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Ghost Mountain
Ghost Mountain is a simple fable-like novel about a mountain that appears suddenly and the way in which its manifestation ripples through the lives of characters in the surrounding community.
It looks at the uncertain fragile sense of self we hold inside ourselves, and our human compulsion to project it into the uncertain word around us, whether we’re ready or not. It is also about the presence of absence, and how it shadows us in our lives. Mountains are at once unmistakably present yet never truly fathomable.
It looks at the uncertain fragile sense of self we hold inside ourselves, and our human compulsion to project it into the uncertain word around us, whether we’re ready or not. It is also about the presence of absence, and how it shadows us in our lives. Mountains are at once unmistakably present yet never truly fathomable.
280 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2024
110 people are currently reading
3275 people want to read
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May 18, 2024
I'm not sure how to even approach this review. Hession's work to date focused on the connection between people and yet this novel is consumed by the absences inside us. Still filled with Hession's characteristic writing that balances the weight of reality alongside the absurdity of life, Ghost Mountain is written in the style of a fable that creates a new level to Hession's explorations. The novel also examines the narratives we create within ourselves and how those imagined realities fester and grow until they destroy us. If you're not getting it by now, this is Hession's darkest novel but still effortlessly brilliant.
May 23, 2024
Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession publishes May 23rd with Bluemoose Books and is the highly anticipated third novel from this Irish writer that continues to shape-shift and surprise.
I was, and still am, a huge fan of Rónán’s previous two novels, Leonard and Hungry Paul, and Panenka. When Leonard and Hungry Paul first arrived into our consciousness, most readers were completely blown away by the simplicity, yet highly complex philosophical nature of the prose. Rónán Hession brings something extraordinarily different to the stage and, when Panenka graced our shelves, we were once again astounded at the beauty of his words. Rónan Hession reads a lot of translated work, including Japanese novels, and I suspect his own reading habits are reflected in his writing style, more so than ever in Ghost Mountain.
‘It was in the ordinary sense of the word, a mountain. Emerging from the surrounding unfamous landscape, it was higher than all around it, though not very high. Limpet-shaped, its crest was bare and rounded, like a knee…’
In a sleepy, non-descript town a mountain suddenly appears out of the landscape, discovered one morning by Elaine, a local lady walking her dog. But, due to an unfortunate incident, Elaine is delayed in reporting this strange phenomenon. After a few days, word spreads and the locals are confused, and a little intrigued. Where did this mountain come from? How can a mountain just appear? As the community adopt different attitudes, and speculate as to its origin, the reader is taken on an almost voyeuristic journey into the lives of some of the local inhabitants.
Ruth and Ocho are a married couple, struggling with their fractured relationship. There is the local Clerk of Maps who is thrilled at this sudden landscape deformation and, with his theodolite in hand, relates his expertise to anyone who will listen, fluffed up with his own self-importance. There is the town drunk, Dominic, who is known for his eccentricities and has accepted his role in life, but the mapping of the mountain offers him some unexpected opportunities. There is the landowner, whose field the mountain has appeared on. It was his father’s land, but left to him following his death. The paths of these characters criss-cross throughout the novel, as they morph into slightly different versions of themselves.
Rónán Hession is an unusual writer. There is no major drama in his work, with each novel exploring humanity and the emotional complexities of daily living. Paulo Coelho’s writing, in particular The Alchemist, immediately sprung to mind when reading Ghost Mountain. There is a mystical and symbolic nature to both novels, encouraging the reader to ask questions and delve a little deeper beyond the superficial façade of life. The mountain attracts all sorts, from suspected cultists, to those seeking enlightenment, and everything in between. There are those who climb the mountain. circumnavigate the mountain, camp beside the mountain and die on the mountain.
‘But what impressed her most was the way Ghost Mountain had appeared. Not that it had appeared suddenly. Not that it had appeared mysteriously. What impressed her most was that it had appeared and had no message.’
Ghost Mountain is an unconventional novel, one that needs time to process and consider. Rónán Hession is not a mainstream writer, nor has any ambition to be one. He’s very interested in society, in particular the marginalised, who are often depicted as lesser beings. His approach to portraying ordinary people, going about their lives, is quite unusual, encouraging every reader to take a closer look at themselves and the busyness of their day-to-day. Conformity is not ever a descriptive trait that I would associate with Rónán Hession’s writing. He writes according to his own beat, which is no surprise as he is also a musician!
At times dark, Ghost Mountain is, as described, a fable of sorts, examining the varied perceptions of people and how individual thoughts can smoulder, and ultimately implode, within our own minds. Quite a remarkable tale Ghost Mountain is a compassionate and astute novel written in the unorthodox style of this understated and unassuming writer, one who is not afraid to experiment and challenge his readers.
My Rating ~ 4.5*
I was, and still am, a huge fan of Rónán’s previous two novels, Leonard and Hungry Paul, and Panenka. When Leonard and Hungry Paul first arrived into our consciousness, most readers were completely blown away by the simplicity, yet highly complex philosophical nature of the prose. Rónán Hession brings something extraordinarily different to the stage and, when Panenka graced our shelves, we were once again astounded at the beauty of his words. Rónan Hession reads a lot of translated work, including Japanese novels, and I suspect his own reading habits are reflected in his writing style, more so than ever in Ghost Mountain.
‘It was in the ordinary sense of the word, a mountain. Emerging from the surrounding unfamous landscape, it was higher than all around it, though not very high. Limpet-shaped, its crest was bare and rounded, like a knee…’
In a sleepy, non-descript town a mountain suddenly appears out of the landscape, discovered one morning by Elaine, a local lady walking her dog. But, due to an unfortunate incident, Elaine is delayed in reporting this strange phenomenon. After a few days, word spreads and the locals are confused, and a little intrigued. Where did this mountain come from? How can a mountain just appear? As the community adopt different attitudes, and speculate as to its origin, the reader is taken on an almost voyeuristic journey into the lives of some of the local inhabitants.
