FAR, FAR THE MOUNTAIN PEAK

by John Masters ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 26, 1957

A magnificent novel, perhaps Masters' finest work. While this departs somewhat from the continuity sequence in the saga of the Savages, one recognizes in Peter much of his grandfather, Rodney, of Nightrunners of Bengal. Peter has chosen the British civil service for his career in India; he elects further to be the world's greatest mountain climber, not for love of the mountains, which dominates his friends' passion for climbing, but because in the unattainable he can realize to the full his ruthless ambition. His is a violent, a wholly egotistic nature; he uses what comes his way; he dominates the two men closest to him, one an English peer, the other an Indian patriot and prince; he might have married the girl who worshipped him- but he chose instead Emmy, who thought she hated him. He sweeps obstacles- human and physical- aside, and it takes a disaster to bring him to recognition of himself. The book has everything:- the immense sweep of penetrating character development, the sharply etched minor characters, the pace of story, the strange lure of the mountains, the swift shift from Cambridge and Wales to Switzerland and to India, where most of the story is laid, the challenge of war years, the probing analysis of a marriage, the ultimate search and finding of a new self. I was spellbound- from start to finish.

Pub Date: April 26, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION