Recent Reads - And the Mountains Echoed

Here is another recent read of mine I would like to share with you - And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. 

Hosseini is one of the authors I find consistent in making an impression on my mind. And the Mountains Echoed is his recent book, third I read and as the two before it left a mark. I were wondering what I like so much in Khaled Hosseini novels, they are not "rosy and light" as most of novels I enjoy reading. I think what grasps and holds me is bland truth of life, personality and the way author narrates his stories in all possible colours. 

And the Mountains Echoed is a story about Saboor and his children Abdullah and Pari, and the shocking, heartbreaking event that divides them. From there, the book branches off to include multiple other characters and story lines before circling back to Abdullah and Pari. 

Here some phrases from And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini: 

"So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one..."

" It's a funny thing... but people mostly have it backwards. They think they live by what they want. But really, what guides them is what they're afraid of. What they don't want."

" Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly."

"A story is like a moving train: no matter where you hop on board, you are bound to reach your destination sooner or later"

"Kabul is... a thousand tragedies per square mile."

"He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity."

" I found a sad little fairy
Beneath the shade of a paper tree.
I know a sad little fairy
Who was blown away by the wind one night."


This novel is about how we love, how we take care of one another and how the choices we make resonate through generations. This story is not just about parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers. Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honour 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. This novel takes you not just through time, but from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos. And the Mountains Echoed expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page. Everything gets exposed, nothing is left hidden from your eye.

I am on my last few pages and about to close this amazing story. Have you read it yet?
Marija