And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini

Thèmes abordés

And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini, love, relationship, family drama

Résumé du document

And the Mountains Echoed is the third novel of the Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, which was published in English on May 21st, 2013. The novel deals with a family drama and spans over fifty years and four generations. And the Mountains Echoed is made up of nine chapters, each with a different narrative voice.

The book mainly deals with two siblings who have been seperated during their youth : after Abdullah and Pari's mother passes away and their father marries his second wife, the relationship between the two siblings gets even closer as they only have each other to depend on. Unfortunately, as Saboor, the father faces critical financial problems, he is convinced that selling his daughter Pari to a family which cannot have children of their own is the best idea to help his family. After the civil war and the Taliban era, the two siblings are not even able to hear about each other, as Abdullah moves to California while Pari starts a living in Paris.

Extraits

[...] Acording to me, the relation between a brother and a sister is something really strong and very important, it is as if there was a kind of mystic link. Besides, I also chose this book because I can easily see my relation with my brother. He is two years older than I and we are very close to each other, he taught me a lot and always carried me under his wing. The exerpt of the book I chose is in the chapter on page 106. This chapter comes in the form of a letter addressed to Mr. [...]

[...] We certainly recongnize the relation that maintain the siblings in this definition. Abdullah names his daughter after his sister's name and spends his entire life thinking about Pari, until he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is later unable to remember his sister when she comes to visit him after 58 years. He keeps the feather collection Pari once had for his entire life, he tells his daughter countless stories about his perfect little sister Pari. Pari grows up not knowing she has a brother, due to her young age at their separation. [...]

[...] And the Mountains Echoed is made up of nine chapters, each with a different narrative voice. The book mainly deals with two siblings who have been seperated during their youth : after Abdullah and Pari's mother passes away and their father marries his second wife, the relationship between the two siblings gets even closer as they only have each other to depend on. Unfortunately, as Saboor, the father faces critical financial problems, he is convinced that selling his daughter Pari to a family which cannot have children of their own is the best idea to help his family. [...]

[...] His patience with her was boundless. He carried her around the village, showing her off as though she were the world's most coveted trophy. I chose this exerpt because the theme behind it remains constant, familial love is one of the primary themes of And the Mountains Echoed . The fact that the love Abdullah has for sister is described by an external point of view, underlines even more the power of the link which unite both of them. The selflessness of love shown through Abdullah's maternal-like caring for his sister Pari, is unconditonnal : he changes her diapers, gets up with her at night, and basically raises her, all while being a child himself. [...]

[...] It essentially becomes a confession as to what led up to Pari's If I had any wish, even at this late hour, to somehow acquit myself, I would say that the bond between Abdullah and his little sister was an ordinary one. But it was not so. No one but God knows why those two had chosen each other. It was a mystery. I have never seen such affinity between two beings. In truth, Abdullah was as much father to Pari as sibling. When she was an infant, when she cried at night, it was he who sprung from the sleeping cot to walk her. [...]