The High Mountains of Portugal

`[An] extravagant smorgasbord of a novel...at every turn Martel's deft observations and quiet compassion for human suffering shine through.' * Saturday Paper * `This allegorical tale drives home the ephemeral nature of beauty and joy and the thin line we all walk between normalcy and madness, especially in the wake of loss.' * Booklist * `Martel is in a class by himself in acknowledging the tragic vicissitudes of life while celebrating wildly ridiculous contretemps that bring levity to the mystery of existence.' * STARRED review, Publishers Weekly * 'The moral and spiritual implications of [Martel's] tale have, in the end, a quality of haunting tenderness.' * Guardian * `The prose is sharp, comical, and carries a deeply poignant message: though religion may be one person's belief structure and another's laughing stock, it is important to humanity.' * List * `A remarkable novel.' * Maclean's * 'The brilliance of some of the ideas must be underscored: at times the story turns on a sixpence, from a flat terra firma to stunning surrealism...Not every book can take your breath away - but this one will.' * Bookmunch * `A wonderfully inventive, 20th-century-spanning odyssey that contains some of the finest writing of Martel's career.' * Globe and Mail * `Martel fills his novel with unusual, different, interesting, and often amusing, elements...There is plenty of humour, some of it dark, some of it laugh-out-loud, almost slapstick.' * BookMooch * `Touching, funny and insightful, The High Mountains of Portugal is a beautiful book.' * Good Reading * `A poignant and clever extravaganza of imagination.' * QANTAS Magazine * `A profoundly human novel in its deep and quiet optimism...Gently humorous without becoming whimsical.' * Daily Review * `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 * `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 * `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 * `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 * `Another golden read...Just like Life of Pi, this book will pull you into all kinds of unexpected territory, making your heart beat a little stranger with every page.' * Bustle * `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 * '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 * `[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 * 'The High Mountains of Portugal attains an altitude from which we can see something quietly miraculous.' * The Washington Post * `Told in unobtrusive, clean prose, The High Mountains of Portugal has the classic feel of a parable...Fascinating and ultimately satisfying.' * Australian * `Exquisite and beguiling...The High Mountains of Portugal is a delightful and enlivening experience. Its very strangeness makes the world feel more comfortable.' * Age/Sydney Morning Herald *