Book: And The Mountains Echoed
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Pages: 475
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed begins simply enough, with a father recounting a folktale to his two young children. The tale is about a young boy who is taken by a div (a sort of ogre), and how that fate might not be as terrible as it first seems—a brilliant device that firmly sets the tone for the rest of this sweeping, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting novel. A day after he tells the tale of the div, the father gives away his own daughter to a wealthy man in Kabul. What follows is a series of stories within the story, told through multiple viewpoints, spanning more than half a century, and shifting across continents. The novel moves through war, separation, birth, death, deceit, and love, illustrating again and again how people’s actions, even the seemingly selfless ones, are shrouded in ambiguity. This is a masterwork by a master storyteller.
General Thoughts and Review:
I was excited when I heard about this book coming out. And Flipkart kept asking me to pre-order it. But I didn't. I love Khaled Hosseini's writing and I love the stories he tells. What I hate? How utterly and completely his books break my heart. At the end of his other books (two of them) I've cried my heart out. They made me deeply sad and so I kept my distance from this book. Who needs a book to make you cry like a mad woman?! Not me. Thank-you very much!
2 months later, the sales were crazy on Flipkart and this book was going for 60% off. I thought this was a good time to buy the book and I could read it when I was deliriously happy. Or just read it whenever fancy struck me.
The first thing I want to say to any of you who kept away from the book thinking it will reduce you to tears and snot...don't worry it won't. This is possibly Hosseini's least tragic book. I did cry, once the book was over and I was telling my sister about the ending. But it was a dignified crying. Unlike the tears that came once I had finished The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. So go ahead and read this book. It isn't that sad.
I love the story telling skill that Hosseini possesses, his writing is simple, to the point yet beautiful. The way he takes you inside the lives of his characters is remarkable. Throughout the book I felt like I was right there with the people in the book.
The story starts with the brother and sister duo and their cruel separation. The rest of the book moves away from them and at the end we meet the siblings again. The other characters in the book are sometimes people close to the sibling- their step-mother and the step-mother's brother (who plays a pivotal role in the sibling's separation). The other characters are ones that have nothing really to do with the siblings directly. Each of these portions of the story almost read like little short stories, even though some of them are really long. We also meet the sister and see how her life unfolded.
I didn't mind most of these stories, I loved the step-mother and her brother's stories, they were interesting and I was gripped. The sister's story was a huge chunk of the book and enjoyable. I also really loved reading about her adoptive mother, a French-Afghan woman who lead a pretty interesting life. I wish we had seen more of the brother's life. We only hear of it very briefly at the end. I would have liked to see more of his story.
There were two stories/perspectives I could have done without. One is that of a Greek doctor who lives in the rich man's house during the Taliban regime, his life story was well-written for sure but it wasn't really needed. Similarly, the portion about the former neighbors of this house that takes us to LA was just...I don't know....seemed like it was there for no good reason. I know the point was to show how some people visit a war torn region and want to help. But when back to their real lives, their willingness or fervour goes away. But I was a little bored during this and the Greek portions.
Overall, I loved the book. The writing was great and I didn't cry nearly as much as I thought.
Rating: 4/5
1 comment:
This has too many characters. Very difficult to correlate each other. Most of time went past in correlating the characters. Couldn't, understand what was the start and where it finished.
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