Summary of The Eight MountainsÂ
“The Eight Mountains” is a novel about the friendship between two boys from different backgrounds and their complicated relationships with their families. Pietro, a city boy from Milan, spends his summers in the Aosta Valley, where he befriends a local boy named Bruno. When they grow up, their lives take different paths – Pietro travels the world while Bruno remains in the mountains. But despite their differences, they manage to keep their friendship alive.
Reasons to read The Eight MountainsÂ
“The Eight Mountains” is a novel about a complex yet enduring friendship, and a difficult father-son relationship. It is also a tribute to the overwhelming nature of the high mountains. “The Eight Mountains” is the debut novel of Italian writer Paolo Cognetti, earning him numerous literary prizes, including the prestigious Premio Strega, the Prix Médicis étranger, and the English Pen Translates Award. “The Eight Mountains” has become a modern classic of Italian literature, written in simple yet beautiful prose. In 2022, the novel was adapted into a film (“Le otto montagne”) by Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch.
Setting: Aosta Valley (Italy)
Book set in Italy: Grana (or Graines) – Brusson (Aosta Valley – Valle d’Aosta)
Original title: Le otto montagne
Year of publication: 2016
Nr of pages: 224