Ruth and Ocho are a married couple, struggling with their fractured relationship. There is the local Clerk of Maps who is thrilled at this sudden landscape deformation and, with his theodolite in hand, relates his expertise to anyone who will listen, fluffed up with his own self-importance. There is the town drunk, Dominic, who is known for his eccentricities and has accepted his role in life, but the mapping of the mountain offers him some unexpected opportunities. There is the landowner, whose field the mountain has appeared on. It was his father’s land, but left to him following his death. The paths of these characters criss-cross throughout the novel, as they morph into slightly different versions of themselves.
Rónán Hession is an unusual writer. There is no major drama in his work, with each novel exploring humanity and the emotional complexities of daily living. Paulo Coelho’s writing, in particular The Alchemist, immediately sprung to mind when reading Ghost Mountain. There is a mystical and symbolic nature to both novels, encouraging the reader to ask questions and delve a little deeper beyond the superficial façade of life. The mountain attracts all sorts, from suspected cultists, to those seeking enlightenment, and everything in between. There are those who climb the mountain. circumnavigate the mountain, camp beside the mountain and die on the mountain.
‘But what impressed her most was the way Ghost Mountain had appeared. Not that it had appeared suddenly. Not that it had appeared mysteriously. What impressed her most was that it had appeared and had no message.’
Ghost Mountain is an unconventional novel, one that needs time to process and consider. Rónán Hession is not a mainstream writer, nor has any ambition to be one. He’s very interested in society, in particular the marginalised, who are often depicted as lesser beings. His approach to portraying ordinary people, going about their lives, is quite unusual, encouraging every reader to take a closer look at themselves and the busyness of their day-to-day. Conformity is not ever a descriptive trait that I would associate with Rónán Hession’s writing. He writes according to his own beat, which is no surprise as he is also a musician!
At times dark, Ghost Mountain is, as described, a fable of sorts, examining the varied perceptions of people and how individual thoughts can smoulder, and ultimately implode, within our own minds. Quite a remarkable tale Ghost Mountain is a compassionate and astute novel written in the unorthodox style of this understated and unassuming writer, one who is not afraid to experiment and challenge his readers.
My Rating ~ 4.5*
March 3, 2025
Update 4.3.25: Ich muss nachträglich doch einen🌟abziehen, weil mir das Buch im Rückblick immer bedeutungsloser erscheint;
Ursprünglich 11.1.25: ich war zuerst bei 4, weil Hession eine überzeugende, eigene Stimme entwickelt, kurze Kapitel, kurze Sätze, sehr angenehm zu lesen, manchmal hart an der Grenze zum Klamauk, aber er kriegt meistens die Kurve und belässt es bei zartem, groteskem Humor. In der zweiten Hälfte wird es düsterer.
Leseerlebnis insgesamt war ungefähr bei 3🌟 - für die Story selbst hatte ich eigentlich nur 2-3🌟 übrig, es fehlt mir etwas, ohne genau sagen zu können, was. Vor allem aber ist mir verborgen geblieben, wozu ich das lese. Zumal der Roman mir mit den 350 Seiten auch zu lang vorkam. An Handlung passiert einiges rund um den Ghost Mountain, mit seinen Figuren geht der Autor nicht gerade zimperlich um, Vorderzähne werden ausgeschlagen, es wird gestorben, bis zum Massensuizid, es vergehen Jahrzehnte, Kinder werden erwachsen, bekommen selbst Kinder, es gibt Affären, es wird gemalt, Elaine etwa, die Frau deren Hund an einem Tennisball erstickt, widmet seither ihr Leben dieser Kunst und heiratet Dominic, den einst stadtbekannten Säufer ….
Richtig hervorragend ist die haptische und optische Aufmachung dieses Blessing Buchs, jedes Mal eine Freude es zur Hand zu nehmen.
Da die ganz große Begeisterung für den Roman und die Schreibweise bei mir nicht entstanden ist, habe ich vorläufig nicht vor, noch weitere Bücher des Autors zu lesen.
Ursprünglich 11.1.25: ich war zuerst bei 4, weil Hession eine überzeugende, eigene Stimme entwickelt, kurze Kapitel, kurze Sätze, sehr angenehm zu lesen, manchmal hart an der Grenze zum Klamauk, aber er kriegt meistens die Kurve und belässt es bei zartem, groteskem Humor. In der zweiten Hälfte wird es düsterer.
Leseerlebnis insgesamt war ungefähr bei 3🌟 - für die Story selbst hatte ich eigentlich nur 2-3🌟 übrig, es fehlt mir etwas, ohne genau sagen zu können, was. Vor allem aber ist mir verborgen geblieben, wozu ich das lese. Zumal der Roman mir mit den 350 Seiten auch zu lang vorkam. An Handlung passiert einiges rund um den Ghost Mountain, mit seinen Figuren geht der Autor nicht gerade zimperlich um, Vorderzähne werden ausgeschlagen, es wird gestorben, bis zum Massensuizid, es vergehen Jahrzehnte, Kinder werden erwachsen, bekommen selbst Kinder, es gibt Affären, es wird gemalt, Elaine etwa, die Frau deren Hund an einem Tennisball erstickt, widmet seither ihr Leben dieser Kunst und heiratet Dominic, den einst stadtbekannten Säufer ….
Richtig hervorragend ist die haptische und optische Aufmachung dieses Blessing Buchs, jedes Mal eine Freude es zur Hand zu nehmen.
Da die ganz große Begeisterung für den Roman und die Schreibweise bei mir nicht entstanden ist, habe ich vorläufig nicht vor, noch weitere Bücher des Autors zu lesen.
November 12, 2024
“I never thought I’d have a child with the town drunk, that’s all. I’m sorry, but that’s how people will look at it. I never saw myself that way. I’m ashamed. It’s humiliating.”
A brick crashed through the window. It had a note attached. Dominic untied the note and read it.
“It says: I want my theodolite back,” he read.
They looked through the broken window and saw the former Clerk of Maps walking back down the driveway, holding a bottle of brandy by the neck.
“Looks like we have a new town drunk,” he said.
Ghost Mountain is the 3rd novel by after Leonard and Hungry Paul and Panenka, all three publishe by the wonderful Bluemoose Books.
