Keep a pencil nearby. You will want to underline sentences that feel like spells. The Legacy of "Canto yo y la montaña baila" As of 2025, Irene Solà continues to write and paint, but this novel remains her definitive statement. It has become a cult text in environmental humanities courses and creative writing workshops. Why? Because it solves a problem modern fiction often struggles with: how to represent the non-human without falling into cliché.
But the plot is merely the skeleton. The flesh of the book is its narrative voice. The most striking feature of Canto yo y la montaña baila is its narrative democracy. Solà abandons the traditional human-centered narrator. In this book, every physical and spiritual entity has a chapter. irene sola canto yo y la montana baila
The central event occurs early on: Sió, a young woman and a painter, dies after being struck by lightning while walking through the mountains. She leaves behind her husband, Domenec, and their two small children, Mia and Hilari. However, this is not a novel about widowhood. The lightning bolt that kills Sió sends a shockwave through the ecosystem. Keep a pencil nearby