The High Mountains of Portugal

Exquisite and beguiling...<i>The High Mountains of Portugal</i> is a delightful and enlivening experience. Its very strangeness makes the world feel more comfortable.’ * Age/Sydney Morning Herald *<br />Told in unobtrusive, clean prose, The High Mountains of Portugal has the classic feel of a parable…Fascinating and ultimately satisfying.’ * Australian *
‘The High Mountains of Portugal attains an altitude from which we can see something quietly miraculous.’ * The Washington Post *
[Martel's] depiction of loss is raw and deeply affecting – but it’s the way in which he contextualises it within formal religion that gives this book an extra dimension...Martel is not in the business of providing us with answers, but through its odd, fabulous, deliberately oblique stories, his new novel does ask some big questions.’ * Telegraph *<br />'Martel’s narrative of men driven to adventurous lives by love and death strikes at something ancient and instinctual...his writing hums with a vivid populism.' * New York Times *<br />Once again, Martel plumbs the relationship between storytelling and truth and mixes tragedy with healthy doses of humor…Remarkable. This puzzle of a story woke me up in the middle of the night, and I’ve been turning over aspects of it for days.’ * LitChat *
Another golden read…Just like <i>Life of Pi</i>, this book will pull you into all kinds of unexpected territory, making your heart beat a little stranger with every page.’ * Bustle *<br />Just as ambitious, just as clever, just as existential and spiritual [as Life of Pi]…A book that rewards your attention, giving you much more to think about than most other novels you might read…An excellent book club choice.’ * San Francisco Chronicle *
If you’re a fan of the fantastic and like to unpick philosophical puzzles about man’s relationship with religion and animals (not to mention Agatha Christie), then you should find this entertaining, and quite possibly, moving.’ * New Zealand Listener *<br />Charming…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.’ * New Yorker *
Filled with humor, sadness, love and adventure, it’s a perfect balance for those who want a feel-good book that still provides an insight into the human psyche.’ * BookPage *<br />A profoundly human novel in its deep and quiet optimism…Gently humorous without becoming whimsical.’ * Daily Review *
A poignant and clever extravaganza of imagination.’ * QANTAS Magazine *<br />Touching, funny and insightful, The High Mountains of Portugal is a beautiful book.’ * Good Reading *

Yann Martel is the author of:

• The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (short story collection)
• Life of Pi (novel, winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize)
• Self (novel)
• Beatrice & Virgil (novel)
• The High Mountains of Portugal (novel)
• Son of Nobody (novel)

His novel Life of Pi was adapted into a film by Ang Lee, which won four Oscars.

Martel also ran a “guerilla book club” with Stephen Harper, the former prime minister of Canada, sending him a book every two weeks for four years. The correspondence was later published as 101 Letters to a Prime Minister.

Martel lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.

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