And the Mountains Echoed

- by Malvi

And the Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini is a great piece of emotional story telling. 

The author maintains a simple prose in the book and his writing has a lyrical quality which keeps the various segments linked and flowing throughout the book.

The novel has several stories which are interlinked in some way or the other. The story of emotional bonding of siblings and the bond they share has been brought out quite nicely by Hosseini.

Set in Kabul Afghanistan, the story line follows a little girl, Pari, who is separated from her original family in her childhood. Her life takes a full circle and brings her back to her brother after many decades. In this book the author does not restrain himself in Afghanistan (his previous books were primarily based in Afghanistan) as the various characters are based in Greece, Paris and other parts of the world.

Although the Hosseini’s writings are quite engrossing and a hot bed for emotions, this book lacks the vibrancy which was present in his earlier book –‘The Kite Runner’, a bestseller which was also made into a movie.

In my view, the sibling love of the main characters’ Pari and Abdullah is described quite lucidly by the author and the readers may become really attached to the unfolding story. Unfortunately, the protagonists become lost after the beginning chapters amid other related characters and their stories.

They re-emerge towards the end where the duo meets again. However, the ending was tad disappointing despite the expert story telling by Hosseini.The novel showcases stories of an affluent couple Mr. Wahdati and his wife, Neela, an alcoholic  poetess, who are the adoptive parents of Pari. Neela, who is a free spirit, runs off to Paris with Pari and brings her up in that country.

On the lighter side, the long distance emotional connection between the separated siblings had me thinking about several old Bollywood movies (not including the melodrama of course!!)