It opens, strikingly, with the sudden appearance of a mountain:
It was, in the ordinary sense of the word, a mountain. Emerging from the surrounding unfamous landscape, it was higher than all around it, though not very high. Limpet-shaped, its crest was bare and rounded, like a knee. It faced in all directions without preference, as mountains do. It obstructed both light and wind, but so too did it bring out their personalities. Light, accommodating and peaceful, addressed the mountain with shade and contrast, whereas wind, which is never the same twice, often became exercised by it. From one aspect there appeared to be two hollows, sitting like sunken sockets about halfway up its slope. A third hollow lay between but below the first two, creating what looked like a haunted expression, though the mountain did not, strictly speaking, ever express itself. When the time came to give it a name, it would be called Ghost Mountain because of those hollows.
To say that the mountain was this or that. To ascribe it physical or metaphysical characteristics. To describe it in a way that separated it from everything that was not it – these are all habits of the human mind, and so, it could justifiably be said that all and any such remarks described the describer more than Ghost Mountain. Ghost Mountain had no mind. It did not describe itself. It had no self or self-view. Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
All we know is that it appeared yesterday.
But this isn't a geological tale, rather Ghost Mountain's appearance is the catalyst for a shake-up in the lives of various people in the local community, including:
- a 50 year old single woman who discovers the mountain while walking her dog (who tragically chokes on a tennis ball)
- the Acting Clerk of Maps who initially sees this as the validation of his campaign to finally make use of his theolidite (but in practice, whose life unravels):
Surely the definitive record of any pre-existing mountain would be held by the Clerk of Maps at the ordnance survey office.
The Clerk of Maps tried not to smile as he listened to the police. He couldn’t help them, he said, and then clarified that he wanted to help them but was unable to do so. He was leaning back in his chair with his fingers interlocked and his thumbs circling each other.
“Why not?” they asked.
“Well…”
The pause was so important. It was the culmination of his career frustrations and his stilted initiative and his stunted professional conscientiousness and his unheeded warnings.
“…the local maps don’t show elevation,” he said.
- the town drunk (but, he's keen to emphasise, not an alcholic: “I enjoy getting drunk and being drunk, but I’m not addicted.”) who likes to throw bricks through people's windows with meaningful messages
- the overseas landowner of the land on which the mountain has appeared, who has only recently discovered from the executrix of his estranged father's will that he has inherited the land, and is trying to work out whether this means he is rich, or is a liability;
- the town butcher, something of a one-man advice service for the local community as they wait in line to be served, clutching the disconcertingly blood-stained tickets he hands out to manage payments in a Foyles-like system.
- and Ocho and his wife Ruth, who react differently to the phenomenon, he cynical (he spreads seemingly self-fulfilling rumours that the death of the dog was the work of Satanists), her quasi-religious in her devotion to the mountain, their sex-life ("hee-haw") disrupted as a result, a in-joke from how his father taught him the facts of life after his mother discovered him pleasuring himself
At the open farm, his father leaned his elbows on the fence at the donkey sanctuary. He had a philosophical look in his eyes.
“Donkey milk is much better than cow milk. Much higher in goodness and lower in fat. It is the most like human breast milk.” He turned to Ocho. “Do you know what I mean?”
Ocho, who didn’t know, said “Yes.”
They waited there for quite some time. Ocho asked if he could pull some of the long grass outside the enclosure and feed it to the donkeys through the fence but his father said, “Not yet.”
In time, one of the stallions mounted one of the Jennies and brayed in climax.
“You see?” said his father, mysteriously. “Hee-Haw.”
Ocho nodded. “Hee-Haw.”
His father said it was OK to feed the long grass to the donkey now.
As the above indicates there is a lot of Hession's whimsical humour in the set-up, but this is a rather darker novel than Leonard and Hungry Paul (and for me, benefits from it), with many of the characters forced to confront the reality of their lives, and more than a few deaths (starting with the tennis-ball choked/Satanically slaughtered dog - indeed one feels Hession might be having some gentle fun with the Richard Osman type genre).
And as the novel progresses, we see the impact of Ghost Mountain on the lives of the next generation, a young man and woman both born as a result of the events, and whose lives are intertwined, perhaps more so than they realise.
And the mountain simply remains, indifferent: And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
Another impressive novel from Hession and Bluemoose.
The publisher
Bluemoose Books is an award winning independent publisher based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Kevin and Hetha Duffy started Bluemoose in 2006 and as a ‘family’ of readers and writers we’re passionate about the written word and stories. Stories are transformative and as publishers we delight in finding great new talent. We don’t have the heft of a London publishing house with the millions of pounds to promote our writers but we do manage through innovative marketing to get our books into high street bookstores and reviewed in the national press. If you’re looking for orange headed celebrity books, you’ve probably come to the wrong place. But if you want brilliant stories that have travelled from Hebden Bridge, across the border into Lancashire, down to London across to Moscow, Sofia and Budapest and into the United States, Australia, India, Colombia and Greenland, Iceland and Bosnia Herzagovina then Bluemoose is the publisher for you.
A brick crashed through the window. It had a note attached. Dominic untied the note and read it.
“It says: I want my theodolite back,” he read.
They looked through the broken window and saw the former Clerk of Maps walking back down the driveway, holding a bottle of brandy by the neck.
“Looks like we have a new town drunk,” he said.
Ghost Mountain is the 3rd novel by after Leonard and Hungry Paul and Panenka, all three publishe by the wonderful Bluemoose Books.
It opens, strikingly, with the sudden appearance of a mountain:
It was, in the ordinary sense of the word, a mountain. Emerging from the surrounding unfamous landscape, it was higher than all around it, though not very high. Limpet-shaped, its crest was bare and rounded, like a knee. It faced in all directions without preference, as mountains do. It obstructed both light and wind, but so too did it bring out their personalities. Light, accommodating and peaceful, addressed the mountain with shade and contrast, whereas wind, which is never the same twice, often became exercised by it. From one aspect there appeared to be two hollows, sitting like sunken sockets about halfway up its slope. A third hollow lay between but below the first two, creating what looked like a haunted expression, though the mountain did not, strictly speaking, ever express itself. When the time came to give it a name, it would be called Ghost Mountain because of those hollows.
