Book Review Of 'And the Mountains Echoed'

Book: And the Mountains Echoed

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Pages: 466

BLURB:

Ten-year-old Abdullah would do anything for his younger sister. In life of poverty and struggle, with no mother to care for them, Pari is the only person who brings Abdullah happiness. For her, he will trade his only pair of shoes to give her a feather for her treasured collection. When their father sets off with Pari across the desert to Kabul in search of work, Abdullah is determined not to be separated form her. neither brother nor sister knows what this fateful journey will bring them.

And the Mountains Echoed is a deeply moving epic heartache, hope and, above all, the unbreakable bonds of love.

MY TAKE ON THE BOOK:

I had this book with me since a long time, but this lockdown period made me take hold of this book.

And I don’t know how and why I escaped myself from reading this book for so long that was just lying on my table. I know everyone loves Khaled Hosseini’s work and this beautiful story ‘And the Mountains Echoed’ is just an amazing work of his.

Looking at the cover, my first impression was that there would be mountains and maybe, the story was portrayed in a place where beautiful landscapes are shown, rivers are flowing and you know, everything going smoothly and all.

But when you go deep into the story, it’s not what you think. The story is portrayed at Kabul, a land covered with deserts. And nothing goes smoothly, the attacks on Afghanistan, the bullets, the untimely death and tragedies are evident in the book.

There was a letter, rather I would say a long letter, which was given to Mr. Markos by Nabi who was the chauffer and care taker of Mr. Suleiman Wahdati. The letter which was mentioned was only to be read after the death of Nabi. The letter was enclosed with the will of the property that was in the name of ‘Pari’.

Nabi was Abdullah and Pari’s uncle. While delivering Pari, they have lost their mother. Nabi always tried to be attentive to them, especially to Abdullah, who most seemed to need it. Once a month, Mr. Wahdati generously let him borrow his car, and he would drive down to Shadbagh, his native village to visit Parwana and her husband Saboor. He offer to take Abdullah and Pari rides in the car, to make them feel that they are not alone.

Later on, Pari and Abdullah who shared unbreakable bond were separated when Pari was left with Nila to spend the rest of her life on the insistence of Nabi who worked at their place.  

Nila was a poet. Her poems defied tradition. They followed no preset meter or rhyming pattern. Nor did they deal with the usual things, trees, and spring flowers and bulbul birds. Nila wrote about love, and by love its not about Sufi yearnings of Rumi but instead physical love. 

Mr. Wahdati (Nila’s husband) suffers from stroke and become bed ridden. It was Nabi who took care of him. After Mr. Wahdati’s bed ridden condition, Nila took Pari along with her and moved to France leaving everything behind.

Nabi mentioned everything in the letter which made Markos think really hard. Markos was a plastic surgeon who came to Kabul to serve the mankind and lived with Nabi in his house along with some other people who were with him to help in uplifting the situations of Kabul at that time. 

Thalia(who began living with Markos and his mother in a small island of Tinos), a girl who has disfigured face from the childhood due to the attack of a dog, hides her disfigured face with a veil for the sake of her extremely beautiful mother. Who was later abandoned by her mother for her disfigurement. And later on, she refuses to correct the disfigurement when even Markos urges for it because she think this is her identity.

 Later on, the story is concluded with a bitter sweet ending where Abdullah’s daughter Pari, brings a guest to her home for her father who was none other than his own sister Pari. They were separated during their childhood which was a tragic one.

And before Abdullah was diagnosed with Alzheimers, he gives his sister the box he kept safe, the box with the collected feathers in myriads of colours, especially the peacock feather with that big eye and the write up along with them.

I really enjoyed reading this book and after reading this book, I am sure I am never going to remove this from the list of my favourite ones.

P.S.- Suggesting everyone to read this particular book. It is truly an amazing story. And I am sure after reading this book you will thank me for suggesting it to you.

Overall rating: 4.7/5