I discovered with this vintage Popular Library paperback (usually reprints of bestsellers and classics, with a jazzy cover to catch your eye), the scene on the cover of this is far different than the book!
Written by Henri Troyat (a Russian born French author of over 100 books), it won the Prix Litteraire du Prince Rainier III de Monaco. He was also awarded the Prix Goncourt. His best known work is Le Neige en Dueil, published in English as The Mountain, and subsequently made into a film starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner in 1956.
It's the story of two brothers living in a small village high in the Alps the young have abandoned, leaving a few older residents to drink coffee together. Isaiah Vaudagne was once an area mountain guide, now spending his days talking to his friends the sheep and fixing his house. His need-do-well brother Marcellin is contemptuous and always looking to get away from both the village and his slow witted brother. Money is all he is seeking, trying to con his own brother into selling the family house. At the news an Indian airline has crashed high atop the ridge, he convinces Isaiah that there are no survivors and the supplies and valuables are free to take. A search party from the village has already turned back unsuccessful, but the brothers head out one night for the long climb up the mountain. With knowledge of the best routes, it is still a hair-raising hand by hand climb up the shear face, in places so dangerous I was literally on the edge of my seat. When they do find the plane, a lone Indian woman wrapped in her sari is the only survivor, and Isaiah realizes Marcellin's criminal plan to loot the remains. Their harrowing and deadly return to the village fills the second half of the novel, which has a terrific ending - appropriate and sad.
Reviews for this book say it's "worthy to take it's place with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea". Certainly the desperate and dangerous plan of the brothers, pitting themselves against a raging windstorm is unforgettable. I usually give a good review to the books I read, but this is really memorable and unexpected. Not knowing about it beforehand made the discovery of this novel sweeter. It's quite short so I read it in one sitting - couldn't put it down.
The film of The Mountain can be found online. The beautiful cinematography and technicolor made the village livelier and the residents brighter. They get points for sticking close to the novel, but did have to change the great ending - can't have anyone sad at the end.
A suspenseful adventure story and a highly recommended treat of a novel.
1954 / Paperback / 128 pages
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