Magic on the Mountain: A Novel About TMS, Mindbody Healing and Davos Platz Inspired By Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain – Intro

By Robert Ensor

Copyright © 2026 Robert Ensor

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.The author’s moral rights have been asserted.First Published January 2026.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events of localities is entirely coincidental.

This post contains a sample of Magic On the Mountain: The Introduction and the first chapter. The full book is available to buy on amazon.

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Introduction and Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mother for her constant support and services as a sounding board. The healing approach outlined in this book is inspired by the work of Doctor John Sarno, Steve Ozanich and Christ, who were essential to my own recovery from a chronic illness. This book is also inspired by Thomas Mann’s famous 1924 novel, The Magic Mountain, about a young man who goes to visit his ailing cousin at a sanatorium in Davos for a three week stay and doesn’t leave for seven years. It is one of my favourite novels, not least because of the wistful atmosphere of a bygone time and place that ‘the magician’ conjured so adeptly (although for him it was almost contemporaneous). Mann’s book also features a detailed and excellent description of the problem of suffering and death. But, like much great literature, it fails to provide a solution. Magic On The Mountain contains the solution.

In light of widespread self-isolation during the covid-19 pandemic, the ‘loneliness epidemic’ and rising rates of chronic and mental illness, Mann’s novel about a group of wealthy, sick people hermetically sealed from the world on the slopes of a mountain, is if anything even more relevant now than when it was first published. His understanding of the psychosomatic nature of disease, and his satirical commentary on that era’s medical treatments, were profoundly insightful. As Mann indicated, The Magic Mountain is an esoteric story about the quest for knowledge, in the tradition of the grail legends. The best legends bear retelling with the changing of the times.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a therapist and nothing in this book should be considered medical advice. Nor should it be considered a substitute for diagnoses, prescriptions and treatments from qualified doctors. This book is a work of fiction. If you have symptoms, I recommend that you see a doctor to rule out anything serious and get proper care.

PART ONE: DESCENT

Chapter 1: To The Magic Mountain!

An unusual young man was on his way from his home in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, to Davos Platz in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It was July 2015 and he planned to stay in Davos for two weeks. He would not leave for nearly five years. They were destined to be the most interesting, enlightening, amusing, painful, terrifying and horrifying years of his life. His name was Jack Calthorpe and he was 24 years old.

The full book is available to buy on amazon.