As I finished reading this novella, I found myself thinking back on Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. For one thing, the main characters here, while not father and son, are an older experienced man and a lad he is looking out for. And, like The Road, there are a lot of dangers to look out for, including starving humans that are turning cannibalistic in order to survive and later on facing even greater and stranger perils as they navigate and try to survive in a post-apocalyptic-like world, though a mytho-fantasy one. Finally, it is written in a way that is very easy to read and I felt the same way about McCarthy’s The Road. For all these reasons, I found Bernanos’ The Other Side of the Mountain vaguely reminiscent of McCarthy’s The Road.
At barely over 100 pages and being easy to read, most could easily read this in a single sitting. But with the book divided almost equally into Part One and Part Two, I stretched it out over two nights, reading the first part before bed one night and the second before bed the following night, which worked out quite nicely, as Part Two is very different from Part One and has a whole new set of surprises in store for the reader. Also, being so short and so easy to read while also being such a well-told story, I can’t help but think what a neat book this would be for younger readers who like their adventure tales and fantasy stories on the dark side.
After reading this translation of the novella, I subsequently learned of another translation by Gio Clairval included in The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (copyright 2011). I then read both translations chapter-by-chapter, side-by-side. The Clairval translation is a bit more literary than the Halperin translation, which is more direct and simple. Also, the Clairval translation has courser language where the Halperin translation softens it. Thus, for young readers, the Halperin translation might be more suitable.
The Other Side of the Mountain (La montagne morte de vie [1967]) by Michel Bernanos. English translation from the French by Elaine P. Halperin. Published by Cherokee Publishing Company, 1990.
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I first read this book as a teenager over 30 years ago, and it has remained with me ever since, always disturbing, always demanding to be examined more deeply. When I found a paperback copy at a used book sale two years ago, I found that my memories had not played me false - if anything, it was even more troubling now that I was old enough to better comprehend it. Is the author describing life as Hell or Purgatory? I waver between the two, even as the book's grotesque images appear in my mind, appalling but powerful. Well worth reading ... but be prepared to be haunted afterward.
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