"I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us."

I'm not sure where to begin with this book. Not because I feel overwhelmed or because I feel that this book left an undigestible impression on me, but because I feel that I can't recall enough of it to analyze logically. I don't remember the words, though I only finished 10 minutes ago. But I remember the feeling of it. This book is a feeling. It is the imparting of lifelong stories that have held in for too long. 

And the Mountains Echoed is the story of two siblings in an Afghan village. They are each other's everything. What happens to them, and the echoes of that event through the lives of many others, speaks to the often inexplicable bonds that hold us to one another. 

It's a rather short synopsis, but fitting. I felt that And the Mountains Echoed was but an epilogue in its entirety. Once the initial scene had been set, each chapter after was dedicated to a character and what happened to them - how that one event effected them and their lives, what they went on to do (or not do) about it and where they ended up. It was not a story, but life being recounted by each of them. Nothing major happened; there was no buildup or climax. And because of that, each character felt real. 

I was told that I would love this book if I loved beautiful language. Did I find the imagery breathtaking? Did I find beauty in the very sentence structure? I wouldn't say so. But I would say that the language felt so natural, so at ease with itself, so entirely genuine that you forget you are reading a book and not letters from the characters themselves. This book made an impression on me not because I felt like it was a work of art, but because I felt I had just read about secrets from the lives of my friends.

p.s. I think there were 2 or 3 f-bombs? A sprinkling of other curses as well but pretty mild in my opinion. A couple mentions of "sexual desire" and whore-houses, but all handled rather tastefully and delicately. There's nothing in this book that I would feel too uncomfortable suggesting it to a friend.