Mountaineering and hiking in mountainous landscapes induce humbleness and sharpens one’s consciousness of the small place we take in the universe. In the mountains we find a place of exquisite beauty, where we can experience what John Ruskin called the 'endless perspicuity of space the unfatigued veracity of eternal light', enabling us to get in touch with the Sublime.
In our times of environmental threats to our planet and complex demands of modern life, people probably come to treasure again the Romantic view on Nature as a place where one can go to reflect and contemplate the many questions of life, a place where one can find solace and happiness in its purity. Nature and especially the mountains are paramount in this novel, which perhaps expounds to some extent why this quiet novel about an unspectacular life has enchanted so many readers. The most lyrical passages consider the place of man in nature, man being in awe of the beauty and the power of Nature. (my curiosity lured me into reading a little about happiness these days, which brought me to the hilarious quote by Nietzsche that “Man does not strive for happiness only the Englishman does that”, from the Twilights of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer, in his critique of Utilitarianism).
He is at peace with what life is prepared to give him and does not frantically pursue happiness. The world does not revolve around his protagonist and Egger is fully aware his life is futile and insignificant within the scope of the universe. Although the novel is written from Andreas Egger’s perspective, Seethaler makes it very clear that in his philosophy of life there is no place for haughty anthropocentrism. Seethaler’s simple and collected narrative style excellently matches the serene sobriety of Egger’s life.
Modest and unassuming, Egger is a man of few words, a physically strong man of no distinction. He glances through Egger’s working life, his marriage and his encounters with social change and World History - war imprisonment and labour camp in the East. The Austrian author Robert Seethaler gingerly depicts the austere life of a man, Andreas Egger, living and working in a remote alpine village where he has arrived in his early childhood as an orphan. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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