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The Mountain Is Young
Nepal, Khatmandu: qui approda Anne Ford, scrittrice inglese tormentata dalla crisi del suo matrimonio con un ex militare britannico. Dispotico ed egoista, l'uomo non vede di buon occhio il desiderio di libertà che anima la moglie. Lei, invece, subito conquistata dalla bellezza dei luoghi e dallo spirito degli indigeni ritrova a poco a poco la creatività e la gioia di vivere...
Così lunghe escursioni in località stupende si alternano ad avvenimenti mondani e a interessanti incontri come quello con un giovane ingegnere indiano, Unni Menon.
Unni, colto e bellissimo, rimane affascinato subito da Anne e lei, finalmente liberata dalle convenzioni, riscopre il piacere di amare accanto a quest'uomo così diverso, ma al quale si sente legata da una profonda affinità spirituale.
Ma questo amore così intenso e perfetto viene d'improvviso turbato dalla gelosia della giovane e bellissima Rukmini che, pazza d'amore per Unni innescherà la "miccia" della tragedia...
Una storia appassionata e appassionante, un travolgente inno alla forza irresistibile dell'amore.
Così lunghe escursioni in località stupende si alternano ad avvenimenti mondani e a interessanti incontri come quello con un giovane ingegnere indiano, Unni Menon.
Unni, colto e bellissimo, rimane affascinato subito da Anne e lei, finalmente liberata dalle convenzioni, riscopre il piacere di amare accanto a quest'uomo così diverso, ma al quale si sente legata da una profonda affinità spirituale.
Ma questo amore così intenso e perfetto viene d'improvviso turbato dalla gelosia della giovane e bellissima Rukmini che, pazza d'amore per Unni innescherà la "miccia" della tragedia...
Una storia appassionata e appassionante, un travolgente inno alla forza irresistibile dell'amore.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
22 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Han Suyin
118 books101 followersHan Suyin (Pinyin: Hán Sùyīn) is the pen name of Elizabeth Comber, born Rosalie Elisabeth Kuanghu Chow (Pinyin: Zhōu Guānghú). She was a Chinese-born Eurasian author of several books on modern China, novels set in East Asia, and autobiographical works, as well as a physician. She wrote in English and French. She died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 1, 2014
I sincerely hope that one day there will be a revival of interest in Han Suyin's works.
"... for all humans are frightened of their own solitude. Yet only in solitude can man learn to know himself, learn to handle his own eternity of aloneness. And love from one being to another can only be that two solitudes come nearer, recognize and protect and comfort each other."
"Unni will come, if not today, then tomorrow. Today is nearly gone, but other todays stir fecund in the word tomorrow, many other todays when this one has lapsed from existence. And because I think of Unni, invoking his name in this for ever recurrent today, already he is here for me."
- The Mountain is Young
"... for all humans are frightened of their own solitude. Yet only in solitude can man learn to know himself, learn to handle his own eternity of aloneness. And love from one being to another can only be that two solitudes come nearer, recognize and protect and comfort each other."
"Unni will come, if not today, then tomorrow. Today is nearly gone, but other todays stir fecund in the word tomorrow, many other todays when this one has lapsed from existence. And because I think of Unni, invoking his name in this for ever recurrent today, already he is here for me."
- The Mountain is Young
July 21, 2011
This is my favorite book, ever. It is an amazing journey that has special power for readers who are like the main character, Anne Ford, also writers. This is a story of the discovery of self after a long sleep of conformity and misery. In Anne's awakening, the reader is also challenged to come to life, to find the truest embodiment of self, and to become aware of the "acceptable societal parameters" that can conform the very life out of us and in so doing rob us of our gifts.
Read it. This book could change your life.
Read it. This book could change your life.
August 16, 2011
When I first read this book I thought it was the best love story ever written. A beautiful story about a spinster school teacher in India. she takes her vacation time in a hill station in northern India near where a new dam is being built. By accident she meets the engineer in charge of building the dam, Yuni. The rest you will have to read for yourself.
January 31, 2024
10/10.. A perfect love story and perhaps a perfect book. What a tremendous tapestry of colors, legends, heart, & unbelievable beauty….. It’s sticking to me all over!
The Mountain holds special weight for someone who is (or would be) a writer, a foreigner, an imposter, one with an eye for deep & small beauties
Personal: I have an unwavering conviction that prevents me from reading a book until The Exact Right Moment. Maybe I appreciate this story so much because I dragged it around with me for years until I needed great wisdom,, to be folded into a dark, fantastic love at the foot of young mountains !! Though I’ve never been “in love” that feeling is so alive in me. Perhaps because, for better or for worse, I must surround myself with lovely things.
