This is a very pretty book in terms of prose but it is not happy. The characters feel full of ennui, none more so than Shingo, who is faced with the end of his life and an honest evaluation of his actions and decisions over the course of it. It is a painful honest evaluation when he is confronted with the realization that he wasn't a very good father and now feels as if his deficiencies have carried over to his children and doomed them to poor lives and poor relationships.
The Sound of the Mountain is very poetic and the short, simple sentences fit well in style to the introspective character of Shingo as he evaluates his life and comes to terms with it's end.