In the Suicide Mountains

by John Gardner

Chudu the Goat's son, Armida the Blacksmith's daughter, and Prince Christopher the Sullen endure multiple perils and frustrations in their efforts to confound and destroy the wicked and philosophical six-fingered Abbot.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Literary Fiction, American, 20th Century

155 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

John Champlin Gardner was a well-known and controversial American novelist and university professor, best known for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth.

Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April of 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism — most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gar...

Reviews

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book like no other - a charming, memorable, unbounded modern fairy tale for adults. Set in an indeterminate time and place (vaguely Slavic, vaguely Belle Epoque, with some medieval elements), it's the story of a good-hearted but widely despised magic shape-shifting dwarf ... a beautiful maiden strong as an ox who pretends to be stupid and weak so men will adore her ... and a prince who'd rather play the violin than joust. When they all decide to go up to the Suicide Mountains to end their lives, they meet each other, and storytelling and adventures ensue.

I had read this book many years ago, but it always stuck in my mind, and one day for someone reason I was trying to explain to my boyfriend how cool it was, and ended up wanting to re-read it. I had also forgotten how much I liked the illustrations. (This was part of the conversation where the book came up - more books for grown-ups should have illustrations! More books should have pictures!)

Gardner intersperses very traditional Brothers Grimm-esque fairy tales within an original, cleverly nontraditional framing narrative, laced with moments of very modern philosophical musings and humor. It's a quick read, and while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I guarantee it will leave you with a lot to think about.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Suicide Mountains by John Gardner

Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

This is a charming and easy-to-read light "fantasy." It bears the same relation to the fantasy genre that "Schreck" has - anachronistic, absurdist, silly, and humorous. The story's plot features three misfit characters - a powerful, magic-using dwarf who is considered evil but is actually very nice, a beautiful young woman with the strength of a blacksmith, and a prince who prefers playing the violin and writing awful poetry to feats of daring-do.

The three go into the Suicide Mountains to end their problem with fitting into societal expectations with extreme prejudice. They meet each other and recognize kindred spirits. They have several adventures and the story ends happily ever after.

The writing is crisp and clear. Gardner writes some wonderful lines. There is one paragraph-length sentence in the book that is worth its own study.

Honestly, from the title, I expected something Lovecraftian, but this story was enjoyable and light. It is well worth reading as a light diversion.

[Lemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Gardner employs a fairy tale setting to increase the range of the readers’ psyche to include the extremes of enchanted delight and abject horror. This is not a tame book.
He doesn’t pull his punches, the title is foreboding. Why is it that we can fall into an abyss of despair, teetering on the edge of giving up, but fight like hell to save another person from taking their life? Follow a damsel stronger than any man, a shy prince and an acerbic misunderstood cool dwarf into the Suicide Mountains. You may or may not find out, but you’ll hear some good stories and the question will be asked.

[Euan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book. Not a novel, really, but an extended parable, interspersed with fairy tales. Mostly about the things that can coming from denying one's self, and morals about generosity and helping one another.

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up. "Gracery stores" and steam locomotives in a supposed medieval society. Tell me it gets better.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. Probably meant for the YA reader, but great reading for anyone over the age of 12. This is a wonderful fantasy chronicling the adventures of a dwarf in denial about his feelings, a woman in denial her unladylike abilities, and a prince who doesn't want to be a prince as they seek to come to terms with themselves and their responsibilities.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love John Gardner's Grendel, but this story is more charming and light. The twisted fairy tale and tongue-in-cheek humor reminds me of Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham or Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks. Amusing reading.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

An odd book that follows its own internal dream-logic. The whole thing seems vaguely familiar, like a fairy tale you’ve heard before but can’t quite remember.

[Alden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exceptionally beautiful and period piece-y childrens book with gorgeous pen illustrations and weirdly progressive politics. It left a strangely moral but hard to describe taste in my mouth... The Abbot, the Prince, the Dwarf, and Armida. What a cast. It reads with the same bouncy, fairy tale quality as like Narnia and maybe some other era similar stuff I've read recently... Anyway it was a joy. Big beautiful kinda trippy pictures. It was written in the 70s I guess.

[Adam Clemente · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn between a 2 star and a 3 star review for this book... It certainly had its moments.
But while there were a few funny lines here and there, as well as a handful of thought provoking concepts, 'In the Suicide Mountains' pales in comparison to Gardner's 'Grendel' which is not only better written and more substantial, but also loaded with sharp, solid comedy.
'In the Suicide Mountains' seemed to only skim the surface of its major symbolic talking points and its story arc felt somewhat flat.
I would note however , that the intended significance of this book's ending as well as its four main characters (which were simplified representations of four broad umbrella category personality types) warranted a decent amount of philosophical contemplation.

[Bat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Link of the fanart I made ( °∇^)］: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS5ArRFbb/

This is like those dreams you get when you get a bad fever. One so odd it gave me inspiration to paint as a side effect. And I did. That scene of the prince serenading the troop with his poems while they looked like they wanted to die did something to me ig.

edit: I 'm in awe over the fact thar one post influenced hundreds of people to become interested in reading this book.

[Namenamenamename · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was... an experience? It held my attention but I don't think I liked it. There are good things about it, but then it also twists and reminds me of the brave little toaster or the ugly side of fairy tales.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this 1977 fantasy because it was by John Gardner, who wrote the Beowulf revision, 'Grendel'. This, however, is not as impressive.

