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Customer Reviews (8)

Just like Sophie's world...JG again proofs his magnificent story
Great book! I would certainly recommend it to anyone who's into philosophy, great narratives, addicted and exciting.

Another masterpiece by Jostein Gaarder
I recently encountered Jostein Gaarder books for the first time and was instantly enchanted.Maya has only increased my respect for the author.Not only is he Philosopher in this volumn, but he is Naturalist and, as always, the superb story teller.I love how he tied in this book with his excellent Solitaire Mystery.This is as good as any book to get acquainted with this phenomenal author.

disappointing
Maybe it's because I actually *am* a biologist and a conservationist, but I am also fond of literature and I found this book long-winded, repetitive, unevenly paced, and terribly contrived. The ending is a big letdown, and ultimately very unsatisfactory.I like my loose ends to be left for the reader to chew over, whereas Gaarder pretty much ties up all the answers to complex questions too neatly in a big sickly-saccharine package.The story-within-a-story frame was completely unnecessary and ultimately took away from the faux mystique so painstakingly (and painfully, for this reader) set up for the first two-thirds of the novel. The whole story could have been told in half the space, and there are too many pat revelations and simplistic solutions. The final paragraph is utterly bizarre and out of joint with the rest of the book. I should have stopped reading right at the beginning, when I realized I don't at all share the narrator's debilitating fear of death.It's an old theme, and one that is not very well covered by this book. The vague attempt at a theory of alternate realities and time travel was mildly gripping, but even that was discarded in the end.I wish I'd read this faster, or not at all.

*yawn* zzz
If I could sit through a whole reading of sophie's world i thought i could for any book, until i bought maya.
as lovely as its sypnosis sounds, i didnt even get to the part where the strangers are trapped on the island.. or so it seems.
Reading the first 10-20 pages are already a pain.
Read if you have nothing else better to do and you're bored... then again, it'll probably bore you even more.

Philosophy Novels Tend to be Good
'Maya' by Jostein Gaarder was an excellent book. I believe it to be well written, and I enjoyed how it tied in the 'deck of cards' motif, which was of course reminiscent of the 'Solitaire Mystery', also by Gaarder.
As a philosophical novel, 'Maya' covered many bases that most philosophical/religious novels do not tend to think about. It nicely tied in evolutionary theory to various philosophical and religious viewpoints.
Despite my praise, I'd say that the average American most likely would not appreciate 'Maya'. But everyone should read it anyway. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (619)

Sophie's World
Wonderful well written and easy to read.The mystery of the story keeps you engaged as you learn about the history of Philosphy without even realizing it!Great book, very clever!!

It was a gift for my grandson
I ordered this as a gift for my grandson.I did not read it myself.

A good book if you're looking for introductory philosophy idea.
Philosophy ideas can be quite dry and painful to read sometimes, but in Sophie's World, the Author was able to deliver that dull philosophy ideas obiter dictum (said by the way) with an interesting storyline. The book is great for anyone who just developed an interest towards philosophy idea, although the plot was somewhat scary (at least to me) but the author really gave an astounding world in Sophie's World
However, the philosophers ideas can be too brief and many great philosopher (like Martin Heidegger) has been only mentioned briefly, in fact, he only mention Hidegger's and Nietzsch' name when the 'philosopher' was talking about Sartre.
Great book nonetheless

If you want a book about the history of philosophy...
The reason I decided to read Sophie's World was to learn about philosophy, and it did the job extremely well. As a reader who gets easily bored by many books, Sophie's World introduced the famous philosophical concepts throughout the history with a fictional story. I would highly recommend this book to those who want to learn about philosophy.

A book that generate interest in Philosophy
I am ordering this book for my 13 years old boy, who starts to show interest in serious books.
I read this book a few years ago. I never had much of western philosophy history, so this book was an eye opener for me.
The few pages of each topics not only give a summary or synopses of the philosophers and his/her idea, they generate interest that can be follow up with more reading in the topics.
As many noted, it is the story that is make me gives this book a 4 stars. Without the philosophy lesson, the story would get even lower rate from me. ... Read more

Product Description
THE CHRISTMAS MYSTERY transcends all barriers. We all love a beadtime story and here we have a philosophical meditation wrapped in the simple clothes of a journey across Europe to Bethlehem. The qualities of wonder and enquiry that readers loved in SOPHIE'S WORLD are as strong as ever in this beautiful and mysterious story. This has a metaphysical matrix that brings in God and doctrine in a way that will appeals to believers and non-believers alike.

