So, I think I can call myself a fan of Khaled Hosseini. His books serve the purpose of, what I feel, what books are actually meant to do. They tell you about a new country, their culture and people. For me it has been an enlightening experience because I got to know so much about Afghanistan. A country torn between civil and political wars and then by the jihads- I think the country has lost more than what it has gained. I now know that Afghanis are really nice and warm and loving quite contrary to what I used to think earlier. And I am really thankful to this writer for letting me know what it is like to be in this country where everyday people woke up with the sounds of bombs and gunshots. I respect them for their incredulous strength to handle life this way!
The first book I read of him was "The Kite Runner" and I almost cried with the last phrase "For you a thousand times over". I would suggest anybody to read this. "A thousand Splendid Suns" too was a brilliant take on the woman in Afghanistan are being treated by the so called "religious rulers". These two made me a fan of Khaled and when his latest book "And the Mountains Echoed" released, i was sure to get myself a copy.
This story is about a brother Abdullah and his sister Pari and how they get separated painfully as a rescue from their poverty; "A finger had to be cut, to save the hand". The lives of each of them spans out across two different continents -in Paris and somewhere in Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. It etches the life of all the people who comes in touch with these people's lives: Uncle Nabi, Mr. and Mrs. Wahdati, Mr. Markos, a Dr. Bashiri and a young boy Adel-son of an ex-jihad. The feeling of the abandonment of the country to its pitiful fate by an American Afghan, the rebellious feelings of a Muslim woman, the fight for a home and the helplessness of the Afghan refugees in America- each of them moves me. The village of Shadbagh and the brother sister bond is beautiful- how the sister loves collecting bird feathers ,how her brother acts like her only guardian and how she has distant visions of her lost past and a vacuum in her life- is the unshakable specialty with which Khaled weaves up the apathy of such fictional yet realistic people. I love his writings for this quality!
But I fail to understand why he did not write much about Abdullah once he was separated from his sister, Pari. Pari's life was very well sketched- how she grew into a mathematician, how she had a loving family of her own but Abdullah's life was not very well articulated until he grew old and lived with his grown up daughter also named Pari. I think I would have wanted to know more on how did Abdullah land up in America from the small poor village of Shadbagh.
Also, the account of Dr. Bashiri and his encounter with the misfortunate girl named Roshi seemes unnecessary to me. Well, it was ironical the way Roshi saves Kaka Idris but I think the chapter on their lives could had been a little shortened to give way to Abdullah's life. I think the writer wanted us to know how the foreign returned nationals made false promises to take care of the victims of the wars and family feuds. Still, I think an account of Abdullah's life would had been better since he also writes about Adele and his clustered childhood.
All in all, I would say "And the Mountains Echoed" was not as good as his previous two books had been but nevertheless I will continue to be a fan of Hosseini. He succeeds in creating the perfect ending moment when Pari receives the box of bird feathers as a gift from her brother although she does not know what was that supposed to mean. Perfect!
" 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 "
The first book I read of him was "The Kite Runner" and I almost cried with the last phrase "For you a thousand times over". I would suggest anybody to read this. "A thousand Splendid Suns" too was a brilliant take on the woman in Afghanistan are being treated by the so called "religious rulers". These two made me a fan of Khaled and when his latest book "And the Mountains Echoed" released, i was sure to get myself a copy.
This story is about a brother Abdullah and his sister Pari and how they get separated painfully as a rescue from their poverty; "A finger had to be cut, to save the hand". The lives of each of them spans out across two different continents -in Paris and somewhere in Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. It etches the life of all the people who comes in touch with these people's lives: Uncle Nabi, Mr. and Mrs. Wahdati, Mr. Markos, a Dr. Bashiri and a young boy Adel-son of an ex-jihad. The feeling of the abandonment of the country to its pitiful fate by an American Afghan, the rebellious feelings of a Muslim woman, the fight for a home and the helplessness of the Afghan refugees in America- each of them moves me. The village of Shadbagh and the brother sister bond is beautiful- how the sister loves collecting bird feathers ,how her brother acts like her only guardian and how she has distant visions of her lost past and a vacuum in her life- is the unshakable specialty with which Khaled weaves up the apathy of such fictional yet realistic people. I love his writings for this quality!
But I fail to understand why he did not write much about Abdullah once he was separated from his sister, Pari. Pari's life was very well sketched- how she grew into a mathematician, how she had a loving family of her own but Abdullah's life was not very well articulated until he grew old and lived with his grown up daughter also named Pari. I think I would have wanted to know more on how did Abdullah land up in America from the small poor village of Shadbagh.
Also, the account of Dr. Bashiri and his encounter with the misfortunate girl named Roshi seemes unnecessary to me. Well, it was ironical the way Roshi saves Kaka Idris but I think the chapter on their lives could had been a little shortened to give way to Abdullah's life. I think the writer wanted us to know how the foreign returned nationals made false promises to take care of the victims of the wars and family feuds. Still, I think an account of Abdullah's life would had been better since he also writes about Adele and his clustered childhood.
All in all, I would say "And the Mountains Echoed" was not as good as his previous two books had been but nevertheless I will continue to be a fan of Hosseini. He succeeds in creating the perfect ending moment when Pari receives the box of bird feathers as a gift from her brother although she does not know what was that supposed to mean. Perfect!
" 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 "
Great review, I agree with you. I wanted a little more about Abdulla as well. I found the chapter about Mr Marcos a little bit of distraction, I wish he tended more to Abdulla instead. But all and all I loved it, great work as usual from Mr. Hossaini who is born to write perhaps.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback! I really appreciate it! I need more and more reader for this blog. Do tell your friends ! :)
Delete