"On a Saturday morning, Hans Gastop felt what seemed to be a sign of the disease. The fear of being discovered invaded him. How long would he have before they caught him? Could he fool the authorities? Could he resist the illness alone? How should he act from that moment on? The doubts produced in him a hitherto unknown state of anguish, sensing his life would never be the same. A correct intuition, but still very distant from the overwhelming dimension of what he was about to live."

Hans Gastop is a young and naive inhabitant of Aram, a country that has reached an unprecedented degree of scientific and social development, but is plagued by an inexplicable disease that takes away people's will to live. Pushed by circumstances, Hans agrees to research a cure, going beyond himself and everything known on a journey toward the mystery of life.

Freely inspired by Hans Castorp, the main character of the novel The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann, Gastop proves to be an unlikely hero, in a novel that is never what it seems.