A boy called Joachim acquires a strange old Advent calender -- and uncovers from it the story of a girl called Elisabet, who disappeared from her home fifty years earlier. Elisabet has been taken back through time and right across Europe to Palestine, to see the Holy Family in Bethlehem. Two thousand years of history flash by, and angels, shepherds and wise men join her on her joyful pilgrimage. It is Joachim who, through the Advent calendar, makes it possible for her to come home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

The mystery is where are chapters 16-18!!!
While we are loving the story, tonight we discovered that the book we received is missing 3 of the chapters!What a disappointment!Buyer beware!

The Christmas Mystery
I think this is the perfect book for Christmas!My family and I took turns reading a chapter a night.We had long conversations about the different places the travelers went.It takes you through towns and villages along the way.With each chapter, you pick up a new character, which plays a significant part in the birth of Christ. This is a great book for Advent.

Story Great Illustrations POOR
Living in Norway I ordered this book so that my American grandchildren could enjoy the excitement and joy of this book together with their parents as a family journey through the advent season. I eagerly anticipated being a part of this daily event.

What a major disappointment! This is but a shadow of the Norwegian edition's illustrations and not engaging for the children. Where was the beautiful picture of the advent poster? Where were the pages with the little windows children could peek through every day? Where were the differing kinds of pages to key them into when the story was in the past or the future?

Next year I shall spend the 400 Norwegian Kroner and bring that book here so we can read the words in English and EXPERIENCE the story from the richness of the Norwegian artist's perspective.

It is no wonder this book is not as enjoyable for American families as it is for the Norwegian ones.

The Christmas Mystery
Our family started reading The Christmas Mystery about 5 years ago and it is now a very special Advent activity and a way to come together as a family in a busy season. While it is a bit confusing at first- the story moves backward through time and geography-it is so rich and has so many layers that it's absolutely worth reading. The first year we were just trying to grasp the rudiments of the story. Now each reading reveals new layers of meaning - nuances that I didn't get at first. I would recommend it for children 8 and older, so that it holds their interest.

Not For This Family
I knew it was bad when, upon reading this book aloud to my family one Christmas, I looked around to find every last one of them asleep -- and snoring!We'd tried valiantly to give this book a serious go, as it came to us warmly recommended with the instructions to read it aloud each night before Christmas.Not only could we not follow the story, certain elements were downright irritating (dialogue, names) and it presented a mish mash of complicated little plots while at the same time seeming to go nowhere.On about night 5 of this, that's when I found everyone asleep, from my grade school daughter all the way up to my husband.That was certainly the best thing about this book -- the funny memories it gave us from that night.But, alas, we had to abandon ship and read something else much more interesting, entertaining and Christmassy.Sorry! ... Read more

Product Description
It's almost Christmas. Cecilia lies sick in bed as her family bustle around her to make her last Christmas as special as possible. Cecilia has cancer. An angel steps through her window. So begins a spirited and engaging series of conversations between Cecelia and her angel. As the sick girl thinks about her life and prepares for her death, she changes subtly, in herself and in her relationships with her family. Jostein Gaarder is a profoundly optimistic writer, who writes about death with wisdom, compassion and an enquiring mind. 'Through a Glass, Darkly' will not only bring comfort to the bereaved. It will move and amaze everyone who reads it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Preparing to leave
This book is usually being considered a children's book. However, having taken care of a parent who died, I recommend this book to everyone who is going through the same thing - either preparing to leave, or guiding and assisting someone who is dying. This book is deeply touching, true, and above all comforting. No matter what age.

Lovely
The only reason I did not give 5 stars is that this book was so short. I actually made myself stop reading the first night I got it because I did not want it to end so fast.

I think that the author could have written much more with the plot... a girl talking to an angel about heaven, an angel asking a girl about life on earth...there is a lot of room for discussion. The ending was very abrupt. Even so, Mr. Gaarder shares some lovely ideas through the words of Cecilia (the main character). This book had a few moments that reminded me of Sophie's World, something totally bizarre that made me literally stop, and think. I love Mr. Gaarder's style, it is almost magical.

My only regret is that I read this book in just 2 nights, but I am certain I will read it again. I highly recommend it!!

Awesome!
I loved this book! Jostein Gaarder's books are all very good, at least the one's I have read, and I am looking for more to read. In Through a Glass, Darkly Jostein Gaarder shows the readers insightful philosophies to life.
This book is about a girl who is dying of cancer. Her guardian angel is taking care of her, keeping her company, and asking her insightful questions that lead to her own philosophising. It was really a very good book, I couldn't put it down!

Wondering at Wondering/gnirednoW ta gnirednoW
Reading "Through a Glass, Darkly" is like having a conversation with one's image in the mirror and learning that a whole other world exists on the other side of the glass. It's enough to make anyone's mind a little turvy-topsy, if you take my meaning.

Here is an example of what to expect: At the beginning of the novel, Cecilia draws an angel on her windowpane with one of her tears--a tear angel. It makes her wonder if tear angels are the same as angel tears. Like I said, everything is turned downsideup . . . but it all still manages to make sense.

The two main characters are a human girl named Cecilia and an angel from Heaven named Ariel. Cecilia is so ill that she cannot leave her bed, so Ariel comes to visit her on an angel watch. As he tells her things about Heaven, she tells him things about Earth; so this is really a conversation between an aspect of Heaven and an aspect of Earth. It so happens, Ariel tells Cecilia, that only angels and humans are able to wonder at themselves--to wonder at being able to wonder.

The conflict in this story comes more from their dialogue than from the plot. If you like philosophy, then you'll love the way they toss ideas back and forth like a game of pong-ping. "Through a Glass, Darkly" is more mystical than "Sophie's World", however, and more poetic. In "Sophie's World" Jostein Gaarder toyed with everyone's world of knowledge, asking us how we can be sure we know what we think we know. In this novelette, he plays with the heady concept that we are all eyes of God, scattered throughout Creation: the mirrors the Creator uses to see Himself and all His works. A philosopher/astrologer named Alan Watts described this same concept as "God, playing hide-and-seek with Himself." (Or isn't it seek-and-hide?)

This book is a lot like "Mr. God, This Is Anna" by Fynn. Part irreverent theology, part reverent heresy, "Through a Glass, Darkly" is so far-out that it speaks directly to what is close-in. Read it with an open mind and a young heart.

Two sides of the mirror
...This book is less than 200 pages long, but in it packs life's greatest revelations.

Cecelia, the book's central character, had been so sick in bed until she met an angel, Ariel. Ariel is a some kind of a missionary from Heaven. He's not fleash and blood like humans are and doesn't feel anything. He appears in front of Cecelia sometimes and when he does, you'll learn that there's a lot more than life (and death). From Ariel, anything can be so good that it hurts and anything so bad can actually be good. Ariel reminds Cecelia that human beings can only see one side of the mirror, and hence only read/see/feel/think one-sidely.

When Cecelia eventually revels in the philosophical teachings of Ariel, she begins to understand that death is, in fact, a continuity of life somewhere else somehow. While reading the book, I came across so many thoughts that seem simple but never been reflected before. A very wise book that makes you think that extra mile, of life and love.
... Read more

Product Description
Weaving an astonishingly original tapestry of tales from the viewpoint of a 12-year-old boy named Hans Thomas, The Solitaire Mystery takes readers on a universal search for fulfillment and the meaning of life.Amazon.com Review
Jostein Gaarder had an unlikely international success with Sophie's World, a novelizedexploration of western philosophy through the eyes of a young girl. This isan earlier work, translated from the Norwegian by Sarah Jane Hails.This fable-like story dabbles in philosophy too, though more lightly. Ittells of a Norwegian boy traveling across Europe with his calm and reflectivefather in search of his long lost mother. The boy finds a tiny manuscriptthat reveals the secret of a magic deck of cards that can tell the future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

WAY better than Sophie's World
It is a mystery to me as to why Sophie's World gets all the praise and ravings even in reviews that are supposed to be about The Solitaire Mystery.I have read The Solitaire Mystery at least four times.I had to buy another copy because I am ready to read it again, but I lent my copy out.Until you have read it, you have never been on or imagined such a journey.Gaarder out does himself, his best work by far*, as he takes the reader through time, through other dimensions, through colors and flavors never thought possible.At the same time the story is solidly rooted in real issues of society, life, and the world as we know it.This one story pulls the reader into multiple tales that are vastly different and all the same and all so wonderful and incredible and dreamy.Once you start reading, you can't resist the pull.You want to go there and explore all of the mysteries of life and fantasy.The only things I've ever read that come close to The Solitaire Mystery are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) and the Abarat books by Clive Barker...but I've never been inclined to read those books over and over as much as I do The Solitaire Mystery.

*best out of what I have read:
Sophie's World
The Christmas Mystery
Maya
The Ringmaster's Daughter

This book is nothing if not unique!
I see that I am the only person to review this book, so I will try to give a bit more description than I might normally do.

I picked up this book as it was our book club's selection for the month.It was slow going at first, but I ended up really liking the ingenuity of this book! Very creative and I can say I've never read anything like it.I was probably about 1/3 of the way in where it really hooked me.

As father & son travel across Europe searching for their lost mother/wife, a mystery begins before their very eyes.Much like Alice in Wonderland we are in the middle of a strange quest.We see dwarfs, unbelievable items like rainbow punch, a tiny magnifying glass along with a small manuscript plays a major roll in the story, we read of lost lands where the unimaginable seems to be true- ie. a walking, talking deck of cards.You can't help but wonder where this will all lead us in the end!

