And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Of the thirteen members at Book Club in June, twelve liked the book.  One person said they didn't like it, but they felt they knew more about Afghanistan and its people from the book.

We talked about the title of the book and it's meaning.  Most agreed that the book portrays what a family is and there were many examples of family {consider non-related as family as well} and the echo is that it affects the whole family.  What one person may do has consequences down the line and affect us for generations.  The moral complexity of each person affects a whole family.  Another thought on the title was that it was calling out and seeing it reflected in various things.

The book has so many characters; each chapter was a new story with new characters, "I liked that." someone stated.  Someone wished there had been more of Abdullah's storyline through-out to the very end, including how he met his wife or how he came to America.  That part was "so central to the beginning" of the story someone commented.  One person said "excellent storytelling" and another said it was "disjointed and frustrating, figuring out who was talking."  Another agreed and said it was hard to also figure out what their relationship to others was.

One person said they "Didn't find it an emotional book, it was good book, but I wasn't immersed in it."  Another person said they "felt emotion" and related to what was happening to the women and children and what is going to happen. "Felt a lot of empathy" was one comment.  One person stated they were crying in different parts of the book.

We felt there was a lot of caregiving going on:  Abdullah/Pari; Parwana/Masooma; Nabi/Mr. Wahdati; Pari/her mother Nila and several more.  We felt so bad at the end that Pari didn't get to say what she really wanted to say to Abdullah.  He did hum a song that she knew but it was still sad that he didn't know her because of his condition.  He did keep the feathers, although she didn't remember them, she knew that HE remembered HER all those years and saved them for her.

We like the story with Pari, Abdullah's daughter and that finally she connected with other family, her aunt and cousins.

We also noted that in this book and the past few books, we have read about Rumi.  Who, according to Wikipedia was born in 1207 and died in 127.  He was a 13-century Persian poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic.

Most people stated they liked the book, but liked his other books better.  We agreed he is a very talented writer!