Rich: (3/26) Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian

Each chapter of Soul Mountain is like a snapshot of the main character's photo album of his journey through countryside, away from the crowds and noise of the big cities. One chapter tells the tale of the old folk customs of villagers, and another describes his hunt in the wild for near-extinct forest creatures. We know neither his past nor his present and gradually learn about this man through his conversations with curious remote villagers, awe-struck by the big-city visitor. These wanderings sometimes test the reader's patience -- like reliving a friend's long vacation through a large stack of photos. Each photograph is truly beautiful, but unconnected with the next. It is impossible to anticipate what will be next, but the lonely traveler does not know where he is heading, either. He is torn between the need for solitude and the need to alleviate his own loneliness. So, even though has embarked on this solo journey, he seeks the companionship of the remote villagers. The reader can feel his excitement and fear when he encounters a beautiful, innocent young girl along the way. Here, Gao explores the conflict between Buddhist and Taoist ideas of solitude leading to greater understanding of oneself and societal instincts to gather together to create family units.

Part-novel, part-philosophy, and part auto-biography, Soul Mountain is not an easy read. It is a challenging, but pretty philosophical exploration of the self.