This novel starts off in 1949 depicting life in a fictional rural village called Shadbagh in Afghanistan. Through the pages you move through many people's lives as they are touched by the poverty and troubles within Afghanistan. This book moves through the years to current times and includes other countries where the characters have moved away to.
And the Mountains Echoed is a tale of love, people moving on, pride, sadness and struggle. All the characters are fully developed and tell wonderful stories, some their own and others passed along. There is so much warmth coming from this book that gives you a mature look at life. Khaled grabs those core fundamental values that drive people forward and holds society together. He tells the tale in such a fatherly, loving way, that the best story-tellers do. This makes for a great holiday read and as you glance up from this book, you can imagine tales echoing from the landscape around you, similar to the title of this novel.
This is a powerful story with people making hard decisions...
Parwana shuts her eyes. The wind makes the scarf flap against her face.
No one has to know. No one would. It would be her secret, one she would share with the mountains only. The question is whether it is a secret she can live with, and Parwana thinks she knows the answer. She has lived with secrets all her life.
She hears wailing again in the distance.
...Also how people are resigned to their situation...
But the fact is. I looked at my life and realized I already had what people sought in marriage. I had comfort, and companionship, and a home where I was always welcomed, loved, and needed. The physical urges I had as a man - and I still had them, of course, though less frequent and less pressing now that I was older - could still be managed, as I explained earlier. As for children, though I had always liked them I had never felt a tug of paternal impulse in myself.
...There is some lovely teasing dialogue sprinkled throughout the text...
Why didn't you call for the bedpan, Suleiman?
I did, a hundred times I did!
Which are you calling me, deaf or lazy?
No need to pick, I'm calling you both!
You have some gall calling me lazy for someone who lies in bed all day.
...Plus some lovely social observations of living in Afghanistan...
Eventually, the fighting ended with the arrival of the Taliban, those sharp-faced young men with dark beards, kohl-rimmed eyes, and whips. Their cruelty and excesses have also been well documented, and once again I see little reason to enumerate them for you, Mr. Markos. I should say that their years in Kabul were, ironically enpugh, a time of personal reprieve for me. They saved the bulk of their contempt and zealotry for the young, especially the poor women. Me, I was an old man. My main concession to their regime was to grow a beard, which, frankly, spared me the meticulous task of a daily shave.
...I enjoyed reading And the Mountains Echoed. It was very sad in places and brought a tear to my eyes. Khaled tells a lovely story with such passion and warmth. He sets up a lovely atmosphere of legends rolling off the mountains, tales of hope, poverty and struggle. His characters are easy to relate to as they all share a very human warmth, especially when they feel that they have failed. I have read his other two novels, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. This latest novel follows similar themes and if you enjoyed either of the other two, you will be delighted with this one. I finished this book and certain scenes still haunt me as I daydream whilst walking my dog. And the Mountains Echoed is a powerful, memorable story that makes for a wonderful read that deserves the top score of 5 stars.
And the Mountains Echoed has 463 pages and was written in 2013.
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