“Now Anne knew that by taking [X] away the gods had not been cruel, only exacting, putting her among the blessed, those that life made unattached and fleet by suffering and vision, crippling of body and enlarging of horizon, so that they might not be chained down by common happiness. She could say: At the foot of my height I dwell; how high my mountain peak, no one has yet told me. But now I know my valleys and my depths.”
The Mountain holds special weight for someone who is (or would be) a writer, a foreigner, an imposter, one with an eye for deep & small beauties
Personal: I have an unwavering conviction that prevents me from reading a book until The Exact Right Moment. Maybe I appreciate this story so much because I dragged it around with me for years until I needed great wisdom,, to be folded into a dark, fantastic love at the foot of young mountains !! Though I’ve never been “in love” that feeling is so alive in me. Perhaps because, for better or for worse, I must surround myself with lovely things.
“Now Anne knew that by taking [X] away the gods had not been cruel, only exacting, putting her among the blessed, those that life made unattached and fleet by suffering and vision, crippling of body and enlarging of horizon, so that they might not be chained down by common happiness. She could say: At the foot of my height I dwell; how high my mountain peak, no one has yet told me. But now I know my valleys and my depths.”
January 5, 2014
I read this book more than 40 years ago and it is the reason I always wanted to visit Kathmandu which I did and was not disappointed. Han Suyin is best known for Love is a Many Splendored Thing but I love her best for her autobiographical trilogy of growing up as a Eurasian in China.
March 25, 2013
This is at the top of my list of all time favorite books. It's stuck with me over the years
January 13, 2019
It's an engrossing love story set in Nepal. I reread it multiple times, always finding varied meanings in the spiritual quest of the main character, the meandering trips she takes to rural Nepal. The love dalliances between the prim-turned-wild protagonist and the (Prince Charming like) Yuni had me in a flutter. I would like to read it again, to see what my adult self makes of it.
March 15, 2009
I Read this book long ago. I was impressed. I love it!
April 4, 2013
the best book
April 19, 2018
so powerful and informative
December 29, 2010
This was part of my Suyin Han love fest. A lovely romantic book, as I remember.
December 26, 2018
Where do I begin with this book? It is written like a never-ending moment, with the sights, sounds and smells of a lyrical Khatmandu in the background and the brightness of snow-reflected sunshine glowing on one’s face as one ascends the ruthless mountains.
The prose is lush but never cloying; the author writes with such a deft hand that her descriptions simply serve to pull you into the wild heart of this version of Khatmandu, until you are sweating with the characters in their residences, hearing the birds raise a racket in the evenings and gasping slightly at the erotic tableaus carved everywhere (apparently).
Reading this book is an experience that cannot be contained in a single, staid review. The love that flows between Anne and Unni is imperfect, passionate, dark and twisted in all the ways that only lovers would recognise as they wind their way through this book. There is so much to unpack in the unspoken things that Anne and John struggle with, that several re-readings are surely merited.
Yet, there are so many things in this book that could (or surely would) irk the reader. Anne is a precious snowflake carrying around a notion that she is better than everyone else and implicitly connected with the “natives”. No better example can be seen than in her connection with Unni. Unni himself is too good to be true, a perfect foil against John, irreproachable, the saviour of Anne’s tortured soul. John is a poor chump who never got the explanation due to him for why he turned out the way he did. Poor Isobel’s fate is explained away as being mainly caused by sexual frustration. And the excuses for the characters’ behaviour! Such half-baked excuses for adultery and religion as you would not believe. You get the vague feeling that all of them are children running about sometimes. Worse, however, is the sense of unease that never goes away as crooks are made into heroes, and ordinary people are dismissed for being too mundane.
There are startlingly lucid insights into the way people treat each other, whether with respect or with cruelty, yet blatant dismissal of other things (such as the obvious corruption in the government and the desperate poverty in which the Nepalese people live), that I ultimately came to the conclusion that Han Sulin was a writer of extremes - impeccably thoughtful about the things she cared about, loutish and crude about things she couldn’t be bothered with.
Nonetheless, it is a beautiful book. It is a pagan book. It is absolutely fearless. The reader’s immersion in the world Han Sulin has painted is otherworldly.
The prose is lush but never cloying; the author writes with such a deft hand that her descriptions simply serve to pull you into the wild heart of this version of Khatmandu, until you are sweating with the characters in their residences, hearing the birds raise a racket in the evenings and gasping slightly at the erotic tableaus carved everywhere (apparently).
