Erin Reno- Spiritual Journey and "The Eight Mountains"

Spiritual Journey and The Eight Mountains
In Paolo Cognetti’s The Eight Mountains,  which was originally written in Italian, but later translated to English.  The story primarily takes place in the Italian Alps, and follows the life of a young boy who’s father buys a mountain house there.  While the book mainly focuses on young Pietro’s lifelong friendship with Bruno, as local boy his age, another important facet is Pietro’s relationship with his father.  Unable to share in his father’s passion for hiking mountains when he is young, it is only after his father’s death that Pietro begins to hike in an attempt to connect with his late father.  Impassioned, Pietro travels the world exploring different mountain regions and leaving messages for his father on other peaks.  He also enlists Bruno to help him build a house high upon the mountain like his father always wanted, a request Bruno takes as he himself is trying to connect with an old way of life practiced by his ancestors.   The book touches on human beings and wilderness, the flow of hiking, and the human desire to connect with those past and present.

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