I'll admit this was a hard sell at first because I don't care for fantasy books, but The Solitaire Mystery was interesting enough that I kept on reading to see what was going to happen. Plus, the characters pulled me in as well.Overall, I'd say well done to the author and consider reading more books by him.

Wide Eyed Wonder
Jostein Gaarder proved himself to be a remarkable teacher of philosophy with his first translated novel "Sophie's World", an imaginative trip through philosophers past and present.He brings his unique blend of fantasy and philosophy to "The Solitaire Mystery", a novel quicker in pace and slightly less dense than the more heavily academic "Sophie's World".It is a mystery filled with fantasy and fact as one family tries to reconcile itself with destiny.

The story begins with Hans Thomas and his father driving across Europe to Athens to reclaim Hans Thomas' mother who left them many years before.Along the way, Hans Thomas and his father philosophize about life and just how they are going to convice the woman they both love to come back home with them.The trip begins quite normally, until Hans Thomas encounters a midget at a gas station who gives him a tiny magnifying glass and tells them to stop in the town of Dorf.When they do so, Hans Thomas encounters a local baker with a secret he slowly shares with Hans Thomas, for he bakes an almost microscopic book inside of a sticky bun that tells the story of a fantastical magic island where life quite literally follows along the lines of a game of solitaire.But what does this mysterious story have to do with Hans Thomas and his father?The more he reads, and the closer the two get to Athens, the more Hans Thomas realizes that the story he is reading is his very own.

Jostein Gaarder is a remarkable storyteller, crafting unbelieveable tales which readers readily grant a suspension of disbelief.The only faults I would find with this novel is that the plot seems a little too contrived at times, and the writing is sometimes a little too choppy, but I chalk that up to things lost in the translation.What isn't lost in the translation is Jostein Gaarder's sheer wonder and joy with the world around us.Too often as humans we forget to marvel at how truly marvelous our world is, at how marvelous we are, no matter what we believe in terms of how we came to be.Being awakend to that wonder is the sheer beauty of Jostein Gaarder's magical philosophical trips.

A Modern Fairy Tale
A cross of Alice In Wonderland and ancient fairytales, I found this book hard to put down after turning page after page.It ranks up there with the others - The Little Prince, The Alchemist...

The Sticky Bun Mystery
Full of descriptive visuals, engaging concepts, soda and sticky buns, 'The Solitaire Mystery' is a page turner!
As the title indicates, the fifty-two card deck (including one Joker, of course!) is the vehicle for this story.
I found all Hans Thomas (the main character), his father, his fashion model mother, and all of the other characters easy to relate to, and any loose ends of the intricate plot are tied up neatly by the end of the book. ... Read more

Product Description
A fictional love letter to St. Augustine from Floria Aemilia, his longtime concubine, by the author of "Sophie's World". A true historical figure, Floria lived with St. Augustine for over a decade, during which time they had a son together. He "renounced" her when he elected to spend the rest of his life abstaining from sensual love. In some sense a feminist missive, this passionate and occasionally erotic letter challenged the Church's view of women and of love .Amazon.com Review
In his first and most famous novel, Sophie's World, theNorwegian Jostein Gaarder took on the entire history of Westernphilosophy, neatly sandwiching Socrates, Sartre, and everybody inbetween into a series of letters to a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Thistime around, Gaarder has again produced a philosophical novel inepistolary form. In That Same Flower,however, he narrows his focus to a single figure--St. Augustine, theBishop of Hippo, whose classic Confessionsanticipated the current memoir boom by almost 16 centuries. The sainthimself fails to get a word in edgewise. Instead, the book consists ofa long, grief-stricken letter from his former mistress, Floria Aemilia(a figure whom the author has reconstructed from passing references inAugustine's own writings). This most articulate correspondent has agood many bones to pick with her former lover; he abandoned her onseveral different occasions, often at the behest of his 4th-centuryyenta of a mother, and kept her from the child they had together. Yetalong with these personal matters (and perhaps inseparable from them)is Floria's critique of Christian dogma--particularly the ascetictradition that Augustine embodied. Deriding his renunciation of allearthly pleasures, she reminds him of the good old precelibate days:"Can you still remember how you stroked me all over and seemed totighten every bud before it opened?... And then you went away andsold me for the sake of your soul's salvation!What infidelity,Aurel, what guilt! No, I don't believe in a God who demands humansacrifices. I don't believe in a God who lays waste to a woman's lifein order to save a man's soul." An erudite and intelligentargument on behalf of the senses, That Same Flower is also anoddly moving love story--or at least half of one--with an unmistakablefeminist twist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A Woman's Love and a Man's Hypocrisy
I HIGHLY recommend you read St. Augustine's "Confessions" first BEFORE reading this book! I read the book once, then read Confessions out of curiosity, then came back and re-read this book and... WOW!! It really makes all the difference in the world! Single sentences speak volumes after you have read "Confessions", because there is a story behind everything Floria writes. In a single sentence she has you laughing at some irony involving St. Augustine, and just as quickly have you feeling great despair, disgust, or even frustration... and of course, love! Nothing is stronger than the love from a woman, but then, nothing is as cruel as what Augustine did to that love. After reading this book you will want to sit in a quite place and ponder...

