Le Otto Montagne – A book by Paolo Cognetti

Today let’s talk about Le Otto Montagne (I assume the translation is The Eight Mountains, a fascinating book.

My love for reading

I don’t want to replace critics, I love reading; my passion for reading started thanks to my elementary school teacher Giuliana who gave us a little book with a personal note for each birthday to read and then exchange with classmates.

This is why I became a compulsive book buyer; I always have to have at least three unread books ready to be read; furthermore, I rarely lend them or borrow them. With this blog, I would like to convey my impressions to you.

Le Otto Montagne – the book

I chose Le Otto Montagne because at the moment in Italy is very hot and I was looking for a bit of high-altitude relief. The freshness in Cognetti’s writing, the lightness in discovering a way of life that sometimes seems so complicated to us, always caught up in the race for success but above all, the emotion of discovering how much mountains lovers have in common.

That’s right, you will devour this book; Cognetti can move you without weighing you down. However you experience it, the mountain is hard work, that effort in reaching a peak or a mountain hut. It is precisely that effort that I love that makes me concentrate on the here and now in the function of the objective.

When I climb, especially in winter with snow and snowshoes, I remain to listen to the silence that fills my thoughts, refreshes them, and gives them back to me fully.

The part of the book that I loved the most

The apex in the reading was when the meaning of the Eight Mountains is explained through the protagonist; don’t worry, I will not spoil it, but which made me reflect on how much our choices affect and, above all how each of us wants to live our mountain, our life.

It was crazy to realize how there is nothing like the mountain to recall. Every time I decide on a route, I look for or hope to find a refuge; it doesn’t matter if it’s open or closed, its purpose is just like the word itself says to be able to hide out the hikers passing by. But the meaning is much deeper than you might think because… “the most beautiful refuge is in the memory”.

About the author

Paolo Cognetti was born in Milan in 1978, studied at the University of Milan, and then changed direction to graduate from the Civic School of Cinema in Milan. As a writer, he debuted in 2003 with the story Fare Odine. He frequented New York for several years, but Cognetti’s other place is the mountains, in particular the AOSTA VALLEY, where he spent his childhood summers and returned to live after the age of thirty. In 2016, his first novel, “Le otto montagne”, was published, with which he won the 2017 Strega Prize.

Some reviews

• A powerful, universal, and always humble book of life, which is not the least important of his qualities (L’Express).
• The refined story of how deep the love that binds human beings can be (Annie Proulx).
• A special book. It is not surprising that they mention Cognetti together with Hemingway, Jack London, and Mark Ywain (Die Zeit).

The wine to pair with the reading

A delicate red, but with character, such as a Pinot Noir from the Aosta Valley. Not only to stay on the subject of high mountains but precisely for the extreme wine concept. At high altitudes, the difficulty of harvesting is well known. So let yourself be welcomed by the fragrant notes of this grape essence, which hides the effort but gives great pleasure.

Enjoy the reading

Elisa