Mar 02, 2014 10:09 AM
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(Updated Mar 02, 2014 10:19 AM)
I have been a great fan of Khaled Hosseni's work. Our association started way back in 2007 when I read "Thousand Splendid Sons." It impressed me so much that I purchased "Kite Runner" and devoured it vigorously too!
When and the mountains echoed was published, I had high hopes from Khalid Sir. But never did I expect something so marvelous, so sentimental that it blew my mind off completely. It surpassed his earlier works by miles.
This book is one of the best novels I have ever read. Full with instances and emotions that leave you in tears. You connect to the situations and wonder "what if" something else happened instead of the one which actually happened?
For example-What if Parwana dint push Masooma off the tree? Or what if Nabi dint fell for Nila and in his whim to impress her suggested Pari's adoption? What if Idrish helped Roshi instead of Timur? What if the dog spared Thalia? What if Abdullah was in a better state when he and Pari meet after almost 60 years?
This book has characters who are real, with their shortcomings yet they are hero in their own way. Aunt Odie (Marko's mom) comes across as a strong woman who single-handedly took care of her son and also of Thalia. She is genuine, lacks physical manifestation of love but she is true to her words. You aspire to be like her.
Mrs Nila Wahdati is a gorgeous lady, a man's woman who doesn't think twice before cheating on her husband for other men.She is defiant and dramatic, but still you feel a soft corner for her when she is helpless (Pari dating her ex boyfriend inflicting further injury to her wounded heart).
Idrish impresses as a man who is compassionate and who is willing to help Roshi.A man who doesn't believe in doing charity for public praise. But then, in the end he backs off (like most of us, wrapped up in our own troubles and family issues) and then Timur is the one who rescues Roshi. Whose side would you take? Idrish or Timur?
The reader will find himself as one amidst all the characters woven by the writer. You will feel as if Abdullah, Pari, Nila, Thalia, Markos all the characters are somebody who you knew right from your childhood.
You will smile with them and weep when they are in trouble situations. I bet any sentimental reader will definitely shed a tear or two when Suleiman dies and Nabi is left alone or when Pari (Abdullah's sister's husband Eric dies). or at the downtrodden state of Roshi. There is a tinge of happiness when you realize that Roshi is recovered and is a famous writer or when Thalia prepares a cardboard box camera for Markos or when Pari and Abdullah unite.
The novel is full of real life examples and situations that will tingle your heart with familiarity. Like -The feeling of hearing somebody speak in your native language in a foreign land or the promise you make to urself in bed (before going to sleep) and which you forget before you get up the very next day. Or Pari's explanation of why she doesn't want the freedom (because she thinks she is like a fish in an aquarium who used to the protected world. She can see the outside view and enjoy the view but she likes to be on the other side).
Of all the noteworthy lines of the novel, few which I personally loved are: "If you really wish something, sit under the oak tree and ask for it.and if the tree wants to grant it, it will shed exactly ten leaves on ur head", "Why, he is asking why-Thalia", "Beauty is a reward given unmerited, randomly", "A story is like a moving train, no matter where you hop on board, you are bound to reach the destination, sooner or later"
Khaled Hosseni is a writer who observes life and people very closely and can make you smile and cry with the same line/situation he uses. This is a great piece of intellect created by a writer who has a flair for delivering excellent work.
A must read for all fiction lovers.
5 stars for this masterpiece.