To say that the mountain was this or that. To ascribe it physical or metaphysical characteristics. To describe it in a way that separated it from everything that was not it – these are all habits of the human mind, and so, it could justifiably be said that all and any such remarks described the describer more than Ghost Mountain. Ghost Mountain had no mind. It did not describe itself. It had no self or self-view. Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
All we know is that it appeared yesterday.
But this isn't a geological tale, rather Ghost Mountain's appearance is the catalyst for a shake-up in the lives of various people in the local community, including:
- a 50 year old single woman who discovers the mountain while walking her dog (who tragically chokes on a tennis ball)
- the Acting Clerk of Maps who initially sees this as the validation of his campaign to finally make use of his theolidite (but in practice, whose life unravels):
Surely the definitive record of any pre-existing mountain would be held by the Clerk of Maps at the ordnance survey office.
The Clerk of Maps tried not to smile as he listened to the police. He couldn’t help them, he said, and then clarified that he wanted to help them but was unable to do so. He was leaning back in his chair with his fingers interlocked and his thumbs circling each other.
“Why not?” they asked.
“Well…”
The pause was so important. It was the culmination of his career frustrations and his stilted initiative and his stunted professional conscientiousness and his unheeded warnings.
“…the local maps don’t show elevation,” he said.
- the town drunk (but, he's keen to emphasise, not an alcholic: “I enjoy getting drunk and being drunk, but I’m not addicted.”) who likes to throw bricks through people's windows with meaningful messages
- the overseas landowner of the land on which the mountain has appeared, who has only recently discovered from the executrix of his estranged father's will that he has inherited the land, and is trying to work out whether this means he is rich, or is a liability;
- the town butcher, something of a one-man advice service for the local community as they wait in line to be served, clutching the disconcertingly blood-stained tickets he hands out to manage payments in a Foyles-like system.
- and Ocho and his wife Ruth, who react differently to the phenomenon, he cynical (he spreads seemingly self-fulfilling rumours that the death of the dog was the work of Satanists), her quasi-religious in her devotion to the mountain, their sex-life ("hee-haw") disrupted as a result, a in-joke from how his father taught him the facts of life after his mother discovered him pleasuring himself
At the open farm, his father leaned his elbows on the fence at the donkey sanctuary. He had a philosophical look in his eyes.
“Donkey milk is much better than cow milk. Much higher in goodness and lower in fat. It is the most like human breast milk.” He turned to Ocho. “Do you know what I mean?”
Ocho, who didn’t know, said “Yes.”
They waited there for quite some time. Ocho asked if he could pull some of the long grass outside the enclosure and feed it to the donkeys through the fence but his father said, “Not yet.”
In time, one of the stallions mounted one of the Jennies and brayed in climax.
“You see?” said his father, mysteriously. “Hee-Haw.”
Ocho nodded. “Hee-Haw.”
His father said it was OK to feed the long grass to the donkey now.
As the above indicates there is a lot of Hession's whimsical humour in the set-up, but this is a rather darker novel than Leonard and Hungry Paul (and for me, benefits from it), with many of the characters forced to confront the reality of their lives, and more than a few deaths (starting with the tennis-ball choked/Satanically slaughtered dog - indeed one feels Hession might be having some gentle fun with the Richard Osman type genre).
And as the novel progresses, we see the impact of Ghost Mountain on the lives of the next generation, a young man and woman both born as a result of the events, and whose lives are intertwined, perhaps more so than they realise.
And the mountain simply remains, indifferent: And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
Another impressive novel from Hession and Bluemoose.
The publisher
Bluemoose Books is an award winning independent publisher based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Kevin and Hetha Duffy started Bluemoose in 2006 and as a ‘family’ of readers and writers we’re passionate about the written word and stories. Stories are transformative and as publishers we delight in finding great new talent. We don’t have the heft of a London publishing house with the millions of pounds to promote our writers but we do manage through innovative marketing to get our books into high street bookstores and reviewed in the national press. If you’re looking for orange headed celebrity books, you’ve probably come to the wrong place. But if you want brilliant stories that have travelled from Hebden Bridge, across the border into Lancashire, down to London across to Moscow, Sofia and Budapest and into the United States, Australia, India, Colombia and Greenland, Iceland and Bosnia Herzagovina then Bluemoose is the publisher for you.
July 14, 2024
Picture the scene, it's 11pm in our hotel in Málaga and I've just finished my book before bed. I put the book down and Josh asks me if I enjoyed the book and what happened in the story. Me: so I started with a dog choking on a tennis ball and then 😭😭😭
Hession has done it once more, he has moved me. A really brilliant book. Very different in its wider breadth compared to his previous novels but no less intimate and characterful.
"And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain."
Hession has done it once more, he has moved me. A really brilliant book. Very different in its wider breadth compared to his previous novels but no less intimate and characterful.
"And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain."
August 10, 2024
Ronan Hession portrays life as being so simple yet so complex at the same time. The message I got from this book is that we can never truly know another person and we will hurtle through our own quirks and desires until the end - this I found desperately bleak.
I enjoyed Hession’s sparsely descriptive writing style but was left wanting when it came to each character’s arc. I wish that there had been some small light at the end of Ghost Mountain’s tunnel, but I guess that was the point of the book.
Ghost mountain is ghost mountain.
I enjoyed Hession’s sparsely descriptive writing style but was left wanting when it came to each character’s arc. I wish that there had been some small light at the end of Ghost Mountain’s tunnel, but I guess that was the point of the book.
Ghost mountain is ghost mountain.
December 27, 2024
Das war leider nicht mein Buch. Zu düster, zu melancholisch und irgendwie zu experimentell..