Reading this book is an experience that cannot be contained in a single, staid review. The love that flows between Anne and Unni is imperfect, passionate, dark and twisted in all the ways that only lovers would recognise as they wind their way through this book. There is so much to unpack in the unspoken things that Anne and John struggle with, that several re-readings are surely merited.
Yet, there are so many things in this book that could (or surely would) irk the reader. Anne is a precious snowflake carrying around a notion that she is better than everyone else and implicitly connected with the “natives”. No better example can be seen than in her connection with Unni. Unni himself is too good to be true, a perfect foil against John, irreproachable, the saviour of Anne’s tortured soul. John is a poor chump who never got the explanation due to him for why he turned out the way he did. Poor Isobel’s fate is explained away as being mainly caused by sexual frustration. And the excuses for the characters’ behaviour! Such half-baked excuses for adultery and religion as you would not believe. You get the vague feeling that all of them are children running about sometimes. Worse, however, is the sense of unease that never goes away as crooks are made into heroes, and ordinary people are dismissed for being too mundane.
There are startlingly lucid insights into the way people treat each other, whether with respect or with cruelty, yet blatant dismissal of other things (such as the obvious corruption in the government and the desperate poverty in which the Nepalese people live), that I ultimately came to the conclusion that Han Sulin was a writer of extremes - impeccably thoughtful about the things she cared about, loutish and crude about things she couldn’t be bothered with.
Nonetheless, it is a beautiful book. It is a pagan book. It is absolutely fearless. The reader’s immersion in the world Han Sulin has painted is otherworldly.
August 3, 2025
It is an incredible journey of growth and love in a truly magic place. I did skim the second half of this book *very* quickly, slowing down on important or lovely passages. It showed as the shortest book on my TBR list here at just over 100 pages. Based on the synopsis, I thought I can definitely enjoy a short novella about this topic, and mostly hoped it would be a bit nostalgic of my time in the Himalayas for me. Reserved it from the library and have a bit of a sock when I picked it up and saw that it is almost 600 pages.
I really tried leisurely reading it, and indeed the writing is beautiful. Some passages are so wonderfully descriptive. The story of the protagonist's journey resonates, and in that regard was in fact nostalgic for me, the impact an extended stay in such a place can have on one's being and perception of life. Masterful how the author wove together universal human emotions and the mundanity of most people, together with the blissful spiritual nature of being in such a place as you're not from. And it really is a very good love story, deep and true, for exactly that reason.
Still, I am glad that I finished it by speed reading. I just did not have that strong a commitment in me at this particular time for this particular book. Maybe another time I would have. But there is plenty of content I felt didn't contribute important meaning or joy by savoring.
I really tried leisurely reading it, and indeed the writing is beautiful. Some passages are so wonderfully descriptive. The story of the protagonist's journey resonates, and in that regard was in fact nostalgic for me, the impact an extended stay in such a place can have on one's being and perception of life. Masterful how the author wove together universal human emotions and the mundanity of most people, together with the blissful spiritual nature of being in such a place as you're not from. And it really is a very good love story, deep and true, for exactly that reason.
Still, I am glad that I finished it by speed reading. I just did not have that strong a commitment in me at this particular time for this particular book. Maybe another time I would have. But there is plenty of content I felt didn't contribute important meaning or joy by savoring.
September 4, 2020
The Mountain Is Young is set in the Kathmandu of the 1950s, beginning a few weeks before the King's coronation. An out of love British couple arrive in the valley from India. Anne Ford, a writer, is to be the new English teacher at the missionary school and her husband John follows along grudgingly. Immediately on setting foot in the valley Anne finds herself different, changing, transported within and without, detached from everyone around her while greatly immersed in the richness of humanity and beauty that the valley has to offer. Until she meets Unni Menon.
This book revolves around the complex and exhausting love story of Anne and Unni. Anne struggles with herself, her doubts and inhibitions, and her sexuality on her way to realising a rare and consuming love. The story percolates beautifully through the hills, plains and mountains of Nepal and is adorned by many other wonderful and unassuming characters.
This book revolves around the complex and exhausting love story of Anne and Unni. Anne struggles with herself, her doubts and inhibitions, and her sexuality on her way to realising a rare and consuming love. The story percolates beautifully through the hills, plains and mountains of Nepal and is adorned by many other wonderful and unassuming characters.
February 10, 2020
Beautiful, picturesque language. Great idea for a story. A real insight into the unique culture of Kathmandu.
However.
