Irene Solà’s ‘When I Sing, Mountains Dance’ is my first read for this new year!
The book is a relatively lean novel, under 200 pages. It blends poetry into traditional storytelling to make something unique. I’ve never read anything quite like it.
The story opens with a man being struck dead by lightning. From there, we branch off to explore the lives of other family members and friends he has left behind. The story spans several decades, weaving a multilayered vision of small-town life in a mountain community. We even get some unusual points of view, such as from the clouds, mushrooms, and even a dog.
The small glimpses of each life are powerful, moving, and profound. We bounced around from chapter to chapter, and it was always fun trying to puzzle out from whose perspective we were reading now. The book’s short length made this head-hopping enjoyable. As it stands, Solà hit the perfect length with ‘When I Sing, Mountains Dance’. It’s quite an experimental little book that takes no time to read.
If you fancy something entirely new, give ‘When I Sing, Mountains Dance’ a go; you won’t read anything else quite like it any time soon.
joshuainsole.com 
A unique and extraordinary novel, I agree, I don’t think I have ever read anything like it. I recently visited Catalonia and took it with me, because you know, how often do we get to read a novel translated from Catalan? Thought provoking and original.