Thinking Makes It So: Does something happen after the middle?

One hundred-forty pages into Gao Xingjian’s “Soul Mountain,” I realized I wasn’t getting it. I understood the basics: The narrator wants to go to Lingshan, translated as “Soul Mountain.” At least, one of the narrators wants to go. At least, I think there’s more than one narrator.That’s my problem: I can’t count.Sources about the book suggest the alternating voices, one speaking in the first-person and one in the second-person, give the single protagonist a way out of his own loneliness.This sounds a little too clever but still reasonable, right?However, neither of them seems that lonely to me.One has a beguiling girlfriend with dramatic patience for the narrator’s lengthy, mostly invented history lessons. The other, less of a showboat, travels alone, but makes friends just with the sound of his voice. Nearly everyone he meets gives him some kind of special treatment: dinner in a family’s private home, for instance, or access to museum holdings that aren’t displayed to the public.Anyhow, I decided I had given the novel, a Nobel prizewinner, enough of my free time.

If you subscribe to the newspaper, you receive FREE access to all the exclusive content of the web site! Simply register to receive uninterrupted access to our award-winning and in-depth local online content!

Renew Current or Past Subscription / Register for Online Subscription

If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Los Alamos Monitor, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.

Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.

Newspaper Acct. ID:
Street Address:	(exactly as it appears on the label)

If you are a subscriber and you do not know your account ID or don't have a copy of your newspaper available that shows the information on the address label you can click continue below to search for your account.

New Subscription/30 Day Free Trial Account

If you are new to the award winning Los Alamos Monitor and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.

ZIP Code:

Create a limited access account.
Register to participate in community forums, post on the community calendar, blog etc. This registration does not give you full access to read our award winning content, etc.

The Los Alamos Monitor | lacirculation@lamonitor.com | 505-662-4185
256 DP Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544
Office Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday