Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev

Blue Mountain

Meir Shalev

Don't be put off by the length - this book has a directness of style which makes it easy to enter into an culture you may be unfamiliar with. It deals with some large themes but a gentle humour pervades. If you like your characters to be larger than life this is one for you!

Extract
The farmers of our village can guess a calf's weight at a glance, predict the winds from the colour of the moon, and tell you the nitrogen content of the soil by tasting an onion. My mother took a good look at Benjamin's calm eyes and solid shoulders, let go, and plummeted, her dress flying over her face and stomach soaring up into her ribs. Eyes tightly shut she felt herself cradled in his huge hands. ...

'You can let go of me now,' she smiled. She had got her breath back, but her nails still dug frantically into his shoulders and arms. 'You were great.' My father was nonplussed. He had never before been so close to a female body.

Parallels
  • The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi
  • Porofino by Frank Schaefer