A Woman's Love and a Man's Hypocrisy
I HIGHLY recommend you read St. Augustine's "Confessions" first BEFORE reading this book! I read the book once, then read Confessions out of curiosity, then came back and re-read this book and... WOW!! It really makes all the difference in the world! Single sentences speak volumes after you have read "Confessions", because there is a story behind everything Floria writes. In a single sentence she has you laughing at some irony involving St. Augustine, and just as quickly have you feeling great despair, disgust, or even frustration... and of course, love! Nothing is stronger than the love from a woman, but then, nothing is as cruel as what Augustine did to that love. After reading this book you will want to sit in a quite place and ponder...

"Vita Brevis" (meaning "Life is Short")
That's how Jostein Gaarder titled the book, and I think it fits remarkably! It shows how we should sense our world and not just worry about the afterlife. A beautiful lovestory, and if it is true, an important historical found as well. And with the footnotes in the marrow, we get a much deeper insight to the letter than we would have with only the text.
I think it is genuine. Gaarder is not the kind of man to lie about this. With all his footnotes and even a referance to his Latin teacher at "Katta", I think he is telling the truth about how he found Codex Floriae.
Read this book! It is a beautiful lovestory, and a great introduction to the philosophical questions around St. Augustine.

The Fruits and Beauty of Our Own Humanity
Norwegian-born, international bestselling novelist Jostein Gaarder splendidly exhibits the timelessness, the universality, and the agony of filial, but repudiated love in his book, That Same Flower.The book, Gaarder maintains, is a genuine reproduction of a personal letter composed for St. Augustine, one of the Latin Fathers of the Christian Church and one of the greatest figures in Western philosophy, by his former lover Floria Aemilia.

Gaarder says he discovered the letter in 1995 while shopping in an antique bookstore in Buenos Aires, Argentina and agreed to purchase it from the owner for a little more than $12,000 even though it was uncertain at the time as to its authenticity.Following an examination of the letter's style, terminology and grammar, however, Gaarder says he became convinced it could have only originated in medieval days.

The letter, titled the Codex Floriae, if indeed genuine, represents a major historical find.Over the centuries, very little has come to light regarding the lover of St. Augustine and their son Adeodatus.We do know that they lived together for several years in North Africa and Italy before Augustine's conversion into the Christian faith.Previously, all that has been known about Floria Aemilia has been derived from Augustine's own writings, chiefly his famous autobiographical Confessions.

In That Same Flower, however, Floria Aemilia writes candidly of her relationship with Augustine and of her feelings about his conversion.At times she corroborates what Augustine, himself has written and portrays him as a man prone to attacks of anguish and confusion.The major part of the letter, however, is dedicated to a bitter denouncement of Augustine's decision to separate forever from both Aemilia and their son.Aemilia, it is clear does not share Augustine's faith in a God that "desires above all that man should live in abstinence...I have no faith in such a God."

Augustine, himself, suffered deep sorrow over his decision to part from Aemilia.In his Confessions, he laments, "The woman I lived with was not permitted to stay at my side...My heart, which was deeply attached to her, was pierced, and wounded so that it bled...My wound, inflicted when my relationship with the woman I lived with was brought to an end, would not heal either."

Augustine's pain, however, pales in comparison to the anguish that surges forth from Aemilia's writings.Her distress is convincing and compelling and we feel the enormity of her pain.The victim of Augustine's conversion, Aemilia expresses her heartbreak most eloquently in her letter."My heart," she says, suffered the same hurt...for we were two souls torn from each other...because you loved the salvation of your own soul more than you loved me."

Augustine's mother, Monica was one of the factors that led to the end of Aemilia's relationship with Augustine.Monica, described as a willful and ambitious woman, by Aemilia, and one who opposed her, banished Aemilia from the household and arranged for what she assumed would be a more suitable engagement for Augustine.Rightfully expecting Augustine to come to her defense, Aemilia was crushed and defeated when he refused to do so, even though he later withdrew from the engagement.

Augustine, however, also refused to return to the one woman he truly loved.Convinced that eternal damnation could only be avoided by a total renouncement of the pleasures of the body, he withdrew from all physical pleasure, including the company of Aemilia.

Aemilia, herself, has no sympathy for Augustine's views.Instead, she views them with the utmost contempt, having no faith in a God who places the existential and spiritual worth of a man over that of a woman."I don't believe in a God," she writes, "who lays waste to a woman's life in order to save a man's soul."

