This is a fascinating book about life in Communist Romania under Ceausescu, as experienced by friends in university. The theme of the book is freedom in a land dominated by an intrusive authoritarian regime.
Part I describes Alex and friends hiking in the Carpathian Mountains, where they can talk freely about their lives and the regime, and not be spied on. This is freedom but it is temporary and far away. They walk or hitch rides in decrepit trucks and eat third-rate, unrecognizable food in grubby restaurants with grumpy unhelpful staff. The author describes the natural world – bears, species of trees, damp-walled limestone caves with possible Dacian carvings.
Part 2 is concerned with life in the city. Life in Communist Romania is often miserable for everyone except Ceausescu, his family, and his adherents. Alex and his friends had combined disdain for and fear of the brutal and uneducated police who enforce the rules, and spies. For them, escape to the West represents freedom. They enjoy recorded music, and certain books from the west, which they must keep hidden. While the works of Kafka and other writers in repressive regimes are of academic interest in the west, in Communist and other authoritarian regimes such books represent truth that can’t be openly spoken.
Gabriel, a musician, is more sensitive and less athletic than the others. He bribes a railway worker to escape to the west, but the worker immediately turns him in. Gabriel is arrested and imprisoned. He is beaten several times during his year in jail and suffers memory lapses after release He can’t continue his musical education and is reduced to moving from one construction job to another and other menial work.
Luckier than most, Alex and his other friends can get a certain type of freedom in relatively prosperous professions, if they conform. Alex is waiting his chance to be allowed to leaving to join his professor parents in North America. The author’s love for his homeland is evident in his deep knowledge of the plants, mountain trails, streams and forests of the Carpathian Mountains. It is clear the wrench it will be for him to be unable to participate in the life of his country.
The writing is often leavened by humour, including cynical jokes about not only each other but about the government, security forces, and authority figures. Even so, joking about the regime was dangerous and could mean loss of employment, ejection from university, and even imprisonment.
It is different from but reminiscent of the graphic novel “Persepolis”, by Marjane Satrapi, which describes growing up in repressive Iran after the Islamic Revolution.
It makes me realize how lucky we are to live in a country with freedom of speech, movement, and opportunity.
George1 review

The book is a rare insight into ordinary life under communism in Europe at the end of the 20th C, and is thus a welcome contribution to a better understanding of that nefarious chapter in recent history.
Set against the dramatic beauty of the country and the depravity of its communist regime, it is an interesting take on the zeitgeist of the early 80s Romania.

Part bildungsroman, it follows the lives of friends intertwined, through a selection of snippets from high school to their last hike in the proverbial mountains – weary suds in the system’s cauldron.

Alex, the hero of this narrative, is an angry but determined young man. He is idealized as a noble – perhaps Dacian – warrior, at odds with an oppressive regime and his own destiny, as he ponders life on the cusp of emigrating.
There is a strong autobiographical thread, with some expected caveats.

There are exquisitely detailed depictions of the wondrous landscapes and culinary delights in proletarian tavernas, and bear stories around campfire,
amid vivid sketches of nature. I particularly enjoyed the brief incursions into Dacian mythology.

The story has a steady flow, with crisp, clear prose and few tropes.
The dialogue is engaging, although a bit stilted at times, and rather sanitized for young men on a bonding trip in the woods.

The story of Gabriel, talented pianist but naïve misfit with a misguided compass and eventual victim, smoothly coils around the main narrative.

This book is ultimately about enduring friendship. Embark on a humorous and enchanting journey of three young men and a much travelled and revered old Viennese piano – to say nothing of the dogs! Deviant Quill Reviews75 4

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An autobiographical historical fiction that will teach readers how it was to live under a communist dictatorship as a simple citizen

This debut work of fiction inspired by the author's life is an inspiring blend of two stories that come together seamlessly.

One story focuses on three friends, students during the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Their adventures through the Romanian mountain wilderness and their relationship are vividly portrayed by the author, who doesn't seem to be a debut fiction writer at all.

Even though the historical part of this book is accurate, the plot doesn't focus on describing the events that shaped Romanian history but tries to make the reader discover the horrors of Ceausescu's dictatorship through the words and experiences of the characters. Their adventure intertwines with the second story, that of a young artist from Bucharest. It's a story of survival with a dash of murder mystery.

However, the tragic backdrop is not all this book is about. The author found a way to add plenty of humor to the story. It is tragic and suspenseful, but also highly entertaining, with plenty of wit and satire.

Overall, this novel has the potential to satisfy many types of readers. It's a blend of tragedy, mystery, adventure, and humor, historically accurate, and a great teaching tool for those who wondered what life was really in communist Romania.

Review copy provided by Independent Publishers Group @ NetGalley Vlad Bina1 review

The 1980s in North American popular culture bring up for many of us the films of John Hughes and the birth of MTV. In his latest novel, "The Faraway Mountains," Radu Guiasu presents an engaging time capsule for a different kind of 80s nostalgia.
The last decade of the Cold War was a surreal period in communist Romania. A North Korean-style nightmare had arrived unexpectedly after more than 15 years of relative liberalization when a fleeting glimpse of the post-war Western culture and values raised false hopes for a return to a free society.
The book describes this reality through the eyes of three senior students of one of the remaining elite high schools in Romania's capital city. The story is set in the beautiful Carpathian Mountains and in Bucharest, a city once called "The Little Paris," at the time dressed in the gray hues of the Eastern Bloc color spectrum. From Kundera to Havel, the communist era writers used humor as a powerful antidote to the surrounding desolation. "The Faraway Mountains" was written 34 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, allowing humor to become a perfect "aide memoire" through classic jokes from that period, absurd situations, and an enchanting collection of descriptive vignettes that absorb and delight.
The prose is elegant and straightforward, the dialogues entertaining, and a message of hope amid confusion and insanity keeps the reader interested in finding the outcome of what seems to be a decisive year in the protagonists' lives. Mark Labib1 review

The Faraway Mountains is a gripping story about life under an authoritarian communist regime through the eyes of three teenage boys. Seeking refuge from the lunacy that has overtaken the city, they embark on a trip in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania where they reminisce about the absurdities of dictatorship and come to terms with the fate of a beloved long-lost friend. Despite the somber nature of the subject matter, the novel is filled with adventure, wit, and satire. The prose is elegant and sophisticated allowing the reader to live vicariously through the experiences of the well-developed characters. By the end, you can’t help but wonder how the story continues. Overall, this novel succeeds on many fronts and has something to entertain every type of reader. Adeline RussAuthor 11 books3

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