《And the Mountains Echoed》
It’s the third book I read that was written by Khaled Hosseini. The title sounds hopeful and I really hope it has a happy ending and people who live in this book have better lives than the ones in Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns. Now, finishing the book, I can say “Yes, it’s the least miserable story among the three”.
It took me several days to read the last part of the book. When I knew the siblings were meeting each other, I got scared and felt a slight fear that it would not turn out well. It was such a mixed feeling that I was at the same time very excited and looking forward to the moment they actually met. Teared up by only thinking of it. So, I gave it a pause and calmed my tears down.
“I think I’m ready” thought to myself the other night. Put on my headphones and tuned to calm piano music. I opened the book and was ready to finish the last part of it. Abdullah's daughter Pari went to the airport to pick Pari up...and yes they arrived back home and the siblings are about to meet! Khaled here wrote several pages of little Pari’s younger life with her mother and I’m sorry I skipped through most of it because the urge inside of me just couldn’t make the wait!
Finally, the Pari made it Abdullah and introduced herself. I was imagining a heart-attack kind of situation over there in the house in LA, however, Abdullah wasn’t triggered by anything other than she has the same name as his daughter. Then I know, well, it will never be that easy to read Khaled’s book. It always digs a hole and leads you to walk into it. Abdullah doesn’t remember a thing about his younger sister any more, and this woman whose name is Pari is going to live with them for a month so she can make up all these times the feeling of loss in her body. Throughout the whole time, she tried to chant their childhood songs together with her brother and expecting he would remember, or at least spark something inside.
Little Pari visited aunt Pari in France and brought over some of her father’s belongings which she never found before he went to elderly care house. Little Pari knows how aunt Pari will treasure the memories of her father’s, so she brought them over without opening the package. When both Pari were ready to find out what’s inside, they saw an old tin which was rusted and color faded. Inside, many different kinds of feathers collection. None of the Pari knows what they are and what they meant, but aunt Pari burst to tears. She now knows it gave much more pain to her brother than to her, because her youth protected her. However, Abdullah, her dearest older brother, had suffered the pain of loss for his whole life. It was a very touching moment. Lurch in my heart, tears in eyes. Both of them had a decent life but nobody would be able to see the dark cloud above their heads all the time, nor notice the deep buried secret other than themselves.
While sleeping, or between half awake and half asleep, I realize that Abdullah was very close to life, or should I say his uncle’s life, in Kabul. One of the cousins visited his restaurant right after the trip back from Kabul. That was another story in between the book that striked me.
The cousins visited Kabul to find opportunities of making profit out of their real estate back there, and met their old neighbour’s driver, or butler rather. The younger cousin always thought he is the kindest and humble one, whereas his cousin steals all the thunder when he does good things. His cousin would donate and make it well known by everyone. He doesn’t think his cousin is the purest for sure. When they saw the tragic girl in the hospital, he decided to company her everyday and promised he would find ways to help her after he returns to the US. His cousin found out anyway, and not showing any insupportness. After they returned to the US, he thought about the girl and the miserable life people lived back in Kabul a lot of times at the beginning and thought how people here deserve such a better life. He needs to help the girl! He wanted to propose to his family, and knowing his wife has been financially supporting a boy from Cambodia to help him get educated all these years. When he looked at his boys, he wasn’t sure if they would accept the girl in the family. Then, many errands and work got into his US life again and he started feeling his promise back in Kabul was a burden that he couldn’t bear. He finally asked his manager if his hospital can cover the expense for the girls’ operation, but his manager turned him down. Surprisingly, he felt relief. It was a relief that he now can tell the girl that he tried, but sorry they couldn’t do it, it wasn’t me who didn’t want to help. Several years later, when the girl had grown up to an author, he went to the book signing event and tried to apologize but he couldn’t say a word when facing her. She signed with indifference “Don’t worry. You are not in the book.” Of course she remembers. She remembers who he is and what he promised to an innocent girl years back. Turned out to be, his cousin had been supporting the girl all these years with operations and financially, who she calls uncle dearly.
This story striked me hard because that’s what most people do or feel, and only a minority of us would put into action right away. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how pure your thoughts are, action means much more beyond that.
And the Mountain Echoed. It was the story that Pari and Abdullah’s father told them in the very beginning of the book. I was fascinated by the story and realized that was just one story that was told within the book when it came to an end. And I knew it was not only a story, it was the hope of their father’s. A hope that sacrificing now to trade for a better life for his child in the future. I will say, yes, the mountains echoed.