Ich habe keine Ahnung, was mir der Autor mit dieser Geschichte erzählen wollte. Ich fand alle Figuren schrecklich überspitzt und unsympathisch. Und der Berg? Ja der steht da und ist einfach nur ein Berg.. kein Spannungsbogen, sondern einfach nur Lebensgeschichten, die deprimieren… puh 😮💨
Ich habe keine Ahnung, was mir der Autor mit dieser Geschichte erzählen wollte. Ich fand alle Figuren schrecklich überspitzt und unsympathisch. Und der Berg? Ja der steht da und ist einfach nur ein Berg.. kein Spannungsbogen, sondern einfach nur Lebensgeschichten, die deprimieren… puh 😮💨
May 14, 2024
Ghost Mountain somehow manages to be charming, dark, surreal, relatable, haunting and funny all at once. Feels like a book that I will keep thinking about.
June 1, 2024
3.5 stars
October 1, 2024
There’s so much wisdom in this book, so much to mull over and absorb. Loved the structure of short vignettes from different characters and their view on things.
Life/reality/the universe is the main protagonist in this story - a stealthy, nameless, faceless force that smacks you in the face when you least expect it. And there were several times when I shouted with shock and disbelief.
Look forward to reading more from Ronan.
Life/reality/the universe is the main protagonist in this story - a stealthy, nameless, faceless force that smacks you in the face when you least expect it. And there were several times when I shouted with shock and disbelief.
Look forward to reading more from Ronan.
April 8, 2025
Everyone should read this. One of my favourites, and I reckon may become a (post-)modern classic.
April 19, 2025
someone tell this author that his writing is too good to be wasted on plots like these
January 31, 2025
Quirky little book that scratched my brain in a weird way but I couldn't not see it through to the end
September 11, 2024
I picked this up this summer, I had never heard of the book or author before, but I was intrigued by the cover art and title.
The titular Ghost Mountain is a mountain that has appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and it quickly becomes the talk of the nearby town. We are introduced to several characters that are connected to the mountain in some way, and we get to see how this new mountain impacts their lives in different ways, for better or worse.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Ghost Mountain, but I’m glad I picked it up. The premise sounds very surreal, but the book very much focuses on the human relationships of the characters in the book. The chapters are rather short, as we follow the lives of these characters. There is the couple Ruth and Ocho, who are drifting apart, something made worse by the appearance of Ghost Mountain. There’s the local town drunk, who gets a job mapping the new mountain, and there’s the woman who used to walk her dog at the location of the mountain, whose dog dies the day the mountain appears. We get to see their struggles, insecurities, and desires, as their lives are changed by the appearance of the new mountain. For example, Ruth becomes one of the people who take daily walks around the mountain, as she neglects her relationship with Ocho, while Ocho becomes resentful of the mountain and projects his own insecurities on his relationship with Ruth. The chapters are all pretty short, making it easy to read.
I was a bit surprised, the book was darker than I had expected it to be. I wasn’t expecting . Some very dramatic things happen to different characters, putting them in difficult and painful situations. Despite this the story never gets sensational or grim, instead it’s all told in a very matter-of-fact way, making you think. In that way I thought the mountain represents life: how life can change for better or worse at any moment without warning, how it can throw you a curveball and simply not care what happens to you. Things happen for no reason, and you have to deal with it. With the book’s focus on the relationships between people, such as couples, and parents and children, it really shows you how they live their lives, and how their decisions impact their own lives and of those around them.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this. While I wouldn’t say this was surreal, or fantasy, there’s definitely an element of strangeness to it which I really liked. I also liked most of the characters, and thought they were interesting to read about, it made me curious about what would happen to them.
The titular Ghost Mountain is a mountain that has appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and it quickly becomes the talk of the nearby town. We are introduced to several characters that are connected to the mountain in some way, and we get to see how this new mountain impacts their lives in different ways, for better or worse.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Ghost Mountain, but I’m glad I picked it up. The premise sounds very surreal, but the book very much focuses on the human relationships of the characters in the book. The chapters are rather short, as we follow the lives of these characters. There is the couple Ruth and Ocho, who are drifting apart, something made worse by the appearance of Ghost Mountain. There’s the local town drunk, who gets a job mapping the new mountain, and there’s the woman who used to walk her dog at the location of the mountain, whose dog dies the day the mountain appears. We get to see their struggles, insecurities, and desires, as their lives are changed by the appearance of the new mountain. For example, Ruth becomes one of the people who take daily walks around the mountain, as she neglects her relationship with Ocho, while Ocho becomes resentful of the mountain and projects his own insecurities on his relationship with Ruth. The chapters are all pretty short, making it easy to read.
I was a bit surprised, the book was darker than I had expected it to be. I wasn’t expecting . Some very dramatic things happen to different characters, putting them in difficult and painful situations. Despite this the story never gets sensational or grim, instead it’s all told in a very matter-of-fact way, making you think. In that way I thought the mountain represents life: how life can change for better or worse at any moment without warning, how it can throw you a curveball and simply not care what happens to you. Things happen for no reason, and you have to deal with it. With the book’s focus on the relationships between people, such as couples, and parents and children, it really shows you how they live their lives, and how their decisions impact their own lives and of those around them.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this. While I wouldn’t say this was surreal, or fantasy, there’s definitely an element of strangeness to it which I really liked. I also liked most of the characters, and thought they were interesting to read about, it made me curious about what would happen to them.
August 5, 2024
Despite a cartoon like premise, Hession continues his trademark themes of intrigue and solace in his third novel.
A mountain appears overnight, though not very high, though it must be 600 metres for the accepted definition. But that’s a triviality, and misses the point of the appearance of the Ghost Mountain all together. In fact the narrator, a resident of the unnamed town, tells us not to dwell on the mountain itself; enough that it is limpet-shaped. Rather, the novel is about the effect the mountain has on the community.
And they are a quirky set of characters indeed. Elaine, out walking her dog, first reports it to the police, and within a few days sightseers arrive, disrupting the routine of the town. The Clerk of Maps comes into his own, as he gets to speak publicly on contour lines, assisted in his job by the town drunk, Dominic, so much that it changes his life completely.
