NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER âą âFifteen years after The Life of Pi, Yann Martel is taking us on another long journey. Fans of his Man Booker Prizeâwinning novel will recognize familiar themes from that seafaring phenomenon, but the itinerary in this imaginative new book is entirely fresh. . . . Martelâs writing has never been more charming.ââRon Charles, The Washington Post
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR
In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named TomĂĄs discovers an old journal. It hints at the existence of an extraordinary artifact thatâif he can find itâwould redefine history. Traveling in one of Europeâs earliest automobiles, he sets out in search of this strange treasure.
Thirty-five years later, a Portuguese pathologist devoted to the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie finds himself at the center of a mystery of his own and drawn into the consequences of TomĂĄsâs quest.
Fifty years on, a Canadian senator takes refuge in his ancestral village in northern Portugal, grieving the loss of his beloved wife. But he arrives with an unusual companion: a chimpanzee. And there the century-old quest will come to an unexpected conclusion.
The High Mountains of Portugalâpart quest, part ghost story, part contemporary fableâoffers a haunting exploration of great love and great loss. Filled with tenderness, humor, and endless surprise, it takes the reader on a road trip through Portugal in the last centuryâand through the human soul.
Praise for The High Mountains of Portugal
âJust as ambitious, just as clever, just as existential and spiritual [as Life of Pi] . . . a book that rewards your attention . . . an excellent book club choice.ââSan Francisco Chronicle
âThereâs no denying the simple pleasures to be had in The High Mountains of Portugal.ââChicago Tribune
âCharming . . . Most Martellian is the boundless capacity for parable. . . . Martel knows his strengths: passages about the chimpanzee and his owner brim irresistibly with affection and attentiveness.ââThe New Yorker
âA rich and rewarding experience . . . [Martel] spins his magic thread of hope and despair, comedy and pathos.ââUSA Today
âI took away indelible images from High Mountains, enchanting and disturbing at the same time. . . . As whimsical as Martelâs magic realism can be, grief informs every step of the bookâs three journeys. In the course of the novel we burrow ever further into the heart of an ape, pure and threatening at once, our precursor, ourselves.ââNPR
âRefreshing, surprising and filled with sparkling moments of humor and insight.ââThe Dallas Morning News
âWeâre fortunate to have brilliant writers using their fiction to meditate on a paradox we need urgently to considerâthe unbridgeable gap and the unbreakable bond between human and animal, our impossible self-alienation from our world.ââUrsula K. Le Guin, The Guardian
â[Martel packs] his inventive novel with beguiling ideas. What connects an inept curator to a haunted pathologist to a smitten politician across more than seventy-five years is the authorâs ability to conjure up something uncanny at the end.ââThe Boston Globe
âA fine home, and story, in which to find oneself.ââMinneapolis Star Tribune
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER âą âFifteen years after The Life of Pi, Yann Martel is taking us on another long journey. Fans of his Man Booker Prizeâwinning novel will recognize familiar themes from that seafaring phenomenon, but the itinerary in this imaginative new book is entirely fresh. . . . Martelâs writing has never been more charming.ââRon Charles, The Washington Post
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR
In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named TomĂĄs discovers an old journal. It hints at the existence of an extraordinary artifact thatâif he can find itâwould redefine history. Traveling in one of Europeâs earliest automobiles, he sets out in search of this strange treasure.
Thirty-five years later, a Portuguese pathologist devoted to the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie finds himself at the center of a mystery of his own and drawn into the consequences of TomĂĄsâs quest.
Fifty years on, a Canadian senator takes refuge in his ancestral village in northern Portugal, grieving the loss of his beloved wife. But he arrives with an unusual companion: a chimpanzee. And there the century-old quest will come to an unexpected conclusion.
The High Mountains of Portugalâpart quest, part ghost story, part contemporary fableâoffers a haunting exploration of great love and great loss. Filled with tenderness, humor, and endless surprise, it takes the reader on a road trip through Portugal in the last centuryâand through the human soul.
Praise for The High Mountains of Portugal
âJust as ambitious, just as clever, just as existential and spiritual [as Life of Pi] . . . a book that rewards your attention . . . an excellent book club choice.ââSan Francisco Chronicle
âThereâs no denying the simple pleasures to be had in The High Mountains of Portugal.ââChicago Tribune
âCharming . . . Most Martellian is the boundless capacity for parable. . . . Martel knows his strengths: passages about the chimpanzee and his owner brim irresistibly with affection and attentiveness.ââThe New Yorker
âA rich and rewarding experience . . . [Martel] spins his magic thread of hope and despair, comedy and pathos.ââUSA Today
âI took away indelible images from High Mountains, enchanting and disturbing at the same time. . . . As whimsical as Martelâs magic realism can be, grief informs every step of the bookâs three journeys. In the course of the novel we burrow ever further into the heart of an ape, pure and threatening at once, our precursor, ourselves.ââNPR
âRefreshing, surprising and filled with sparkling moments of humor and insight.ââThe Dallas Morning News
âWeâre fortunate to have brilliant writers using their fiction to meditate on a paradox we need urgently to considerâthe unbridgeable gap and the unbreakable bond between human and animal, our impossible self-alienation from our world.ââUrsula K. Le Guin, The Guardian
â[Martel packs] his inventive novel with beguiling ideas. What connects an inept curator to a haunted pathologist to a smitten politician across more than seventy-five years is the authorâs ability to conjure up something uncanny at the end.ââThe Boston Globe
âA fine home, and story, in which to find oneself.ââMinneapolis Star Tribune