Ascent

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