And the Mountains Echoed is about a brother and sister in Kabul. Their story spans out across 60 years which include the troubled time of the Taliban. This book has a strong streak of self sacrifice and is a good criticism of humanity in general.
I'm assuming Hosseini expects you to have read his other books before reading this one because he does not go into the politics or blow-by-blow accounts of the Taliban's actions but focuses on the effects they had on the people of Kabul's lives.
*Spoiler Alert ON*
Catharsis - the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.
(Thank you Google!)
We use this term in film a lot. The ending of a story is when then reader/audience experiences catharsis and feels relief. For example the good guy kills the bad guy and gets the girl. This does not necessarily mean that it has to be a perfectly happy ending: the good guy could beat the bad guy but not get the girl because she's in love with someone else but we're happy for the good guy anyway because he proved himself to be a worthy hero.
I, in no meaning of the word, experienced any sort of catharsis while reading this book. I can understand and appreciate a unhappy ending but not to this extent and in actual fact it put me off his other books as well. The Daily Telegraph as written "Hosseini pulls of his usual - impressive - trick of breaking your heart and leaving you smiling" on the cover and I have to say that I did not smile at all. I had to force myself to find one small breath of kindness in his ending and finding it only made me angry.
I understand that life is not always perfect and rarely ends well but this was too much of a stretch for me.
Now I have that off my chest... Hosseini came up with a few fantastic similes in rather unexpected places in the book which really made me laugh and feel a connection with him. I felt like each one was a small victory for him. I, of course, know nothing of the editing process this book went through but every time I read a sentence that made me laugh I found myself imaging Hosseini doing a small victory dance as he slipped that one passed the editor. They are a breath of fresh air in an extremely tragic sorry.
There are some really good jabs at human nature in this. I would like to focus on my two favourites: The cousins Timur and Idris. These boys escape to America with the rise of the Taliban and become men. Timur starts a used car company and becomes a quick success whereas Idris struggles through medical school to eventually become a successful doctor but this process is long and wears at Idris' pride. He has to borrow money from Timur for his father's funeral and is jealous of his rich cousin. Idris believes that every good deed Timur does, he does because he likes the attention. Every act of charity the businessman does in done in front of a crowd and to their cheers. Timur is a man praised in the Afghan community in America.
When I read Idris' appraisal of his cousin it made me think. Was Idris just jealous or was Timur doing it all for the show? How much charity do we actually do without the applause? When we run marathons or do walks for charities we all wear their shirts/badges. We all post our pictures on social media so all our friends know what a good person we are. But Timur is also a member of an ethnic minority. An esteemed member of an ethnic minority is a very politically advantaged person to be. In the book Idris explains how Timur arranged everything for his uncle's funeral with a few phone calls. By playing the "giver" Timur opened all doors he possibly could within the American-Afghan community. He was known and loved by everyone. When they get back to America after a trip to Afghanistan Idris decides to go to an Afghan restaurant which he later realizes is only open for business because Timur lent the owner money... But, but, but... we see Timur mainly through Idris' eyes who is without a doubt jealous of his socially active and successful cousin. Timur saw an opportunity, took it and made a name for himself which is something Idris would never have the courage to do.
We see Idris take the initiative once in the book. During the cousins' trip to Afghanistan they meet a little girl in a hospital. She had taken an ax to the head and part of her skull had broken away. This had nothing to do with the Taliban but happened at a time when men and women were not allowed to go to the same hospital. Her doctor had her separated from the other patients and was doing her best to get her the operation she needed to heal.
When Idris meets her, he is caught in this flow of human compassion that we all feel from time to time and promises he will bring the girl to America and make sure she gets her operation. He buys her a television and movies so she has some small comfort in her hospital room and stays with her as much as possible. He makes it back to America and does he run straight to his boss at the hospital? No... Does he eventually tell his boss about the girl? Yes... And does he fight for her when his boss says no? Of course not... By that time he is back in his routine and once more surrounded by the comfort of his home and family. He forgot his guilt and his compassion. Out of sight, out of mind... We blame him because we know he was wrong to do what he did but how many of us would have done differently? To fight for the girl would take patience, stamina and strength of will. Not many of us feel passionate about something to the extent we can fight all obstacles in our way to make sure what needs to be done is done. Most of us are like Idris who has not fought for anything and will not fight for anything in his life.
Timur gets the girl her operation.
I think that sentence means a lot. We blamed Timur for his possibly faked goodwill but he got the girl to America and got her her operation. What does Idris do? He turns up to one of her book signings to find out if she mentioned him in the book and damaged his reputation...
When he found out an old promise and old passion had come back to haunt him; he went to assess the damage...
Idris has his wife, his children, his job and his house with a built in cinema. The comforts of the modern world separate us from other people who do not have even the basic necessities because they blind our senses. They make us close the shutters because we have nothing we need to fight for we do not understand the suffering of someone who does. I sit here with my laptop and my fridge and I am guilty of this.
You probably are too...
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