The Mountain Is Young (Han Suyin)

I am almost 200 pages into Han Suyin's(pseud) novel (over 500 pages), The Mountain is Young ). So that this review may be flawed by that limitation. Still, so far, it is a great "read", containing as it does a vivid (idealized?) picture of Nepal and its capital Khatmandu some years soon after the Second World War. Tts long list of characters rivals that of Tolstoy's War and Peace--though certainly not in power and depth. However, I feel compelled to offer some exceptions to the general praise of this novel. Anne Ford, the heroine, in company with her husband John, arrives in Khatmandu, she to go to work as a teacher of young children, he to enjoy his retirement from his job as a colonial administrator. Her fellow teachers, allegorically--and demeaningly--represented as Geography and History (subjects they respectively teach) are just as two dimensional as their generic names would imply. Not only are they two-dimensional as characters, but they are portrayed as narrow, tight little sp... Read more

0...This novel tells a tale of self-exploration, romance, and finding ones self. It is spiritual, yet objective. Suyin Han does a magnificent job of helping me to know and understand the culture of the nepalese. She seeks out the falsities of faith, and the importance of love.The Mountain is Young tells the story of Ann Ford, a young women who married for security, not love. When she takes a teaching position in the small city of Khatmandu, she discovers herself again, and the importance love has on ones life. Not only love for a significant other, but love of nature, love of yourself, and love for all things living. This novel will give you a whole new understanding of life and is definitely worth the read. If you can get your hands on this novel, I suggest you do so.Here is what it reads on the back of the book ABANDONING HER PASSIONLESS MARRIAGE TO COLONIAL CIVIL SERVANT, JOHN FORD, ANN JOURNEYS TO KHATMANDU, LAND OF GODS, TEMPLES AND SNOW PEAKS IN A VOYAGE OF SLEF-DISCOVERY A... Read more