And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini

The characters and story lines were so complex I couldn't decide what was the best way to present the characters, by time or story line, so I did both!  Enjoy!

Characters by Timeline
1952	2002/2003	2009/2010
Shadbagh Father – Saboor Abdullah Pari Mother – deceased Parwana – Stepmother Omar (deceased) and Iqbal (son)   Masooma – Parwana’s invalid sister   Kabul Uncle Nabi Suleiman Wahdati Nila Wahdati – took Pari and went to Paris   Idris and Timur Bashiri – grew up near Wahdatis	Markos – Greek surgeon – living in Wahdati’s (Nabi’s) house   Uncle Nabi  - cared for Suleiman Wahdati   Amra Ademovic – nurse   Roshi – disfigured girl   Idris  - doctor (meets Roshi and promises to help but does not follow through) Timur – real estate company Brothers return to Kabul to reclaim family property	Tinos Markos Mama – Aunt Odie   Thalia – came to Tinos in 1967 Madaline   New Shadbagh Adel Father – Commander Sahib Aria – mother Kabir and Azmaray – bodyguards     Came to Shadbagh, was in  refugee camp in Pakistan Gholam Iqbal – father Parwana – grandmother
1976/77		2010
Julien – affair with both Nila and Pari   Eric Lacombe – Pari’s husband Children – Isabelle, Alain and Thierry		United States Abdullah Pari - daughter   Paris Pari

Characters by Story Line
Pari/Abdullah family   Shadbagh	Father – Saboor Abdullah  - eventually moves to America and owns Abe’s Kabob House Pari – given to Wahdatis – moved to Paris – married and had three children Mother –d deceased Parwana - Stepmother Iqbal – son/stepbrother   Masooma – Parwana’s invalid sister
Wahdatis   Kabul	Suleiman Pari Nila – took Pari and moved to Paris (both Nila and Pari had affair with Julien)   Uncle Nabi – cared for Suleiman until death
Idris and Timur   America and Kabul	Grew up near Wahdatis Idris – doctor – introvert - meets Roshi and promises to help but does not follow through – family eats at Abe’s Kabob House Timur – owns real estate company – generous, but publically Brothers return to Kabul to reclaim family property   Amra Ademovic - nurse Roshi – disfigured girl
Adel   New Shadbagh	Commander Sahib – father Aria – mother Kabir and Azmaray – bodyguards   Gholam – Adel’s age - refugee, previously lived in Pakistan Iqbal – father – returned to Shadbagh to reclaim property Parwana – grandmother
Marcos   Kabul and Tinos	Plastic surgeon - Living in Uncle Nabi/Pari’s house in Kabul Mama – Aunt Odie Thalia – scarred by dog bite - came to Tinos in 1967 and left there by mother, stayed to care for Aunt Odie Madaline – Thalia’s mother

For discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers refer to hardback edition.

1. Discuss Parwana and Masooma – Parwana’s actions that resulted in Masooma’s “accident” and the events leading up to the “accident.”

2. In two cases characters were helped to their death (Masooma by Parwana and Suleiman by Uncle Nabi).  How did you feel about this?  Could you understand the dying person’s choice?   Would you have honored their request?

3. How did you feel about Pari being given to the Wahdatis?   Her identity was completely changed and she never was told about her original family.   Compare Pari with other similar children you have encountered in novels such as “Run” by Ann Patchett and “The Light Between Oceans” by M. L. Stedman.  How are they similar and/or different?

4. Discuss Nila Wahdatis’ life in Paris and her relationship with Pari.   In the interview printed in the book Nila stated, “children are never everything you’d hoped for…:  (page 183) 

5. What did you think of the mother/child relationships in the novel?  Consider Nila/Pari, Odie/Markos, Madeline/Thalia, Aria/Adel, Parwana/Abdullah and Pari.

6. What did you think about Adel’s life with his father and bodyguards?   What did Adel learn from Gholam?  Why did the author include this story in the novel?

7. Were you surprised that Idris did not follow up on his promise to Roshi?  Should he have made such a promise in the first place?   Where you surprised that she dedicated her book to his brother, Timur?   What did you think of their encounter on the book tour when Roshi recognized Idris and whispered to him that he should not worry, that he was not in the book?

8. Compare the choices made by Marcos, Thalia and the younger Pari – Marcos left Tinos to pursue his dream while Thalia turned down an offer of boarding school in London to stay in Tinos with Marcos’s mother and Pari gave up a scholarship to take care of Abdullah.  Were you able to understand each person’s choice and motivations?

9. Did you relate to Pari’s reflection on aging, “This is what aging is….these random unkind moments that catch you when you least expect them.” (page 231)    Have you had any such experiences?

10. Consider Mama’s comment to Markos at the end of the novel, “…people mostly have it backwards.  They think they live by what they want.  But really what guides them is what they’re afraid of.  What they don’t want.”  (page 340)   Do you agree with this statement?  How does it apply to Marcos and others in the novel?

11. Discuss your reading experience.  How did you feel about the various story lines?   How do you think they are all connected?

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