More whimsy from Martel in a peculiar new collection

Fiction; The High Mountains of Portugal; By Yann Martel; Canongate, €22.60

Yann Martel: fun fiction without sharp edgesPicture: Geoff Howe

The cover of Yann Martel’s new book reminds you that he is the “Man Booker Prize-winning author of Life Of Pi,” and people who enjoyed that novel’s mixture of cutesy magic realism and life-affirming pieties will probably also find much to like in The High Mountains of Portugal.

Martel is a peculiar sort of writer. He is a compulsive creator of vague, pastel generalisations: “Love is a house with an unshakable foundation and ...