Gao Xingjian is a Chinese author who lives in France. His work is very controversial in China, from which he emigrated and where his works are still banned.
The author provides his own review of Soul Mountain within the book itself:
"'This isn't a novel!'
"'Then what is it?' he asks.
"'A novel must have a complete story.'
"He says he has told many stories, some with endings and others without.
"'They're all fragments without any sequence, the author doesn't know how to organize connected episodes.'
"'Then may I ask how a novel is supposed to be organized?'
"'You must first foreshadow, then build to a climax, then have a conclusion. That's basic common knowledge for writing fiction.'
"He asks if writing fiction can be written without conforming to the method which is common knowledge. It would just be like a story, with parts told from beginning to end and parts from end to beginning, parts with a beginning and no ending and others which are only conclusions or fragments which aren't followed up, parts which are developed but aren't completed or which can't be completed or which can be left out or which don't need to be told any further or about which there's nothing more to say. And all of these would also be considered stories.
"'No matter how you tell a story, there must be a protagonist. In a long work of fiction there must be several important characters, but this work of yours...?'
"'But surely the I, you, she and he in the book are characters?' he asks."
I could go on, but the gist of the author's argument is there.
My opinion? I had a very difficult time getting through this book, and at several points I lost patience with the more abstract chapters/conversations between "he" and "she."
This said it's interesting in parts, and those fighting their way to the end might find it rewarding.
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