And the Mountains Echoed

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini is a beautifully written and emotionally rich novel that explores how a single decision can ripple across generations. Known for his powerful storytelling, Hosseini once again delivers a deeply moving narrative that stays with the reader long after the final page. The story begins with a heartbreaking choice made by a father in rural Afghanistan, separating siblings Abdullah and Pari. This moment becomes the emotional core of the novel, setting off a chain of events that affects multiple lives across different countries and decades. Unlike traditional storytelling, the book unfolds through interconnected perspectives, each revealing a piece of the larger picture. One of the most striking aspects of the novel is its structure and depth. Rather than focusing on one protagonist, the story weaves together various characters, each with their own struggles, regrets, and desires. This creates a rich tapestry of human experiences, showing how lives are unknowingly connected. The book explores powerful themes such as family, sacrifice, love, guilt, and redemption. Hosseini portrays these emotions with sensitivity and realism, making the characters feel deeply human and relatable. Even minor characters leave a lasting impression due to the depth of their stories. What makes this book a great read is its emotional impact and lyrical writing style. The language is simple yet poetic, capturing both the beauty and pain of life. The shifting settings—from Afghanistan to Europe and beyond—add a global perspective to the narrative. Overall, And the Mountains Echoed is a touching and thought-provoking novel. It reminds readers of the lasting impact of our choices and the invisible threads that connect us all.

I never read Khaled Hosseini before. No one suggested either! Then why did I pick ‘And The Mountains Echoed’? Well, it’s a paragraph on the back cover of the novel which prompted me to buy it. Basically, it was my desperation to know what happens afterwards; to what extent the brother would go for his little sister? Indubitably, the opening story builds up ample interest; you find yourself yearn for more. Later you realize that it, in a nutshell also foretells the fate of the precious and tender brother-sister bond. As you further turn pages, you understand that this book don’t just revolve around Abdullah and Pari, but showcases myriad hues of human relationships. Whether, it’s Parwana-Masooma’s unfortunate sisterhood which forces Masooma to choose death over miserable life, or the cold alliance of wealthy Mr Wahdati with Nila which kind of lead to separation of a brother from his dearest sister, or Nabi’s fantasy love longing for Nila because he thinks she considers him her resort, or Nila’s stoic behaviour towards Mr Wahdati whom she leaves when he needed her most, or Nabi’s platonic love for Mr Wahdati which in the absence of Nila compels him to stay put and even look after him till he breaths his last, Or Nila’s affectionless yet obligatory relation with Pari whom she considers less of a daughter and more of a Punishment, or Pari’s guilt ridden affair with Nila’s boyfriend which further worsens the already strained mother-daughter relation, or Sympathetic inclination of Idris for Roshi which pulls him near her and even makes him to promise arrangements for her expensive surgery, or His superficial bond with brother Timur who believed in overly display of power but ends up doing miracle for Roshi, or Adel’s outlandish pull towards poor Gholam who always talks rubbish about his father, or His plain adoration for his father on witnessing one public interaction, or Marco’s unusual friendship with Thalia whom he considered ugly and dejected, or Odd amity of Odie and Madaline where later always looked former for rescue, or The poignant sacrificing tale of a daughter whose father is suffering from Alzheimer, who on one hand is afraid of losing people and on the other, has his spit and vinegar days often, or Last not but least, the relation of two doppelgangers, one of whom always lived with other since her childhood whereas, the other lived as if some part in her is missing for almost all her life. Actually every character in this book is very unique and strong in itself. All are struggling with double sides of their being. They have one thing in their minds, and always end up doing something else. There are stories within one big story. Each being complete in itself, still the author has intertwined all, somehow. For a reader, lot of brain exercise is there. It’s like you sleep in one place and wake up in another unfamiliar one, probably, trans-located in sleep. You search around, perplexed, for some hint. Not finding one, you start living in the moment; meaning, you get yourself involved in the new story. Once into it, you are totally clenched. “A story is like a moving train: no matter where you hop onboard, you are bound to reach your destination sooner or later.” Hossieni weaved the story at different locations. It opens at an imaginary village Shadbagh in Afghanistan, and closes in Paris, also orbiting Kabul, USA, Greek island of Tinos, and touching India as well, slightly. Without any doubt, there is too much happening. Author has given great details. He played the emotional card well as I found my eyes moistened at places. Abdullah as a bother disappointed me but as a father he scores well. One of the cutest thing he used to do is…empty his daughter’s mind of nightmares and fill it with pleasant dreams every night, a fresh one, and she in turn always wished him one, the same dream, the one he always longed for, the one so dear to his heart. And to the pleasure of heart, in the end, she does fulfil his dream. What is this dream? How Abdullah reacts when he sees it in real after a wait of lifetime? Does he even react? Or was it too late for any reaction? Read on to get your answers. The tale of mix of no love, conditional love, unconditional love, friendship, anger, discontent, sacrifice, betrayal, search, and fate. “And The Mountains Echoed.’ “It’s a half bridge, really, as only four of its original arches remain. It ends midway across the river. Like it reached, tried to reunite with, the other side and fell short. What I Missed More Some efforts on Abdullah’s part to find Pari; To my surprise he left Shadbagh for USA but could not manage to go to Kabul once. He could have easily found Nabi, who never left Wahdati’s house. At least, he would have got some idea of Pari’s whereabouts, but, Alas! he never tried. How come? I was hoping to see more of Abdullah and Pari in the book

