And the Mountains Echoed

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini tells a story of war in Afghanistan and shares a fictional insight of the lives of some Afghan-people. This is the second book I have read from his discography and I will be on the look out for more. I made an exchange for this book at Uncle Spike's Book Exchange and it will probably remain on my shelf until I have the courage to give it up. 

This book tells a story of how a father had to sell one of his children so that the others could survive. Like how an animal caught in a trap would bite of it's leg to set it self free. Needless to say it would seem selfish of the father yet this was a selfless act, because the father knew that the child given away would indeed grow up with a wealthier family and the remaining children will have a better chance at survival. 

Besides the family drama and dynamics, this is a tear jerking book. I cry most times when reading a book that plays at my heart strings and Hosseini's book definitely knew at which strings to play. 

I dub Hosseini as the master of labyrinths. Eventhough the paths of the characters seem short lived, they all interconnect and eventually interact to form a full circle. I felt as if I was reading intertwined short stories and they didn't bore me at all. I personally dislike short stories because of their abrupt endings, yet I loved reading this book because one story never really ended, it just continued into another one. 

Every word written gave life to these characters that when they died, it felt like losing someone you just met and had a great connection with. Some deaths were shocking, some undeserving and others I didn't care much about because of the person they were written to be.  

The characters live and age right infront of you, you get to grow with them and mourn with them. Yet, these deaths are just a couple of pages and new life grows in the next pages. So, you continue with the ones that are left behind, the lives that continue living, because that is how we all go about death- we continue living.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