Book Review #12 "The High Mountains of Portugal"

     Hey Everyone,
   
     I will be reviewing the book "The High Mountains of Portugal" by Yann Martel. For those of you who are not familiar with the author, he wrote "Life of Pi" to purchase this book CLICK HERE. Overall I would rate this book 3 stars out of 5. This is a beautifully written book. Before you read this book you should know that this book is not rich in plot, but is more philosophical. It leaves your mind lingering after you put the book down. This book is divided into three parts. Each part telling a different story, in which the three stories are all interwoven with each other. They all share the same foundation. It begins with a young adult who is mourning the loss of his wife and son. He learns to step out of his comfort zone in search for an ancient artifact. The book moves on to a man, a pathologist who performs autopsies. He also is mourning the loss of his wife. He finds himself unraveling a murder mystery. The last story focuses on a man who finds comfort, friendship, and love with a chimpanzee. Each of these stories share common threads. They all take place in the high mountains of Portugal (hence the title of this book), and the three main characters all are trying to handle a significant loss of a loved one. It is about questioning faith and what having faith means to them. Lastly it tries to discuss and answer what love is? This book asks the common questions of how do we find ourselves again after loss? How do we fill that hole within you?
     I really enjoyed the emotional tone that this book was written. It added a lot more depth and power to the stories being told. It was lyrical almost. This book was very well written. I liked how the author wove all three stories together in making the book flow more smoothly and not disconnected. It tugged at your emotions. This book was universal it brought forward something that we all experience at one point in life. I think we all can relate to the main characters in this book. As I said earlier this book was not rich in plot. Or at least it didn't follow a typical plot. A typical plot would best be described as a diagonal line. Beginning at a certain point and ending at a specific point. I would describe this book being more of a circular plot. In which this book didn't have a clear beginning or ending. I feel this way because in a good way it left my mind spinning, in trying to decode the parables presented. I always do like when books get my mind thinking, it is what keeps me reading.
     I do admit I did have a more difficult time trying to read and finish this book, there were times where I wanted to quit. However, each time when I was about to put the book down and quit, the story was able to pull me back in. I had a hard time reading this also partly because there were parts in the book that were nonessential or irrelevant to the main story being told. I had a hard time reading this because there was too much decoding in trying to figure out the meaning behind the story. Too much of a good thing can be bad sometimes. In this case it was. This book was like an abstract painting. In fact the book itself was very abstract.
      Regardless of what I wrote in this review, I am sure there are going be a good percentage of readers who will enjoy it.  I think I had a hard time because I was expecting something different of it. If I knew more about this book before reading it I would have enjoyed it more. It is one of those books that you need to be "in the correct mood" to read. The author did take a risk in writing this book, and I do enjoy when authors take risks and "go outside the box."
     I want to thank Netgalley, Yann Martel (the author) and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is available on February 2, 2016 for purchase. To purchase this book CLICK HERE.

Until the Next Page,

Jill