Book review: The eight mountains by Paulo Cognetti

Unfortunately, you can't always sit with your head in the mountains. There will be times when you are at home and longing to go back to the mountains and hiking. For these moments, mountain books are the ideal solution. Imagine from home in the Alps, Himalayas, or the Andes. This time: The eight mountains by Paulo Cognetti.

The eight mountains by Paulo Cognetti

If, like me, you search for 'Mountains' and 'Books' in Google on good luck, then 'the eight mountains' by Paulo Cognetti will invariably appear on your screen. Even though Paulo is not known for his books about exciting mountain expeditions to high summits, I thought it would be worthwhile to read this famous book and write a review about it.

The eight mountains of Paulo Cognetti describes the life of Pietro, an Italian boy who is taken from the city to the mountains by his parents and grows up there struggling with himself, his father and the friendship with Bruno to become a grown man.

In the village of Grana, in the Italian mountains, Pietro meets the mountain boy Bruno and befriends him. Both share adventures rather than words, and after a while Pietro's father takes the boys into the mountains. The personal development of the two boys, as well as their relationship with their father, are important themes in the book. This is given more attention by Cognetti than climbing mountain peaks, although fortunately this also happens.

Pietro and Bruno develop their own relationship with the mountains, but are influenced by Pietro's father. Paulo Cognetti teaches you to look at mountains in a completely different way. Not as a rock with a summit that needs to be climbed, but as an environment full of attraction, full of meaning and with a soul. At the same time the book knows how to inspire you to look at your own social ideas and your relationships with your surroundings.

Later in the book, as Pietro travels through the Himalayas, he learns a wise lesson from an accidental passer-by. It is only there that the title of the book becomes clear and you are stopped by Cognetti to think about life for yourself.

So make no mistake. This book is not 'Into Thin Air', a testimonial of an exciting expedition to a mountain peak. De Acht Bergen (The Eight Mountains) is a philosophically inspired novel that captivates you from beginning to end with its insanely detailed, beautiful descriptions of the beauty that the mountains possess and can only be described in this way by someone who has spent years there. Maybe while reading this book you will see more of the mountain than ever before.

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