An unforgettable story that reels in the reader. A story that twines together so many with the bond of a simple emotion, love. A story that stretches across continents and hearts. Pari and her Abollah left me speechless. The sheer simplicity of the story and the way it tugs at your heartstrings makes it another story set against the backdrop of Afghanistan that gives us an insight into how the lives of so many were affected by the wars. It is yet another masterpiece Khaled Hosseini who never ceases to amaze me with his writing. And the mountains truly echoed with a story that left me spellbound. 'I found a sad little fairy Beneath the shade of a paper tree. I know a sad little fairy Who was blown away by the wind one night.'

"Riveting", "Compelling", this words now do not match with the quality of Khaled Hosseini. Its like Hosseini has reached beyond any words to describe him and his books. His previous epic books, THE KITE RUNNER AND A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, were just as beautiful and heartbreaking as his this book: AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED. However at the same time, this book's style is quite different from his previous few books. Here the story goes from generation to generation, continent to continent, from characters to interrelated characters. The book just consist 9 chaps, quite unlike his previous book, but the nine chapters have the capability not only to surpass, in quality, but to etch something extraordinarily saddening and heartening. Though in some cases his previous books are greater than this, but still for a reader who likes to read, will definitely find this book as great as his previous ones, simply because it cannot be disliked.

As I’d had read The kite runner and The thousand splendid sun by same author I’d high hopes from this book. However it let down my expectations. Nonetheless if not compared to previous book it’s a ok read.

Must read

Having read “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns” a few years ago, I was really looking forward to reading this book. While it carries the same emotional heft as his earlier work, there is a distinct evolution in his narrative style here. The story spans across 7 decades, multiple generations, and several countries with intertwined story arcs and a non-linear timeline. Although the narrative style is more complex, it keeps the reader engaged and fully invested in the experience. It all begins with Saboor, a hard-working but impoverished farmer in rural Afghanistan, narrating a fable to 10 year-old Abdullah and his 3 year-old sister, Pari about a desperate father who has to give up his favorite child to a div or demon, in order to save his other children. This fable is the central theme of the book permeating through the rest of the story. Pari and Abdullah share an unusually powerful bond, which is cruelly shattered when Saboor lets young Pari be adopted by a wealthy couple in Kabul for a price. In the words of one of the characters, “A story is like a moving train; no matter where you hop onboard, you are bound to reach your destination sooner or later.” The destination in this case is the inevitable reunion of the siblings and it is reached through a network of related characters and their myriad tales. The journey the reader takes in the company of these characters is so beautiful that by the end the destination doesn’t matter. Nila Wahdati, the beautiful, troubled wife of a closeted homosexual and adopted mother of Pari is one of the most conflicting characters in the novel. She is selfish at times, soulful at times, but never uninteresting. One of my favorite parts revolves around Markos Varvaris, a Greek doctor who gives up a highly successful practice to serve those affected by the conflict in Kabul and his relationship with Thalia, whose face is severely disfigured after a childhood encounter with a dog. Apart from these, Hosseini sketches out an array of fascinating characters – Nabi, the uncle; Idris & Timur, the cousins; Roshana – a Malala-esque character or Gholam – a teenage boy, wise beyond his years. Hosseini explores familiar themes of alienation, loneliness, familial bonds, compassion and classism with aplomb. While reading the book, there are times when I found myself with a big lump in my throat and others with a stupid smile plastered on my face. To his credit, even in the most dramatic moments, Hosseini manages to keep it nuanced and restrained. There is no doubt that he is an excellent storyteller and I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed his earlier works.