Aemilia also writes much of the medieval "theologians and Platonists" who were the influential players in Augustine's intellectual and spiritual development.Their ideas, she says, transformed Augustine from a man living a carefree existence into a God-fearing mortifier of his own flesh.Aemilia denounces these men as ruling within a "dark labyrinth" and swears that Augustine was misguided by them.

Scored with the basic theme of Augustine's anti-materialism and aversion to bodily appetites, Aemilia accuses him of carrying his denial of physical gratification to extremes, regarding everything from eating nutritious food to listening to an enjoyable piece of music as a sin against God.

And, in his Confessions, Augustine writes that the sense of hearing "offers its perilous enticements" and that "I still find satisfaction in the melodies to which your words give life and should when they are sung artistically by a fine voice...So I sin in this without noticing; but after I feel it is sin."

After reading Aemilia's letter, it is difficult to put complete faith in Augustine's self-righteous insensitivity to natural human desires, especially when one considers his weaknesses and imperfections and the severe background of his religious convictions.

Aemilia shared this disbelief and Augustine's conversion failed to convince her about the necessity of "despising this life, and about how good it is to die."It did, however, remind her of the priceless value she, herself, placed of the here-and-now.She comes to the conclusion that "it must be human arrogance to reject this life--with all its earthly joys--in favor of an existence which is, perhaps, merely an abstraction...We must first live...then we can philosophize."

We must learn to embrace both the fruits and the beauty of our own humanity and to cherish and nurture our existence during our short and precious time here on earth.This is Floria Aemilia's message to the world; the message that she went to great lengths to nurture and preserve in the letter that became That Same Flower.

A challenging insight on Religion, a statement of freedom.
This book provides a glimpse the shadowy life of Saint Augustine through the words of the woman he loved, if it is true it challenges his role as a moral hero, if it is false it at least provides a poignant alternative viewof Christianity. I rate it a 5, and feel for the strikingly human woman whohas suffered under the guise of "religious virtue." Her loss, ofman and child, connects to those of the modern world where families are sobitterly divided by divorce and other social institutions of escape. Irecommend it to any free thinker, who believes that "the truth willset you free." By her courage to record her experiences this womanreaches out to history to remember, and question. ... Read more

Product Description
Through five intense years in the 1970s, Steinn and Solrunn had a happy life together. Then they suddenly parted ways, for reasons that are unclear to both. In the summer of 2007 they meet again on a balcony of an old wooden hotel by a fjord in western Norway. It is a place they both have fond memories from, and their meeting turns out to be fateful. But is it purely coincidental that they meet at that particular spot at that particular time? Over a couple of weeks that summer they write emails to each other, and it becomes clear that they have been living with very different interpretations of their shared past. THE CASTLE IN THE PYRENEES is both a love story and a novel of ideas, exploring the place of human consciousness in the universe. Its main theme is of great current interest: can scinece explain everything, or does some invisible force influence our lives? ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave..."
Jostein Gaarder is a gifted storyteller who is able to breathe life into the most unusual and unbelievable stories.His singular novel, "Sophie's World", shed new light upon the history of philosophy in an unexpectedly enjoyable way.While the magic is not quite recaptured in "The Ringmaster's Daughter", Gaarder has once again created a truly unique character whose life is bound to the power of words, for better or for worse.

"The Ringmaster's Daughter" is narrated by Petter, a solitary man who suffers from an extremely overactive imagination.Since he was a boy, he has been followed around by Metre Man, a man no bigger than a meter who no one else can see.Petter cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality, believing his dreams to be real and his life to be a fantasy.Gifted as he is with his imagination, Petter has no desire to share his stories with others in the normal sense.So he begins a business of helping out struggling writers by giving them his ideas, asking only for payment in return and promising that he will never divulge the transaction to anyone.A harmless enough pursuit to begin with, Petter later finds that he has woven a dangerous web around himself with the words he has allowed others to proclaim as their own.

Gaarder's title may be a little misleading, since it references one story that Petter repeatedly tells and improves upon, but it is fitting for the trickery that his main character employs; for Petter is ringmaster to all the authors he helps and to all the people he unwittingly hurts in his life.His story is full of compelling contrasts - lighthearted and dark, mirthful and disturbing.Just as Petter allows his clients to make of his words what they will, Gaarder allows his readers to pass their own judgment on Petter's actions and his life.

Ringmaster's Daughter
This book was a strange story by an author that I've enjoyed reading in the past.The book was a great price, in new condition.

