When the Mountains Fall

Children who don’t want to be born signal it with a special sign appearing on the foreheads of pregnant women—but the world doesn’t hear their silent plea to change course, to break the vicious circle of evil, hatred, and violence… A poor, lonely journalist, exhausted by life and pulled into criminal entanglements, rises up against his tormentors with the help of his only friend—a similarly lonely and tired snow leopard…

This collection includes Aitmatov’s late works—the novels “The Brand of Cassandra” and “When Mountains Fall.” Two very strong and very harsh works in which the great writer and humanist of the 20th century delivers an uncompromising verdict on the world of his time and, with the desperate voice of “one crying out in the wilderness,” calls on human conscience, decency, and mercy.