Very good

This book was so different from what I expected at first: based on the title it thought it might be ab bit melodramatic. Yes, there is tragedy, yes there is drama, but actually Kahled Hosseini tells a story in a way that appeals to various styles of reading. Based on a more or less loosely appearing selection of short stories it took some time and even some rereading to fully appreciate the different levels of connections between the stories. Telling the story of a family giving away a daughter into a rich person's home to be raised as their daughter, making sure that the family survives, but leaving a trauma with the involved persons. The short stories provide different perspectives on the "adoption", both from the side of the actors, but also timewise, both retrospectively and synchroneous. You should read this book if you would like to have an emotional access to the problem of child adoption for poverty reasons, would love to learn about the society of tribal Afghanistan as a kind of observer, love good stories that leave some you a bit in the dark of some additional levels of meaning. And of course if you enjoy the language. Great read!

Got this book for my Mom. She read this authors two other popular books, and she said this one was also very good.

Sensacional. Profundamente humano, mas entendam-me, fugindo do clichê: o autor trabalha com personagens “estranhas” à nossa cultura, mas que em suas diferenças mostram como somos profundamente iguais – simplesmente humanos, com nossas virtudes e defeitos! Sem concessões ao pieguismo, o autor não propõe um final feliz, exceto se o leitor for capaz de mergulhar fundo na alma das personagens, especialmente das principais, Abdullah e sua irmã Pari. O tema central – as escolhas que cada um de nós faz ao longo da vida, não tendo outras bases senão nossa intuição e nossa cultura a nos orientar, e como tais escolhas afetam a todos os que nos rodeiam – nos faz refletir sobre o relativismo do que é certo e errado: afinal, o ditado “de boas intenções o inferno está cheio” é válido? Boa literatura é isto: está além do tempo e do espaço e nos atinge em cheio, fazendo-nos pensar e – por que não? – reformular nossos valores e nos fazer crescer como seres humanos. Ao acabar de ler o livro, as personagens continuam esvoaçando em torno de nós, como se reais fossem! É quando nos identificamos com um afegão ou um cazaque, ainda que tenhamos apenas uma vaga ideia do país onde nasceu... P.S.: Não deixem de tentar responder às perguntas do “Readers Guide – Discussion Questions”.

Le livre est merveilleux, jolie écriture, l'histoire profondément touchante. La vie d'une famille se brise en mille morceaux, et, tel un puzzle, la suite est reconstituée par d'autres personnages en lien avec les héros. Certes beaucoup racontent une partie d'histoire pour disparaître ensuite sans qu'on apprenne ce qu'ils sont devenus eux-mêmes. Mais c'est la meilleure façon de reconstituer ce puzzle pour le rendre le plus réel possible et tellement émouvant. Tel un documentaire où les différents témoignages sont recueillis d'une si belle façon, l'histoire est parfaitement réussie. Mon premier roman de Khaled Hosseini qui m'a beaucoup ému.

If you intend to read Khaled Hosseini's third novel And the Mountains Echoed and you're expecting something along the lines of his first two blockbusters (The Kite Runners and A Thousand Splendid Suns), you won't get exactly what you're looking for, but I promise it's going to hook you from page one. First off, Hosseini has a style of writing that can be described as nothing short of poetic. He's a master storyteller, and the first chapter was so beautifully written that I knew it would be a matter of days before I'd end up turning the last page and heaving a sigh of regret at having it end so soon. And the Mountains Echoed opens in a tiny village in Afghanistan in the mid 1950s, where a young father is telling a local fairy tale to his two young children. The next day, their lives change irrevocably when they depart for Kabul, starting off a series of events that takes the reader on a journey across the world and spanning several generations of families. "So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. But just the one. Don't either of you ask me for more." But this isn't just one story. It's a collection of nine interconnected stories, all of which have been woven together along parallel themes of family, dependance, loyalty, betrayal, and abandonment. Each story introduces the reader to new members of this first young Afghan family, and to the people whose lives they intermingle with. All in all, a terrific read, and one that I happily recommend. Throughout these stories, we feel sadness and sorrow for these characters, but we also feel compassion, joy and happiness at seeing everything come full circle. Hosseini shows us time and time again with his writing that Afghanistan isn't a country to be reviled or feared, no matter what the media would have us think. America and Afghanistan may be interlocked in their present day stories of war, but we share a common bond in the feelings of guilt and gratitude that come with being dependent on the people that we care about most in the world. These are feelings that we all share and understand. As with his first two novels, Hosseini does a terrific job of humanizing his beloved homeland of Afghanistan. It's hard not to see this country with different eyes once you've read one of his books.