And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini is one of the recommended books for SHKP‘s Book Review Competition http://www.shkp.com/Pages/press-release-detail/2103.  For several reasons (to encourage Sam in his reading and writing, to encourage myself to read the book earlier, to practise my writing etc.), I decided to participate in the Competition.  Here’s my entry of the Book Review in A Letter to My Family:

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Dearest Mum, Dad, Dajie, Erjie, Dage, Erge, Sange, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, Hubby, last but not least my adorable nephew and nieces,

I hope this letter finds you well and I give thanks for the gift of your ever-loving presence in my life.  

Recently, I read a novel titled And the Mountains Echoed written by Khaled Hosseini and I would like to share my thoughts with you.  The author, Hosseini was born in Kabul and now lives in the US.  Like many readers, I cannot help but compare Hosseini’s third novel with his first two.  Unlike the first two which have simpler plots (mainly about two men in The Kite Runner, two women in A Thousand Splendid Suns), And the Mountains Echoed is like a collection of inter-connected short stories.  Among the many stories, there are
·   Abdullah and his sister Pari who was given away when she was 3 year-old;  
·   Parwana (Abdullah’s stepmother) and her twin sister Masooma;
·   Nabi (Parwana’s brother) and his wealthy employer Wahdati who was secretly in love with him;  
·   Pari and her adopted mother Nila who was Wahdati’s wife;  
·   Pari and Abdullah’s daughter, also named Pari; and
·   Markos (a Greek plastic surgeon and Afghanistan’s aid worker who stayed in Nabi’s house which was bequeathed by Wahdati), his mother and his friend Thalia.   
And the Mountains Echoed takes readers across the world, firstly, of course from Afghanistan to San Francisco in US, Paris in France and Tinos islands in Greek.  

I remain an ardent fan of Hosseini, admiring and enjoying his vivid and beautiful descriptions.  However, I prefer a simpler plot and find some characters (like Adel, Idris) and their stories “distracting” and somehow loosely connected.   Nevertheless, what is different and precisely what I really like about this novel is its strong theme of family relationship and ties.  Among the many touching or enlightening stories, I would like to highlight three and explain what they mean to me:

1.       “I don’t know what that means and I don’t want to“ was Masooma’s immediate response to her sister Parwana when the latter tried to confess her wrong doing which left Masooma paralysed.   Instead of grilling Parwana or making Parwana feel guilty and sorry for the wrong doing, Masooma chose to be magnanimous and forgiving.   

That was a powerful and touching act!  Indeed, no one is perfect and everyone does some wrongful acts, big or small, serious or trivial, at some points in life.   Let’s learn to forgive others just as we yearn for forgiveness from those whom we have offended.

2.       “You’ve turned out good. You’ve made me proud.”  Markos held dearly in his heart, these words said by his mother when he was 55 years old.  Initially Markos questioned if these words came too late as he has waited all his life to hear them but the story ended with a beautiful reconciliation. Since young, Markos’ mother, Odelia, a forbidding-looking widow, a no-nonsense school teacher, did not explicitly express her love for her son. For instance, as they walked to school, Odelia never held his son’s hand, like other mothers did with their kids - she said she had to treat Markos like any other student.  As a result, Markos often felt ‘how ill suited’ he and her mum were for each other.  After he grew up, he chose to avoid his mother by travelling constantly, working in Afghanistan and finally made a visit only after decades of absence.

Like most traditional Chinese family, we do not feel comfortable expressing our love explicitly especially to members of our family.  I learn that feeling love, grateful or proud of family members and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.   I’m glad over the past few years, our family have improved on this aspect.  I hope we could do even better.  Let’s show love all around us.

3.       Thalia was daughter of Odelia’s good friend.   When Thalia was five, a dog bit her. The unfortunate accident and the blotched surgery thereafter left her face severely disfigured.  When Thalia was in her early teens, her mother left her temporarily in Odelia’s care but did not return in the end.  Odelia understood her friend’s predicament and willingly cared for Thalia.  Odelia even helped Thalia get rid of her face mask to face the world bravely. On the other hand, Thalia took her ill-fated life in her stride and made full use of her talents to help others.  Gradually, Thalia became an important part of Odelia’s and Markos’ life.

I’m particularly touched by Odelia’s unconditional love.  She accepted and loved Thalia for who and what she was.   I’m equally inspired by Thalia’s courage to live her life fully and meaningfully despite her own misfortune. She even declined Markos’ offer to fix her face. “This is who I am.” she said. What a powerful statement of self-assurance! Let’s all love ourselves for who we are!

Mum, Dad, sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, hubby, nephew and nieces, please forgive me for those times when I lost my patience, said hurtful words or when I didn’t care as much as I should have. Thanks for loving me for who and what I am.   I love all of you dearly!  You are the joy of my life and the happiness of my heart!    Thank you for your love! 

May peace and happiness be with you always! 

Your daughter, sister, wife and aunt