If you liked "Sophie's World," then do NOT read "The Ringmaster's Daughter"
I read the more popular Gaarder novel called "Sophie's World," and I enjoyed that very, very much."Sophie's World" got me started in pursuing the study of philosophy.Gaarder was a new author for me, and I got really excited about checking out more books written by him.I then came across the "Ringmaster's Daughter," and I must say that I was very much DISAPPOINTED with it.I think it's dull, convoluted--the characters are just not believable and are just plain awkward.Perhaps, Gaarder should stick to writing about philosophy--he'd be much better at that.

Anyway, just a warning.If you enjoyed "Sophie's World," then do NOT read the "Ringmaster's Daughter."You'd be very disappointed.No wonder someone at Amazon sold the book to me for one cent.

The Ringmaster's Daughter
I gave this to my granson who is 10 years old and he loves this book.

The Ringmaster's Daughter
This is a well written, interesting novel revolving around Gaarder's most intriguing narrator.I enjoyed the vignettes throughout the book as well as the link to the greater story, but I felt as if I was watching a train wreck toward the end.I wonder why such an intelligent narrator was unable to deduce the obvious, which was, really, my only frustration with this novel.I did appreciate the novel's ancient Greek tragic turn, as Gaarder's other novels deal with saddness and loss as well, but not as darkly as this one.I truly felt angst as a reader, and thus, even if I didn't LIKE the outcome, I could certainly appreciate it in the contex of the story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great read!
I read this book a number of years ago and it remains with me.The book is well developed, interesting and educational.I doubt I would ever read a textbook on philosophy with the same interest, but I would re-read this one and learn as much, if not more!The author knows his topic and presents it in a way that the recreational reader enjoys it thoroughly.I have given this book and recommended it.Thank you!Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (FSG Classics)Sophie's World ... Read more

Product Description
In this selection from her novel, the author introduces the Greek masters, Plato and Aristotle, whose thought provided the building blocks of Western thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Sophie's World : The Greek Philosophers by Jostein Gaarder
I'm not sure what went wrong, or whether I misunderstood, but the book I received was exactly the same as the novel "Sophie's World - a novel about the history of philosophy", not specifically on the Greek philosophers. Either the advertisement is misleading, or I received the wrong book.

Good succinct overview on the major Greek philosophers
The previous reviewer named 'A Reader' has written a review on the wrong book.I believe he/she meant to review 'Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy.'This is a different book by the same author.

'Sophie's World: the Greek Philosophers' is a well-written, readable, succinct booklet on some of the major Greek philosophers including the 'natural philosophers' and the philosophers of Athens.Great book for those who know little or nothing about Greek philosophy, and want a quick overview.

Sophie's Worldd.
This book is not exactly what it says on the tin!!!!
It begins with a great deal of story and edges in the philosophy gentley to try and help you stay interested but to be honest it doesn't quite work!!
The philosophy parts are great and really do touch on many of the key points but the story Gaarder has tried to intertwine is really not good. This is a book with no clear motive and though at times interesting the apperance on Sophie and her mother in the stroyline parts leads your heart to sink!! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (12)

Magical
This was magical to read, such a beautiful, heartfelt story. I love the way the Hubble telescope is described - it's hard to put into words for me how much I love this book; I strongly recommend you read this author's words.

Beautiful in its simplicity
I wish more people knew about this book.It's a simple, sweet little story told in a clear conversational tone that sucks you in.My adolescent daughter isn't a big reader, but she got swept up in the story and read half of it in one sitting.There a moments of real truth, poignant scenes that are somehow both existential and life-affirming. There are no complex intricacies of plot here, no fancy devices, just a straightforward story about life and love.Read it.Give it as a gift.

A lovely story
This is a great story by my favorite author. It's a quick read and is hard to put down. If you enjoyed The Solitaire Mystery you should definitely read this. It's not a fantasy like The Solitaire Mystery, and not quite as heavy as Sophie's World. I recommend both of those books, too.

Easy Worthwhile Summer Read
This very interesting book can be read in a day and discussed for a lifetime.I started reading the book, left it on the coffee table, and my daughter picked it up and read it the same day.We have enjoyed discussing its themes;life, love, death, etc.However, we have decided it is really all about hope.

Nice, short love story
This is a nice, short love story filled with an interesting little mystery and some deep sorrow.Though I feel this book is good for everyone, I think it is still somewhat of a 'chick book' and probably more movingly visceral for people with children.The question the book poses is good, but I think the answer is somewhat obvious. ... Read more

Product Description
A book about the wonder of life by the author of Sophie's World.

Eight-year-old Joe is about to become a big brother. His mother is in labor at the hospital when he looks outside and sees a little boy hanging upside down in an apple tree. It's Mika, who has just fallen out of a spaceship. Mika is from Eljo, where children hatch out of eggs and life in general is quite different from what Joe knows. Mika and Joe become instant friends and spend the day discussing everything from dinosaurs and gravity to the origins of life on earth. The next morning, Mika is gone. But Joe has a new appreciation for the wonders of the universe - and a baby brother!