It’s a really boom time for Irish literature at the moment and Hession is a big part of that, something of an Indie sensation. He writes about people often forgotten by society and literature, who lead quiet lives with highs and lows, their elation and their tribulation. Eccentrics abound, and the ultimate result is always charming.
This is the best of his three books so far, with its character sketches of tenderness and thoughtfulness, and yet not shying away from their more negative traits; lying, cheating, law-breaking. A timely reminder that those around us maybe suffering, maybe celebrating, and merit empathy and kindness.
A mountain appears overnight, though not very high, though it must be 600 metres for the accepted definition. But that’s a triviality, and misses the point of the appearance of the Ghost Mountain all together. In fact the narrator, a resident of the unnamed town, tells us not to dwell on the mountain itself; enough that it is limpet-shaped. Rather, the novel is about the effect the mountain has on the community.
And they are a quirky set of characters indeed. Elaine, out walking her dog, first reports it to the police, and within a few days sightseers arrive, disrupting the routine of the town. The Clerk of Maps comes into his own, as he gets to speak publicly on contour lines, assisted in his job by the town drunk, Dominic, so much that it changes his life completely.
It’s a really boom time for Irish literature at the moment and Hession is a big part of that, something of an Indie sensation. He writes about people often forgotten by society and literature, who lead quiet lives with highs and lows, their elation and their tribulation. Eccentrics abound, and the ultimate result is always charming.
This is the best of his three books so far, with its character sketches of tenderness and thoughtfulness, and yet not shying away from their more negative traits; lying, cheating, law-breaking. A timely reminder that those around us maybe suffering, maybe celebrating, and merit empathy and kindness.
August 28, 2024
This was one of the most refreshing and original novels I have read for quite some time. The writing style is beautiful and had me fully engaged from page one. If you ever lose focus sometimes when reading, then do not fear as Ronan will jump out of the pages at you and startle you with his twists and unexpected turns. This book had me laughing out loud, crying and in shock (staring into space in disbelief). I highly recommend this book and I have ordered his other novels. This was the first time I have read one of his novels - but I will not be missing another one! Thank you, Ronan.
July 25, 2024
Life in a small Irish town. Interesting characters and a wonderful writing style. It’s more about how perceptions (true or false) affect life choices. Very much enjoyed the book but hated the ending. Well worth reading
August 24, 2025
Ronan Hession has a charming sense of humour. I giggle frequently when reading his books. *
* Review originally posted through Goodreads head office front window, attached to a brick.
Full Review Here - https://youtu.be/Pi9IOgCVlzo
* Review originally posted through Goodreads head office front window, attached to a brick.
Full Review Here - https://youtu.be/Pi9IOgCVlzo
September 22, 2025
Stuck between 3 or 4 stars. A dark fable-like story; the sudden appearance of a mountain is a cataclysm for these strange townsfolk. Left me feeling weird!!
September 23, 2024
I could've forgiven the randomness and slapstickyness, but I couldn't get past the insistence on the familial.
July 31, 2024
I have loved Ronan Hession’s previous books – particularly Leonard and Hungry Paul. This is a simple fable-like novel about a mountain that appears suddenly, and the way in which its manifestation ripples through the lives of characters in the surrounding community.
To me this book is about the human condition. Its about the connection and co-existence of humans. It’s also about how our lives can often look as though they are going in a certain direction but so easily can change.
To me this book is about the human condition. Its about the connection and co-existence of humans. It’s also about how our lives can often look as though they are going in a certain direction but so easily can change.
October 13, 2024
creative rain
yes, it’s true, it’s the darkest Hession novel yet. If you enjoyed Leonard and Paul, you will most definitely enjoy this work. I deeply, deeply loved the first half of the book, I truly cared for Ocho, and the surprising losses he experiences. But after he dies, and we move on to the younger generation (Ursula, Christopher) I found it harder to care for the characters and be interested in their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely adored the writing of Hession. But knowing about the strange ways these kids came into the world, I found them less believable than the older characters.
I must highlight the chapter in which Ocho is grieving. I didn’t expect this to be a book about grief and death (I mean, what could you expect from a book called ‘Ghost Mountain’, really?) - but that part was absolutely outstanding. Phenomenal. I think it is astounding how perfectly Hession depicts the experience of grief, of losing parents and a lover… I have not experienced that personally, but the description of it made me shiver and hit me right in the core.
The chapters and sentences are kept short. I find that very charming, but when reading a whole novel at some point I found it hard to find into flow while reading and just immerse myself in the ghost mountain world. I love the meditative atmosphere the author creates, I mean he is absolutely fantastic in that way, just not the book you’d enjoy reading in one or two sittings I believe.
To sum this up: I am in awe of the calm, peculiar and strange atmosphere Hession creates and how deep, lovable and three-dimensional his characters are. I can sense a deep appreciation for the odd ones, the individual, and everything that happens which is not filtered or mainstreamed. This novel made me appreciate the ordinary a whole lot more and just kicks you right out of this capitalistic, performance centered society.
yes, it’s true, it’s the darkest Hession novel yet. If you enjoyed Leonard and Paul, you will most definitely enjoy this work. I deeply, deeply loved the first half of the book, I truly cared for Ocho, and the surprising losses he experiences. But after he dies, and we move on to the younger generation (Ursula, Christopher) I found it harder to care for the characters and be interested in their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely adored the writing of Hession. But knowing about the strange ways these kids came into the world, I found them less believable than the older characters.
I must highlight the chapter in which Ocho is grieving. I didn’t expect this to be a book about grief and death (I mean, what could you expect from a book called ‘Ghost Mountain’, really?) - but that part was absolutely outstanding. Phenomenal. I think it is astounding how perfectly Hession depicts the experience of grief, of losing parents and a lover… I have not experienced that personally, but the description of it made me shiver and hit me right in the core.
The chapters and sentences are kept short. I find that very charming, but when reading a whole novel at some point I found it hard to find into flow while reading and just immerse myself in the ghost mountain world. I love the meditative atmosphere the author creates, I mean he is absolutely fantastic in that way, just not the book you’d enjoy reading in one or two sittings I believe.
