And the Mountains Echoed Free Preview

by Khaled Hosseini

A free preview of Khaled Hosseini's instant New York Times bestseller And The Mountains Echoed.

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.
 

Kindle Edition

Published June 11, 2013

About the author

Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1970 Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973 Hosseini's family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini's youngest brother was born in July of that year.
In 1976, when Hosseini was 11 years old, Hosseini's father obtained a job in Paris, France, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April 1978. Instead, a year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California.
Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1996. He practiced medicine for over ten years, until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner.
Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through the Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for the foundation was inspired by the trip to Afghanistan that Hosseini made in 2007 with UNHCR.
He lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and their two children (Harris and Farah).

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as his first two books, in my opinion and a chunk of the middle could have been left out. A great summer holiday read and one that provided much discussion at book group. Not one that will change lives though I don't think.

[Susan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book interesting to read but kept forgetting who the characters were! Seemed rather disjointed at times. Still a good read though.

[Tehchee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too ambitious! Should have just stick with one main story line (Nabu--a gripping story! and so well written, too.) instead of having multiple sub plots that became so un-focus. Each plot is further bogged down by endless flashbacks. The whole book becomes unnecessarily long.

Compared with the wonderful "The Kite Runner", and the "A Thousand Splendid Suns," this book is a bit of a downer.

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

And the Mountains Echoed had me weeping from the sheer beauty and tenderness of Hosseini’s story telling ability. I think it is his best one yet.

[Anastasia N · Rating 4 out of 5]

To my taste, the weakest of the three. It was really tough to read the first two (I even had to take a break from KH's books before this one), but (to my relief) this one was not as difficult on emotional level. However, while the first two were impossible to set aside, whereas the "...mountains echoed" is filled with a lot of unnecessary lengthy descriptions, which made it difficult not to lose attention, which sometimes made me think whether it was an attempt to earn more money on the franchise. The idea to step away from the original key character - Afghanistan - to focus on a few stories of broken lives, not necessarily caused by the war and poverty, was good and interesting. But then again, the book seemed a bit far-fetched.

[Alisa Džemić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divna priča, posle svake pročitane njegove knjige više cijenim život i sve što imam.

[Susim Munshi]

For a book that spans Afghanistan, France, Greece, San Francisco, it is not quite the Khaled I got used to in The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns. He is even better. From the beginning to the end, he kept me spellbound and locked in. Especially because there is a sprinkle of predictability. I did not turn to pages ahead to sneak a preview. Rather I lived and breathed with each new character and enjoyed the splendid weaving of an epic story that spans three continents and three generations.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 50 pages were poetic. Then too many characters & scenarios to connect all the characters. Still love his writing .

[Shailendra Kharwas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Plot
A man named Abdullah in Afghanistan in 1952, brother cum parent of his sister Pari. Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night hey sleep together in their cot, their limbs tangled.
One day in Kabul his sister is deserted by his father to another family due to some financial crisis. And as they say sometimes a finger must be cut to save a hand.
Lives of everyone take mysterious turn, Pari go to France with her adopted mother due to family problems. Due to invasion of USSR in Afghanistan Abdullah & his remaining family moved to Pakistan. From there Abdullah go to San Francisco.
Crossing generation and continents moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco , to Greek Island of Ti nos.
After 58 long years in 2010, Siblings meet together, as everyone make their certain choices.



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.

My Views
During the time of Pandemic Covid-19, A good book to spent the time and great book to empathize the journey of characters. There are so many characters in the book, so many stories associated with them. Every character has to make certain choices to get the book a ending not the good one but the harsh one. Every Relation is described beautifully. Every city around the world has well explained looks like I already there when I read the book.
Some stories are not well connected like Idris Bashiri and a girl named Roshi, like Abdullah and his wife. Author couldn't write about many characters well because of large no. of characters and book length, I thought. But as Author summaries it on the protagonist Abdullah and Pari, that's all matters.

[Aditee · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the Mountains Echoed, is the story of separation of siblings, where 10 years old Abdullah, is forced by his father to give his infant sister Pari to a wealthy family. Events and circumstances in Kabul, Afghanistan, are transposed to France and America. While Pari is married and has children in France, Abdullah has married, owns a restaurant in America, and has a daughter named Pari. Despite having access to all of life's amenities, Pari feels lonely and empty and searches for her origin and biological family. The book is filled with struggle, pain, empathy, desire, extreme discomfort, and affection for each other.
When they are both grown and are able to show their love for one another, the siblings finally cross paths.
However, this isn't a single story. The nine interconnected stories in this collection are all connected by the same themes of family, reliance, trust, deceit, and rejection. Each tale presents a different member of this Afghan family as well as the others they come into contact with.
You won't get exactly what you're hoping for if you plan to read this book, yet I'm sure that it will connect you from first one.

