I’m back after a summer break that included an unforgettable trip to the Alps, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Before my vacation, I had been looking for a book to help set the scene for me but found it surprisingly hard to find the right one. During the early days of the pandemic, I read Thomas Mann’s early 20th-century novel The Magic Mountain, set in an isolated Swiss tuberculosis sanatorium where the Alps represent a dreamlike escape from reality. It’s a