To sum this up: I am in awe of the calm, peculiar and strange atmosphere Hession creates and how deep, lovable and three-dimensional his characters are. I can sense a deep appreciation for the odd ones, the individual, and everything that happens which is not filtered or mainstreamed. This novel made me appreciate the ordinary a whole lot more and just kicks you right out of this capitalistic, performance centered society.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2024
I enjoyed every page of this book. It's the perfect combination of mystery and humour, which later evolves into a slightly but still comfortably dark story. The atmosphere evoked a sense of those rainy, foggy days in Ireland when you're waiting for something mysterious to happen.
The story begins with the sudden appearance of a mountain near a town, which slowly brings increasing attention. The book follows the lives of several people who are affected by this event. However, it soon becomes clear that their stories are not necessarily influenced by the mountain's appearance. Instead, the situation reveals underlying issues that were already present, and Ghost Mountain was Ghost mountain.
Personally, I found the writing style very enjoyable. Ronan has a unique way of presenting characters, adding quirky details that make each one feel real and relatable (I couldn't help but sympathize with a woman worried about her woollen hat getting ruined by the rain). Also, I appreciated the short chapters. This isn't a book I wanted to rush through, rather to read a few pages at a time and then let it sit and enjoy the story for a little longer. It was my first book by the author, so I can't compare it to the others, but I will def search them in the future.
The story begins with the sudden appearance of a mountain near a town, which slowly brings increasing attention. The book follows the lives of several people who are affected by this event. However, it soon becomes clear that their stories are not necessarily influenced by the mountain's appearance. Instead, the situation reveals underlying issues that were already present, and Ghost Mountain was Ghost mountain.
Personally, I found the writing style very enjoyable. Ronan has a unique way of presenting characters, adding quirky details that make each one feel real and relatable (I couldn't help but sympathize with a woman worried about her woollen hat getting ruined by the rain). Also, I appreciated the short chapters. This isn't a book I wanted to rush through, rather to read a few pages at a time and then let it sit and enjoy the story for a little longer. It was my first book by the author, so I can't compare it to the others, but I will def search them in the future.
August 29, 2024
This, my 3rd of the Hession novels, is more homely tales of the humanity of modest, deceptively simple characters in an Irish rural community (and an enigmatic mountain or two.) Rónán's plain, sketchy writing style remains closely trimmed & to the point; yet here it presents as maturely fashioned compared to his qoundam work. Dark in places, with an eye of the absurd. An enjoyable read & maybe his best yet.
June 29, 2024
Ghost Mountain by Ronan Hession. A mountain appears out of nowhere and so the story begins. The story is set around ghost mountain and indeed it is a character but is mainly an anchor around which the other characters live their lives. This book is fantastic I fell in love with Elaine and Dominic and their beautiful relationship and as beautiful as some of the characters and interactions there are some awful characters and dark undertones to the book. This book is really subtle and the character development is amazing . Please read it
June 3, 2024
Literally and figuratively bigger than his other two - more ideas, more characters - but the writing is still like laser-guided insight with sparse language. Death and grief and self image and hee haw and everything else. At times Ghost Mountain functioned like the deaf mute in The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - a mirror or a vessel - but mostly Ghost Mountain is Ghost Mountain. Another @ronan_hession gem that made me sob lightly in the cinema cafe.
August 1, 2024
stunning story
This book was mind blowing. The prose so simple yet so complex. I could not put it down. I tried to read slowly and savour every word, but always found myself speeding through pages and reading them as if eating a whole steak in one bite. I cant recommend this book enough.
This book was mind blowing. The prose so simple yet so complex. I could not put it down. I tried to read slowly and savour every word, but always found myself speeding through pages and reading them as if eating a whole steak in one bite. I cant recommend this book enough.
July 29, 2024
This scratched my brain in a really satisfying way. Surreal yet to the point.
May 1, 2025
When Rónán Hession’s debut novel Leonard and Hungry Paul was published back in 2019, it struck a chord with a lot of people (me included). Here was a feel-good, funny book which tackled masculinity and enforced the value of being kind, yet in no way was the novel saccharine or condescending. Slowly Leonard and Hungry Paul started gathering word of mouth popularity, eventually becoming Irish Book of the Year. Timing is always important, and that book brought me some solace during lockdown.
Rónán Hession is clearly a person who does not repeat himself. His 2021 novel Panenka was about heavy topics such as trauma, mental illness and imposter syndrome. Once again, his deft pen treated such issues with tenderness.
Ghost Mountain, published in 2024 is Rónán Hession’s latest and his most ambitious to date. It all starts with a mountain appearing out of nowhere.
To say that the mountain was this or that. To ascribe it physical or metaphysical characteristics. To describe it in a way that separated it from everything that was not it – these are all habits of the human mind, and so, it could justifiably be said that all and any such remarks described the describer more than Ghost Mountain. Ghost Mountain had no mind. It did not describe itself. It had no self or self-view. Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
From there, the mountain initiates a chain of events which spans decades. There’s a small clutch of characters who are particularly affected by the Ghost Mountain, and the cynical Ocho and his wife Ruth, who is enamoured by Ghost Mountain.
Ghost Mountain impressed her. The feeling of Ghost Mountain impressed her. The idea of Ghost Mountain impressed her. She could see herself clearly on Ghost Mountain. Ordinarily, her mind was like a zorbing ball and it felt like she was trapped and bouncing around inside it. But on Ghost Mountain, she felt like her mind had no boundary. This impressed her also. But what impressed her the most was the way Ghost Mountain had appeared. Not that it had appeared suddenly. Not that it had appeared mysteriously. What impressed her most was that it had appeared and had no message.
Ruth is the first protagonist to feel enlightened by the mountain but eventually her interaction with it triggers many chain reactions which alters many destinies.
Other characters include the town drunk, a retired art teacher, The Clerk of Maps, his wife and the Town Butcher, who serves as a kind of sage.
For the first time, Elaine (the retired art teacher) began to understand likeness in her painting. It was not about recording what somebody looked like so that they could always look that way. It was about capturing a moment of change. A simultaneous moment of change in the subject and in the artist.
