A much-loved classic of nature writing and mountain-lovers, Erri De Luca, with his typical linguistic precision, reinterprets a timeless scene: the duel between a solitary hunter and the king of the chamois.
On a remote mountain surrounded by wilderness, two kings—the mighty ruler of the chamois and a solitary, aging poacher—face the twilight of their reigns. The chamois king, a creature of unparalleled strength and grace, senses his legacy slipping away as a younger generation rises to challenge him.
From the valley rises the scent of the poacher, the killer of his mother. The man spent much of his life poaching mountain beasts. He, too, bears the title “king of the chamois” owing to the sheer number has slain. He never left a beast merely wounded. De Luca observes the impending clash by stepping into two distinct forms of solitude: that of the great chamois and that of the poacher.
Their lives converge in an extraordinary encounter that transforms predator and prey into mirror reflections of mortality, survival, and the unyielding passage of time. With poetic prose and a profound meditation on life and loss, The Weight of the Butterfly explores the fragile bond between man and nature, where even the smallest creature—a white butterfly—can tip the scales of fate.
A philosophical novel of the raw beauty of untamed landscapes.
Rights sold
France (Gallimard)
Israel (Hakibbutz Hameuchad)
Spain (Seix Barral/Bromera)
Sweden (Elisabeth Grate Bokforlag)
Film