The run-on-sentences, artificial philosophical conversations, and generally too much descriptions of every single thing almost made me give two stars to this novel. It was too easy for me to get distracted while reading the book, because the author was lingering so much. Maybe it's the cultural difference and my mind is too fast and distracted for this type of story and philosophy — and I'm willing to accept that. But, I think this book could have been stronger if it was shorter and left more to the readers' imagination.
However.
The run-on-sentences, artificial philosophical conversations, and generally too much descriptions of every single thing almost made me give two stars to this novel. It was too easy for me to get distracted while reading the book, because the author was lingering so much. Maybe it's the cultural difference and my mind is too fast and distracted for this type of story and philosophy — and I'm willing to accept that. But, I think this book could have been stronger if it was shorter and left more to the readers' imagination.
June 27, 2020
Three aspects of the book make it special
1.a clear and vivid picture of indo nepal in 1950s, the society and people cant be more explicitly explored.
2. An unabashed and deepest description of love and its tributary emotions. The honesty in the account gives its depth and purity
3. The most important aspect is the creative description and metaphors. Its a poem, a long poem spread in 500 + pages.
Annes story is not a novel tool read casually. It should be read in silence, undisturbed to let the emotions soak and seep through one self.
Although i felt that the last part deviated from the rest and bit artificial, I think the author was forcing herself to finish it.
1.a clear and vivid picture of indo nepal in 1950s, the society and people cant be more explicitly explored.
2. An unabashed and deepest description of love and its tributary emotions. The honesty in the account gives its depth and purity
3. The most important aspect is the creative description and metaphors. Its a poem, a long poem spread in 500 + pages.
Annes story is not a novel tool read casually. It should be read in silence, undisturbed to let the emotions soak and seep through one self.
Although i felt that the last part deviated from the rest and bit artificial, I think the author was forcing herself to finish it.
August 12, 2018
Splendido romanzo sulla vera essenza di un paese. La protagonista, Anne, è il personaggio che in assoluto ho sentito più simile a me in tutti i libri che abbia mai letto; unica persona "reale" in un mondo di facciata, vuoto, sterile, nel momento in cui se ne rende conto rifiuta con tutta se stessa il compromesso di tornare a farne parte, e comincia a evolvere verso una sé finalmente completa. Il fascino del Nepal permea ogni pagina, con la sua religione e i suoi abitanti.
July 20, 2025
Non è una semplice storia d'amore, a parer mio la storia d'amore è solo un pretesto per poter scrivere di temi e pensieri così profondi che comprendere davvero è molto difficile. la spiritualità come l'amore sono concetti e profonde presenze nel mondo e nel genere umano che per essere capite hanno bisogno di filosofia ma anche di esperienza e il libro cerca di portare entrambi i livelli al lettore. Con la giusta presenza verso il testo si termina la lettura diversi da prima.
April 14, 2022
«Los seres humanos hemos adquirido un reflejo condicionado para el sufrimiento: ascendemos a una montaña a pie en vez de hacerlo en funicular, hacemos las cosas de la manera más difícil, de modo que al final la satisfacción del deseo, si es directa, sin obstáculos ni complicaciones, nos parece chocante, insípida e inmoral.»
July 29, 2018
The eloquence of place, character and plot has structured this novel to an unique bundle of love and adulthood. A novel and reader bonds when they twin with words(mere the thoughts of the author).
It was lovely reading it and how can i not be in love with Unni?
It was lovely reading it and how can i not be in love with Unni?
March 30, 2020
Just reading this again for the third time. It is wise and vivid and beautiful and full of life. (If it was Ok to shout, "full of life" would be in bold and block capitals.) Every time I read it, I get more out of it. It is definitely one of the six books I would take to a desert island.
September 21, 2017
I loved the setting in Kathmandu, Nepal--beautiful love story, and Han Suyin writes beautifully, as well.
June 5, 2022
Beautiful.
A romance, an historical novel, yes but so much more — a philosophical query into life, an examination of what makes relationships, a study of cultural differences; an analysis of the meaning of language, all through the rhapsodic poetry of Han Suyin’s prose.
A romance, an historical novel, yes but so much more — a philosophical query into life, an examination of what makes relationships, a study of cultural differences; an analysis of the meaning of language, all through the rhapsodic poetry of Han Suyin’s prose.
October 15, 2016
Read this book so many years ago and was utterly captivated by it, a beautiful story beautifully told. I am almost scared to read it again almost 50 years on as it made such an impression on me when I was very young. Others have outlined the story so all I can say is read it and I hope you won't be disappointed.
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June 22, 2013Wonderful book - it is a love story set in Nepal.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews