Book Review: The Faraway Mountains

Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell

An unforgettable trek through the mountains and the realities of a Communist regime

As a last hurrah before their life paths change forever, three men embark on an ultimate hiking experience. They dance with death more times than anyone would anticipate, but those aren’t the only major challenges in their lives. Gabriel, another friend of the group, represents the shared issue back in their homeland: finding freedom under a Communist regime.

When the adventure ends, the group is faced with the realities of where they live. And it’s different for each of them. Wrestling with both hope and despair, the men attempt to achieve their dreams and find ways around the inherent unfairness. The Faraway Mountains is an impactful novel that reminds us of how life can be as simple, and as complicated, as the luck of the draw. 

These protagonists are much like any young men you’d find in the world. They enjoy hiking together, cracking jokes, and pushing themselves physically and mentally. The biggest difference? They’re living in a Communist regime, and this reality influences nearly everything they do. 

We begin to understand each man through their attempts to overcome what they cannot change and the truth of how they got to where they are now. 

Part One of this novel is filled with beautiful nature writing and engaging dialogue between the men. They come face to face with some grueling weather and dangerous wildlife. I enjoyed the majority of this section, but sometimes it felt like a bit too much dialogue. Luckily. any shortcomings from Part One are rectified in Part Two, as Guiaşu weaves compelling backstories of these men and gives us no choice but to care deeply about each one of them. 

Reader empathy abounds in this book. You’ll be shocked at all of the ways, including the little ones, that the men are stripped of their freedom. While the book is a work of fiction, the realities of the experience are portrayed authentically and palpably. 

One of my favorite points of contemplation in this book comes during a bear encounter. The way that Alex and Gabriel drift during these tense moments of staring death in the face speaks well to their background and character.

The Faraway Mountains is a masterclass on the intricacies of friendship. Three of the four friends have little to no hope of ever leaving, but one (Alex) is fortunate enough to be born into wealth and have parents who successfully immigrated to Canada. His prospects loom over the group, as he prepares to potentially immigrate knowing that his friends will never get the opportunity. Despite their undeniable fates, they find ways to overcome these facts and maintain their friendship, even if it doesn’t always come easy. Guiaşu’s depictions of friendship in this novel are heartwarming and unfair, joyful and sad. Readers should be prepared to feel something.

Guiaşu does a brilliant job of capturing the delicate power struggles within the group as well as the obvious ignorance that Alex has of his privilege. He manages to do this all while preserving the innocence of the friendship between the men, as they’ve been friends since youth and the integrity that each of them processes.

The Faraway Mountains is one of those books you’ll be thinking about for a long, long time.

Thank you for reading Jaylynn Korrell’s book review of The Faraway Mountains by Radu Cornel Guiaşu! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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