And the Mountains Echoed
A Novel
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4.3 • 3.8K Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else.
Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Afghan American author Khaled Hosseini’s emotionally powerful third novel bounces between several interconnecting stories that start in Afghanistan and traverse the globe to Paris, California, and Greece. Hosseini shifts our attention so skillfully that every character feels nuanced and flawed, and each storyline makes the ones connected to it better and more complex. Exploring themes of love, jealousy, the burden of responsibility, and the pain of separation, And the Mountains Echoed takes an emotional look at sibling relationships. There’s so much to think about and unpack, you’ll want to read it with a friend.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hosseini's third novel (after A Thousand Splendid Suns) follows a close-knit but oft-separated Afghan family through love, wars, and losses more painful than death. The story opens in 1952 in the village of Shadbagh, outside of Kabul, as a laborer, Kaboor, relates a haunting parable of triumph and loss to his son, Abdullah. The novel's core, however, is the sale for adoption of the Kaboor's three-year-old daughter, Pari, to the wealthy poet Nila Wahdati and her husband, Suleiman, by Pari's step-uncle Nabi. The split is particularly difficult for Abdullah, who took care of his sister after their mother's death. Once Suleiman has a stroke, Nila leaves him to Nabi's care and takes Pari to live in Paris. Much later, during the U.S. occupation, the dying Nabi makes Markos, a Greek plastic surgeon now renting the Wahdati house, promise to find Pari and give her a letter containing the truth. The beautiful writing, full of universal truths of loss and identity, makes each section a jewel, even if the bigger picture, which eventually expands to include Pari's life in France, sometimes feels disjointed. Still, Hosseini's eye for detail and emotional geography makes this a haunting read.
Customer Reviews
And the mountains echoed
Very skilled and talented author. The chapters do not always flow well so you may struggle to pick up the story from one to the next. I don’t understand why so many authors have to now interject homosexuality in their stories. 95 %+ of the world is heterosexual and it would have been a better book without it.
Disappointing!
I have read the author's precious two books, Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, and enjoyed each immensely. This book does not live up to the depth of plot and character development of the others- not remotely close. There are different story lines going but are only partially developed and then either rushed through to an end or just abandoned. There was potential for development and it just wasn't realized.
My views
The book starts off very well. Towards the end I felt it was too melodramatic and predictable. Over all a good read but not of the standard of "the Kite runner".