A review by stephb413
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

3.0

2.5 This is a tricky one because it took a bit of determination to get through the first (of three) novellas. As a resident of Portugal and being able to visualize various spots in Lisbon and the surrounding area, I still barely made it through. The other frustrating aspect is that I do not really feel those early exhaustive pages are really that worthwhile. Although, the later third of the book is about a 3.5 or even a 4. I would encourage people to skip the first 125 pages or so and read this following SPOILER which is really all you will miss: A man loses his wife and child and in response looks for healing via a road trip throughout the mountainous highlands of Portugal c. 1905 ish. While driving, he runs over a small boy and leaves his body. That pretty much sums up the very long initial 125 pages, now enjoy the remaining parts of the book because it really is a good read.