Book Review The Flying Mountain

This novel by Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr, written entirely in blank verse, recounts the story of two brothers who leave the southwest coast of Ireland on an expedition deep into the Trans-Himalaya&mdashto Kham and the mountains of eastern Tibet&mdashin search of an unnamed, and untamed, mountain said to be the last uncharted spot on the map. Only one of the brothers returns, transformed by his loss. Translating an entire novel in verse is not unlike summiting a mountain, but translator Simon Pare&mdashwho previously translated Ransmayr&rsquos Atlas of an Anxious Man (2016)&mdashhas proved equal to the task. We were hooked from the word go. But then how can you not when a novel begins with these words &ldquoI died/six thousand, eight hundred and forty metres above sea level/on the fourth of May in the Year of the Horse&rdquo