Change is central to Ghost Mountain’s plot. Rónán Hession has publicly stated that he is a fan of Japanese literature, and I felt that Asian philosophy permeates this novel. In western thought, time moves in a linear fashion; in Asia time moves in a circular way. Throughout Ghost Mountain these characters marry, have children, split up, die and then as time passes, the next generation of characters go through the same cycle, There’s a lot of repetition of certain motifs: incisor teeth tend to get knocked out, a theodolite (it’s a land surveying instrument used for measuring angles) frequently makes an appearance, and characters walki around Ghost Mountain.
Rónán Hession has a knack of capturing humanity at it’s best and worst. At times Ghost Mountain is a dour novel which displays the duality of people. No one is perfect in this book! All There are also moments of kindness.
I also applaud Rónán Hession for not spoon-feeding his readers. There are little details which are connected to a certain character, and they are revealed in an offhand way which gives the book some twists.
What is Ghost Mountain about? I saw it as a novel which deals with time and how history has a knack of repeating itself. Ghost mountain itself is merely a MacGuffin [an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot]: the real focus is on these perfectly imperfect protagonists.
At times, this is a book about hope and resilience and how to face problems and cope with change. Either way things do have a knack of fixing themselves maybe not how we like them, but they do.
I’m not the biggest fan of comparisons but lest people think that Ghost Mountain is a self-help book, it’s not. At times I was reminded of Japanese author Shūsaku Endō’s novel, Deep River, where a group of tourists see the Ganges, which indirectly influences each character’s destiny – although a Catholic Shūsaku Endō also included the Asian philosophy into his works.
Ghost Mountain may not have the feel good factor of Rónán Hession’s earlier novels but it’s more complex and layered. There are slapstick moments but it’s more of a breather. Ghost Mountain is the one which dives into humanity, including its ugly factor. Each chapter is between two and three pages, but they are deceptively simplistic – there’s a lot which will leave the reader thinking. Ghost Mountain is a novel which will provoke the reader into thinking and displays a more mature Rónán Hession.
And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain
Rónán Hession is clearly a person who does not repeat himself. His 2021 novel Panenka was about heavy topics such as trauma, mental illness and imposter syndrome. Once again, his deft pen treated such issues with tenderness.
Ghost Mountain, published in 2024 is Rónán Hession’s latest and his most ambitious to date. It all starts with a mountain appearing out of nowhere.
To say that the mountain was this or that. To ascribe it physical or metaphysical characteristics. To describe it in a way that separated it from everything that was not it – these are all habits of the human mind, and so, it could justifiably be said that all and any such remarks described the describer more than Ghost Mountain. Ghost Mountain had no mind. It did not describe itself. It had no self or self-view. Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain.
From there, the mountain initiates a chain of events which spans decades. There’s a small clutch of characters who are particularly affected by the Ghost Mountain, and the cynical Ocho and his wife Ruth, who is enamoured by Ghost Mountain.
Ghost Mountain impressed her. The feeling of Ghost Mountain impressed her. The idea of Ghost Mountain impressed her. She could see herself clearly on Ghost Mountain. Ordinarily, her mind was like a zorbing ball and it felt like she was trapped and bouncing around inside it. But on Ghost Mountain, she felt like her mind had no boundary. This impressed her also. But what impressed her the most was the way Ghost Mountain had appeared. Not that it had appeared suddenly. Not that it had appeared mysteriously. What impressed her most was that it had appeared and had no message.
Ruth is the first protagonist to feel enlightened by the mountain but eventually her interaction with it triggers many chain reactions which alters many destinies.
Other characters include the town drunk, a retired art teacher, The Clerk of Maps, his wife and the Town Butcher, who serves as a kind of sage.
For the first time, Elaine (the retired art teacher) began to understand likeness in her painting. It was not about recording what somebody looked like so that they could always look that way. It was about capturing a moment of change. A simultaneous moment of change in the subject and in the artist.
Change is central to Ghost Mountain’s plot. Rónán Hession has publicly stated that he is a fan of Japanese literature, and I felt that Asian philosophy permeates this novel. In western thought, time moves in a linear fashion; in Asia time moves in a circular way. Throughout Ghost Mountain these characters marry, have children, split up, die and then as time passes, the next generation of characters go through the same cycle, There’s a lot of repetition of certain motifs: incisor teeth tend to get knocked out, a theodolite (it’s a land surveying instrument used for measuring angles) frequently makes an appearance, and characters walki around Ghost Mountain.
Rónán Hession has a knack of capturing humanity at it’s best and worst. At times Ghost Mountain is a dour novel which displays the duality of people. No one is perfect in this book! All There are also moments of kindness.
I also applaud Rónán Hession for not spoon-feeding his readers. There are little details which are connected to a certain character, and they are revealed in an offhand way which gives the book some twists.
What is Ghost Mountain about? I saw it as a novel which deals with time and how history has a knack of repeating itself. Ghost mountain itself is merely a MacGuffin [an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot]: the real focus is on these perfectly imperfect protagonists.
At times, this is a book about hope and resilience and how to face problems and cope with change. Either way things do have a knack of fixing themselves maybe not how we like them, but they do.
I’m not the biggest fan of comparisons but lest people think that Ghost Mountain is a self-help book, it’s not. At times I was reminded of Japanese author Shūsaku Endō’s novel, Deep River, where a group of tourists see the Ganges, which indirectly influences each character’s destiny – although a Catholic Shūsaku Endō also included the Asian philosophy into his works.
Ghost Mountain may not have the feel good factor of Rónán Hession’s earlier novels but it’s more complex and layered. There are slapstick moments but it’s more of a breather. Ghost Mountain is the one which dives into humanity, including its ugly factor. Each chapter is between two and three pages, but they are deceptively simplistic – there’s a lot which will leave the reader thinking. Ghost Mountain is a novel which will provoke the reader into thinking and displays a more mature Rónán Hession.
And Ghost Mountain was Ghost Mountain
October 12, 2025
every single turn this book took was absolutely beautiful. so glad ruby and i are finally aligning in book taste!
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