Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Mountain Between Us!
How did you enjoy this first section? It was a little confusing for me to get into the narration at first because I didn't quite understand the significance of the italicized flashback sections. Once I understood that those sections were Ben's thoughts to his wife, I felt like the story flowed better.
The story starts by introducing us to Ben and Ashley, and it quickly drops them into a seemingly impossible situation: stranded at the top of a snowy mountain after barely surviving a plane crash. Ben appears to be the absolute best person to be on top of a mountain with. Could you believe all the things he was able to do? It was almost too convenient that he was so suited for this kind of disaster. What did you think of Ben and his survival instincts? Did any of the things he do seem too far-fetched?
From the prologue and some of the flashback sections, we can deduce that something happened between Ben and his wife before he left on this trip. He seems to be atoning for something in some of his recordings. Do you think they had a fight? What do you think he hopes to accomplish with the recordings?
At the end of this section, Ben manages to kill a mountain lion, so they have some food. How do you think they will be able to continue in this snow? How will they find more food? Do you think they will have to leave the wreck site?
Obviously, the setting of this story is incredibly important. The snowy mountain top is almost like another character in the novel. So, when producers worked to move this story from the page to the screen, they had to plan carefully to figure out how to best represent the harshness of the mountains and the conditions. Read how the cinematographer, Mandy Walker, shot the movie at the top of a mountain in this article. If you do, I think you'll have a greater appreciation for the movie!
Make sure to let me know your thoughts about this section. And, let me know if you think you could survive in these conditions! I hope you'll join us next week, too, as we discuss chapters 18-34.
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