[Brinx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully crafted story comprising of several interwoven tales and histories of a number of intriguing characters showing how lives can be altered indefinitely by both small and major acts. Like his other novels, the writing is, for the most part, exquisite and the parts of the novel set in Afghanistan contain breathtaking descriptions of the fragile beauty of a country that has spent so much of its history engaged in or on the brink of war.

Overall, a super read with lots of ideas to give rise yo thought and challenging questions.

[Fahmida Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand"

"They tell me I must wade into waters,where I will drown.Before I march in,I leave this on the shore for you.I pray you find it,sister, so you will know what was in my heart as I went under"

"I still had the luxary of forgetting "

This book is not as amazing as the previous two books of hosseni but the story of pari & abdullah will definitely move your heart.

[Lorinda Papazoglou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricately woven tale of love, loss, perseverance and how choices we make reverberate through the lives of generations to follow.
One wonders about the missed opportunities that would have been Pari’s life had things not happened the way it did. She would probably never have had the opportunity of education and a full life if she stayed in the village. Good outcomes can still come from heartbreaking circumstances.

[Chiara Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

And the Mountains Echoed is painfully sad but also radiant with love: the enduring bond of a brother and sister; the irritable but bedrock connection of cousins; the quiet intimacy of master and servant who become friends; the commitment of a doctor and nurse to war's victims. To underscore love's centrality and contingency, Hosseini closes with an image drawn from a dream: a snapshot of bygone happiness all the more precious in retrospect because we know how fragile it is.

[shhshshsh shhshshs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but not as the other two. I felt like some stories were unfinished and I wanted to know the ending of some characters. but the story was very well written and I really enjoyed reading this considering the fact that I HATE long chapters.
if you're wondering if u should read this book, I would definitely recommend it but I think that u should read the other two books (thousand splendid suns & the kite runner)first.

[Samikcha Agarwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really have mixed feelings about this one. After two of the most amazingly, heart-wrenching tales by the author, i did have high expectations from this one. But i am sad to say that it was not what i was expecting or wanting. The story is nicely written but the themes were just so hidden and blurry, also the flow of the book felt very forced and unnatural. But it can be a leisure summer read no doubt.

[Melissa Lamczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book emotional because of the family sacrifices made that devastated for generations. The bonds that stay with siblings even when separated at a young age. Heart break when children go to a different home only to have a good life but yet still suffer in some emotional way from new parents. We don’t know how blessed we are sometimes until we read about the devastation of others.

[Scovia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled with this book as compared to the last two. I couldn't remember the characters as i flipped through the pages and couldn't tell where the story was going or what the story was. I'm sorry to say I have never finished the book, and i have never had the interest to do it. I was very disappointed with the writer.

[Abigail Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will forever be a huge fan of Khaled's books. His storytelling has a way of capturing you and bringing a wide range of emotions to the surface. I found this one a little harder to follow, as many characters and back-and-forth stories existed. However, I loved how the beginning and the end tied together, especially with how the siblings unknowingly cared for each other.

[Kanica Goel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is about unbreakable bonds of love and finding one's lost self. The book is a good read, but not as good as the other works of the author (The Kite runner or A thousand splendid Suns). The main plot gets lost somewhere between the multiple subplots.

[Lost Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding story line whcih made me shed tears. #KhaledHosseini gave me an insight to the real life. The emotions like joy, surrow, guilt, regret and much more are beautifully touched and explained. Loved it from the first page to the last.

[Hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, I love Khaled Hosseini's books. Compared to his previous works, I did not enjoy this book. Too many perspectives led to the story being confusing. It also didn't give you enough time to get atatched to a character before they got killed off.

[NS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as gripping as the Kite Runner for me but still a good read

[Kik · Rating 5 out of 5]

La corde sensible, quand elle vibre...

[Marion C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two.

[Zainab Farooq · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and well written discription of Afghan society..

[Marketam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly very dissapointing after two of his great books

[Lucynelsonloveslife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book.

[Anne Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved everything by this author. I love this style of writing.

[Maureen Monahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! My only complaint is that it sometime was hard to weed through the details. I was so anxious to discover what would happen next. Khalid Hossein is a marvelous story teller!