francesca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very nice book, I liked the structure of it. Very well written. I was expecting more details about the relationship between brother and sister. Overall worth reading it!

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Jan 15, 2014 Suzanne rated it liked it

Finished "And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini. I wept.

But...for all the emotion the book wrought...it would only get three stars from me. First, the positive. Hosseini writes so beautifully, his characters are all so three dimensional, and their triumphs and tragedies so unapologetically real. I continued reading this book for those reasons.

What I didn't like: the threads that tied together all the characters were so fragile, so tenuous, that I frequently found myself wondering "what do ...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Meenal rated it really liked it

One of the amazing reads by Khaled Hosseini. The author has proved his mettle again, threading the lives of different characters.

The story revolves around two main characters ~ Abdullah and Pari, siblings separated due to unforeseen circumstances at a very young age.
The journey of separation and reunion is covered across 5 different cities in different countries, among a myriad of characters, and no where one feels lost or disconnected.

One of the unique feature in this book was Hosseini gave an ...more

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Sep 05, 2013 Arun Pandey rated it really liked it

Story started with a father in 1952, presented his childrens Pari and Abdullah with a fable as they embark on a journey through the mountains, a fable to prepare them for the coming rupture in their lives, one that will echo down generations.

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