We all have our motivations for reading a book and mine was the discovery of an upcoming international film (my secondary passion) which opened at Cannes in May and is coming to the US next month based on the novel The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti.

Not only did The Eight Mountains spend over a year on the Italian Bestsellers list and has been translated for 38 countries, it was translated by Carnell and Segre, best known for their Carlos Rovelli translations. The cover claims it’s for fans of Ferrante, and in my humble opinion on my limited Ferrante reading, The Eight Mountains ascends (to use a mountainous pun) the quality of The Lost Daughter.

The book covers the 30 plus year relationship between boyhood friends, who grow in vastly different directions, yet still maintain a rhythm and synchronicity based on their childhood experiences of nature and a small chateau they built in tandem in the Alps.

Rarely do men’s relationships get as much attention as sisterhood and the story Cognetti spins adds the context of family dynamics and major life choices. I admire his ability to convey fraternal love in a subtle, manly production centered story.

The best part of books like The Eight Mountains is I’m never going to be climbing a mountain, but I appreciate the athleticism and ingenuity needed to do so. I also don’t ever want to experience an avalanche, but I loved Force Majeure (a Ruben Ostlund film) and ate up Cognetti’s rich descriptions of austere and unforgiving snow. Winter doesn’t get a bad rap in this novel, if anything, it’s akin to our hurricane season, a necessary evil of the other 11 plus months of glorious weather.

The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti (translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre) published in 2016 is now in paperback and available in store at BookStore1 117 S. Pineapple Ave. Sarasota, FL. or on their online store at www.sarasotabooks.com.