Fiction. Translated from the German by Donna Stonecipher. Two young men with very different personalities set out to climb a mountain. Ull, decisive and competent, has his eye on the goal: the summit. Johann, irresolute, is just along for the climb; after several setbacks, he gives up and turns back. Ull continues on--despite the near impossibility of summiting along, and ignoring all warning signs--determined to reach the summit in defiance of his friend.

Hohl is a great discovery, an unjustly neglected author.--Susan Bernofsky