Das größere Wunder

Partial coming-of-age story, partial report of the minute details of climbing the Mount Everest. The protagonist Jonas grows up with a twin brother and a best friend, young boys getting into all sorts of trouble. They get adopted by a grandfather with Mafiosi connections and endless funds, who enables and supports all their crazy wishes and dangerous adventures. Yet their lives are filled with tragedies. There's a mysterious strong connection between the two friends, that pays off beautifully in the last pages of the book. Jonas goes into adulthood searching for meaning, a sense in life, in love and solitude, chasing risks and insights all across the world.

I really enjoyed this. Especially the climb, learning about the crazy effects of high altitude, and the strategies on how you adjust your body and mind to these extreme conditions. Also Jonas' sense of humor, continuously cracking bad jokes, felt very Austrian to me and made me chuckle occasionally. I would have preferred if the book hadn't tried to become a love story in it's last third. Also some of the protagonist's idiosyncratic ways of spending money bugged me. As did his stubborn ways, right up to the last line uttered in the novel (i get it, but Jonas, but why couldn't you just give Hadan the satisfaction!?) But definitely an intriguing piece of fiction.