The High Mountains of Portugal

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Yann Martel: The High Mountains of Portugal (2016)

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2016

ISBN:
978-1-78211-471-0
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3 stars (1 review)

The High Mountains of Portugal is a 2016 novel by Canadian author Yann Martel. The novel is split into three sections, each of which concerns a widower.

2 editions

So many ideas!

3 stars

I didn't realise when I started reading The High Mountains Of Portugal that the book isn't a novel. Instead it is three cleverly linked longish short stories that take place at different times over a period of about eighty years. To be honest, I wasn't at all enamoured of the first story! I struggled to get into the bizarre tale and I had limited sympathy for its beleaguered protagonist. Supposedly griefstruck by the deaths of his serving maid lover and their child, I irritatedly thought that perhaps he should have made the effort for them all to be a family while he had the chance rather than clinging to his family's privilege while he could and then making futile gestures too late to matter. Harsh?

The book and I clicked towards the very end of the first story and I thoroughly enjoyed Martel's wild imaginings and the totally unexpected directions …