The High Mountains of Portugal

I snagged this book at the library when I saw it was written by the same author of Life of Pi.  I loved Life of Pi.  I also loved The High Mountains Of Portugal but it was nothing like Life of Pi.  This book has three separate shorter stories that don't seem related but eventually are somewhat and loosely related.   There were some moments of real comedy in there.  I would be reading along slowly enjoying the words and imagining the scene inside my head when it would dawn on me that this is sincerely funny.  In all three stories a man suffers a loss.  In the first story a man looses his son and lover to illness and then his father dies a couple days later.  He is upset.  He handles his emotions by walking backwards. He is so devastated with loss that he is literally turning his back to God by walking backwards.  There is a scene where his uncle is watching him approach from an upstairs window.  As he walks backwards on the sidewalk, another man notices him coming close to hitting his head on a lamp post.  The man helps his nephew by warning him of the danger and as the stranger walks away, he looks back to double check and ends up hitting his own head on a lamp post.  His nephew sees this and runs to his aid.  The nephew helps the man up.  They part.  Then his nephew strikes his head on a lamp post.  The uncle tries to help the nephew deal with his grief by offering him the use of his car for a trip the nephew is going to take to the high mountains of Portugal.  The nephew doesn't know how to drive. He doesn't want the car unless a driver comes with it. The problems he has with shifting and handling the car are hilarious.  This first story takes place in the beginning of the 1900's.  The second story takes place near the middle of the century and is totally surreal.  This man handles his loss by imagining his wife after her death. The third story takes place in modern times and although it starts out in Canada, it ends up in the high mountains of Portugal. The author describes a high savannah with humongous boulders strewn about erratically.  This man handles his loss by adopting a pet who helps him live in the moment and appreciate the simple things in life.  If you need a story to transport you to another place (like Portugal) and another time, this is a good book for you.