The High Mountains of Portugal

A Novel

By: Yann Martel

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the best-selling Life of Pi returns to the storytelling power and luminous wisdom of his master novel.

In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named Tomás discovers an old journal. It hints at the existence of an extraordinary artifact that - if he can find it - would redefine history. Traveling in one of Europe's 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 Tomás' 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.

Filled with tenderness, humor, and endless surprise, The High Mountains of Portugal - part quest, part ghost story, part contemporary fable - offers a haunting exploration of great love and great loss, asking questions about faith and lack of faith that are at the heart of all of Yann Martel's novels.

©2015 Yann Martel (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator Mark Bramhall delivers a confident performance of Yann Martel's exploration of faith and personal tragedy.... Bramhall is achingly convincing as the grief-stricken Tomás." ( AudioFile)

A good light read

A story about the odd things people suffering from grief do; and how those actions affect others and intertwine. Three separate stories all connected by that same theme.

Still processing...

The High Mountains of Portugal is a book that stays with you. I just finished it and throughout the week I've pondered its meaning and tried to tie the story together and understand the symbolism. The reader is excellent and once again Mr. Martel has painted a beautiful story to mindfully and thoughtfully gaze upon.

This is NOT a book for all

If you could sum up The High Mountains of Portugal in three words, what would they be?

fascinating, bitter-sweet, touching

Which scene was your favorite?

the part of autonomy

If you could rename The High Mountains of Portugal, what would you call it?

I won't change a word!

Any additional comments?

This is NOT a book for all. It's a book for whoever searching for believes or meanings of life.
I enjoyed a lot during the reading.

I'm NOT a believer. I'm Chinese. But cultural difference doesn't stop me enjoy reading this book. I have certain knowledge of Buddhism, Daoism, and Christianism, and I can find them all within this book. For me, the ultimate goal of any religion(even psychology) is to give you inner peace, consolation, and I can find those in this book. Religion is only the skin the author use to convey his idea, and much more were showed beneath it.

So, I suggest those who want to read this book but are religion-averse, to keep this in mind: it's not about religion, it's about the pain everyone might encounter, and ways to deal with it, and the rare sparkles in life. If you can focus on those feelings, you won't mind much if the language is religious or non-religious, or if the author is trying to propagandize religion or not.

One more reason of me loving this book is that the second part talks about Agatha Christie's book and the theory the author made to explain why everyone is guilty in the bible is a mind blown to me. It actually makes a lot of sense.

Masterful weaving of a storyline.

Plot was tight, intertwined sequential narratives; theme spiritual searching and religious questioning. A book that had me thinking and feeling, all the while enjoying the story.

Very different book.

Read this book for a book club. It was not an easy book to get through. Writing, creativity and symbolism was amazing. Gives you lots to think about and ponder! Bramhall was easy to listen too. Would I recommend it? Only if you are looking for a thought provoking book!

Very strange but very engaging.

Martel’s weird imagination gives us a very engaging book. The performance is excellent. I recommend.

Unbelievable!!

I am wondering if I am too dumb to understand this book!! Such ridiculous happenings!! I kept reading it to the end just to see what else would happen to bring the story together!😩😩😩😩😩

Delightful break from reality

If logic is what you're looking for, this is not your book. If delight and whimsy is what you need as a break from more serious subjects, this book is it. Hard to anticipate where each section was going but the story and the narration was absolutely wonderful.

Not My Favorite

Yann Martel weaves a tall tale, as he did with The Life of Pi; however I did not feel a "take away" value within this story - very little to cause me to ponder deeply or feel enlightened. Perhaps that was not the author's intent, but simply as an escape from "normal" life. And yet from my viewpoint it didn't seem to truly entertain, but to ramble through a lengthily travel episode and then to study the rather boring life of an ape. It did t cause me to feel attached to life's circumstances and the people in it. I didn't learn anything exciting, though there were a few weird and unexplainable events as in the "Pi" book. I had expected another unforgettable story, so perhaps my hopes were to high,

Yann Martel at his best!

If you could sum up The High Mountains of Portugal in three words, what would they be?

Just pure Magic

What was one of the most memorable moments of The High Mountains of Portugal?

The road trip in the first part.

Which character – as performed by Mark Bramhall – was your favorite?

The young man who loses his wife and child.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The final scene.

Any additional comments?

As a fan of Yann Martel's Life of Pi I eagerly read this book, I was not disappointed. I love his style of writing. I think he is as clever in using metaphors and imagery as Garcia-Marquez. Yann is at his best in this intriguing story about spirituality and loss. It is actually three stories in one. All tied up very neatly or perhaps not so neatly in the last and most memorable one. I actually cried at the end of this book I was so moved. I haven't done that since The Bridges of Madison County got me many years ago. But then I cry at movies. And I am not ashamed to say it. I wish I could write like that, and hey I can, several of my readers told me they cried at the end of Waypoint 90. And they all said they felt it was a very real story of Love and redemption. Anyhow back to Yann. I don't want to give you any spoilers but suffice it to say that I felt like I was on that search for spirituality after a devastating loss in my life. And what I found I am happy to say, is the same conclusion that Yann came to, we all need someone to love and to love us back. We need to believe in an afterlife and in a connection with our fellow man. Kudos to Yann Martel for making me feel wonderful and loved.