The Mountain (novel)

{{Short description|Book by Drusilla Modjeska}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{infobox book|

| name = The Mountain

| image = The Mountain (novel).jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = Drusilla Modjeska

| cover_artist =

| country = Australia

| language = English

| series =

| genre = novel

| publisher = Vintage

| media_type = Print (paperback)

| pages = 432 pp

| isbn = 9781741666502

| preceded_by = The Orchard

| pub_date = 2012

}}

The Mountain (2012) is a novel by Australian author Drusilla Modjeska.{{cite web|title= The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska|publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5720206|access-date= 15 July 2024}} It was shortlisted for the 2013 Miles Franklin Award.

Overview

The novel consists of two parts: "Book One" which features a group of ex-pat Australians and Papuans on a Papua New Guinea university campus in the period shortly before independence; and "Book Two", set after PNG independence and follows one character's journey back to Australia.

Critical response

Lloyd Jones in The Guardian noted that the novel is "a big and ambitious novel charting new territory in Australian contemporary fiction. There is much to admire."[https://www.theguardian.com/books/australia-culture-blog/2013/jun/13/miles-franklin-award-mountain-modjeska "The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska - Review by Lloyd Jones", The Guardian, 13 June 2013] Eleanor Limprecht in The Sydney Morning Herald found the novel "is a complex, multi-layered novel, so that the central story is viewed through different angles, in different lights, and comes to mean many different things.[http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-mountain-20120505-1y5ll.html "The Mountain" by Eleanor Limprecht, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 May 2012]

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable"
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
rowspan="4" | 2013

| ALS Gold Medal || — || {{nom|Longlisted}} ||

Australian Book Industry AwardsAustralian Literary Fiction Book of the Year{{sho}}
Indie Book AwardsFiction{{sho}}{{cite web|title="The 2013 Indie Awards Shortlist Announced" |publisher=Readings|url=https://www.readings.com.au/news/the-2013-indie-awards-shortlist-announced|access-date=15 July 2024}}
Miles Franklin Award{{sho}}{{cite web |author=Staff writer |date=30 April 2013 |title=The Miles Franklin Literary Award 2013 Shortlist |url=http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/2013/2013_shortlist |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503060834/http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/2013/2013_shortlist |archive-date=3 May 2013 |access-date=30 April 2013 |publisher=Miles Franklin Literary Award}}
2014

| Barbara Jefferis Award || — || {{sho}} || {{cite web|title="Barbara Jefferis Award 2014 shortlist announced" |publisher=Books+Publishing |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2014/10/10/31491/barbara-jefferis-award-2014-shortlist-announced/|access-date=27 March 2024}}

References