It's a fairly standard Arthurian type quest story with a 1970s era twist, a team of misfits come together and a woman is empowered to be the hero rather than the knight. The tales told by the cunning abbot are adapted from traditional Russian fairy tales, and have the most fairy-tale quality in the book.

This kind of revisionist fairy tale storytelling became quite popular around that time, and when it was published it would have seemed more novel, but now it just seems a clever but shallow variation in the shadow of more sophisticated retellings.

[Ocean G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I told myself I would dnf any book that wasn't a 4 or 5 star this year, and I feel like I should have done so with this one. But I finished it since it was A) short, B) by John Gardner. I enjoyed Grendel a lot, but for some reason this didn't really do it for me. It seemed to be a modern twist on a fairy tale (the setting is not modern, just ambiguous, but it isn't your average fairy tale either), but maybe it was just over my head or just not my cup of tea.

If the story sticks me with (as I see has been the case with other reviewers), I may change my rating, but there you go.

[Rena Bransky · Rating 3 out of 5]

wasn't sure at first. almost gave up a couple chapters in. this book really is a fairy tale for adults, and its a quick,easy read. it can capture interest, but just barely maintain it. this is the second book of Gardners that I've tried and I don't think I'll try anymore. not really a fan of his work, but I dont think it is trash.

I did relate to Armida, in the sense that she was told she's too smart and strong to be a wife so she has to try to dumb herself down just to get a man. but then she struggles to hide her true self.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first John Gardner I’ve read, but I’m guessing he usually sticks with the fairy tale/mythological theme. It was a pretty entertaining story for adults or children and the artwork in and on the book is beautiful which really adds to the value of the experience. The story is good, but even if you only wanted to see the pictures it would be an enjoyable experience.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange story, as pointless as a traditional fairytale, with no moral, no revelations, only stories within stories with variations on stock characters--the dwarf, the prince, the orphaned girl, the dragon, etc. Well, one take-away: suicide isn't worth it, and the impulse to it can be overcome. That's worthwhile, isn't it.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange and delightful fairy tale for adults. Gardner’s prose moves fast and the morality tales are entertaining. I started to read this years ago and never finished it, but the title and illustrations would drift into my mind on occasion. Pulled it off the shelf yesterday and here we are.

Joe Servello’s illustrations really make this a unique book.

[Clarence Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Delightful

There are dragons, a shape shifting dwarf, a sullen prince, an abbot that can miracles but may be hiding a secret, and it's all a brilliant fable on life, morality, and the actions we choose to take and the.decisions we make. Just fun.

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this weird mix up of fantasy and fairy tale but not sure what to make of it. Have had it on my shelves for years. Psychedelic illustrations accompany the text which adds to the oddness.

[Nagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice fairy tale about suicide.

[Cerys Harrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes! Found this in a high school library in 2015 where it’s probably sat since its publication date of 1977. Never checked out. Not for kids.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever fairy tale for readers of any age. It is complete with a prince, a dwarf, a beautiful maiden, a dragon, and a wicked false prelate. It has stories within stories!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

j'ai l'impression d'avoir lu un rêve fiévreux. j'adore

[Daniel Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this. Turns out, it is very much a fairy-tale, though written for adults (heads getting chopped off, first three characters meet on their ways to commit suicide, etc.) I really liked the illustrations... and it was a good read (1 hour? 2 hours, max.)

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, whimsical read, it took me just over an hour to read. Nothing spectacular, but I was interested the whole time.
I can't remember how this one got on my tbr, but it's the last of my 2012 list to get finished.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to choose to disagree with the other reviewers on this particular book. I'm not going to suggest that it isn't well-written, as usual with Gardner, it is very well-written. It is even entertaining, in places. But to call it one of Gardner's best, I think, is to cheapen the rest of his work. This, in many ways, is Gardner's love letter to the fable and fairy tale. The stories told by the abbot are re-tellings of traditional Russian fairy tales according to the biography at the end of the book. The stories of the main characters are similar in form and type. The book gives you the same sense as if you were reading Aesop, Grimm, or other such writers. The main narrative that ties the whole thing together, however, is lacking. Gardner seems disinterested in the main narrative and rushes through things that should be major events within the story, choosing instead to spend all his time on individual tales.

Gardner was obsessed with the role of morality and politics within literature, and subsequently in writing. Unfortunately, this particular story seems to be more morality and politics and less literature. The characters and events are interesting, but they could have been much more so. I greatly prefer some of Gardner's other work, when he isn't trying to imitate other writers in other eras and allows us to distill the moral virtue of his work on our own rather than trying to beat us over the head with it at the cost of his narrative.

[Vel Veeter]

A strange little novel by the novelist John Gardner, most known for Grendel, in which three characters in a fairy story land meet up in the mountains and then intertangle their lives. They almost intertangled their deaths, as the title suggests, because each was going up there to die by suicide. Our three main characters are a dwarf who is constantly mocked, a beautiful daughter of a blacksmith who is as strong as ten men, and a prince who is very sad. Eventually they become friends and realize that their downsides are complementary, even if they are not what they wanted in life, and create a kind of mutual supportive friendship. It reads a lot like a Italo Calvino novel in many ways, but is interesting and funny.