Illustrated with whimsical line drawings - and framed by thought-provoking questions: "Can animals think?" "What would you say if you had a visit from another planet?" - Hello? Is Anybody There? challenges readers to look at the world afresh in the manner of The Little Prince. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Hello? Is Anybody There?
Have always enjoy reading Jostein Gaarder's book.For Jostein's book are always meaningful, has substance
and always a pleasure reading it.

As for the quality of the book is in good conditions and satisfactory and shipment is on time as
stated and well handled.

Thank you.

Philosophy in simplicity
Yes, this may be a children's book but for adults, the insights are invaluable and worth the read. Besides explaining simple stuff like our 5 senses, it attempts to introduce simple philosophies in life which both adult and children can appreciate.

The fantasy tale makes this an easy read but the lessons learned are definitely not child's play. "An answer is always the stretch of road tha's behind you. Only a quetion can point the way forward". Simple but nontheless true words of wisdom.

In the story, Gaarder explains the fundamental...... things can be so alike that they are different. You and me could be alike but the experiences we share each day are different and no 2 days are ordinary 'cause they are diffrent.

Read Gaarder - he makes you think and reflect on the fundamental things we may too occupied with our daily lives to think about.

Jostein Gaarder's ~The Little Prince~
When I first picked up this book I was expecting a short and yet very philosophical book on the views that we have on the world in a general sense. Seeing as this book is by Jostein Gaarder I was very surprised when I opened up the book and found that the letters were at least a cm long! But the text doesn't prove the books reading level does it? So I carried on reading in hope of finding something interesting. But the book started in a way that I thought was familiar-the book started in a way any elementary book would start. The cover is covered with bright colors and illustrations and the inside of the book is decorated now and again with pretty line drawings of animals and various characters in the book.

The story is told in an interesting way so if you read the book directly whilst ignoring the blurb on the book then you'll be confused whilst reading the very first page. "Dear Camilla," it starts. From this you can tell it's in the format of a letter. The story itself which is explained in the letter is about eight year old Joe who is about to become a big brother. The letter is written when Joe is now an 'uncle' and he writes to his niece, Camilla (his baby brother's daughter) about his experience the day his little brother (Camilla's father) was born. Whilst Joe parents are at the hospital waiting for the new baby to arrive and Joe has to stay home alone until his aunt comes. When looking outside the window Joe spots a tiny little boy hanging upside down in an apply tree in the garden. This little boy does not have any features that can be called human but both he and Joe are very alike. Mika has accidently fallen out of his spaceship and needs to go back home but he has so much he wants to know about planet earth. Joe explains everything to him about how dinosaurs roamed the earth and what a telephone is aswell as teaching Mika how to fish too. And the Mika tells Joe about his home. Mika is from Eljo, where babies hatch out of eggs and how the water in Eljo got so polluted that there is no longer any water or mammals. They talk about a lot of things and learn a great deal from each other. About how questions are more precious than answers and why gravity doesn't exist on every planet.

"Hello? IsAnybody There?" is the perfect book to read to your children etc and a wonderful book to give as a presant to anyone. Anyone over the age of 7 should find this book interesting to read. It's in the style of "The Little Prince" and has conversations that remind you of "Alice in Wonderland". I certainly enjoyed it by the end of the book-do give it a go.

::::EXTRACT::::
The next moment, here was a small boy hanging in the apple tree."Who are you?" he asked.
"My name's Joe," I said.
"And I'm Mika. Why are you standing upside down?" I couldn't help laughing. He suddenly stuck a thumb into his mouth and began to suck it like a baby. Maybe he was embarrassed.

"You're the one who's upside down," I said. Mika pulled the thumb out of his mouth, and all his fingers began to wave. "When two people meet," he said, "and one is upside down, it isn't always easy to tell which of them is the right way up."

It helped me and my daughter
I love Jostein Gaarder's works. But this one is really special. Because it helps me a lot to explain about the universe, the world, to my little daughter, in a veryfascinating way. And yet so easy to understand. Mostly for children under 9 years old. I bought an extra copy from Amazon just to give it to my best friend, so she can enjoy the same experience like me and my daughter. Thank you Jostein!

Simple text is an enjoyable read
The questioning of universal ideas that readers loved in Sophie's World continue in this easy-to-read and simple novel.Hello,Is anybody there? Is the story of how Mika, a visitor from another planet 'dreams' himselfonto earth. It is very easy to understand what Gaarder is saying.The authoris brimming with questions about the world, which is why a large part ofthe book is a series of conversations. Though it is often confusing, thelittle illustrations lighten up the book. It also seems that the author isusing the plot of the story as a 'base' for him to station his questions ofour world and galaxy. The appeal of Sophie's World and Through a GlassDarkly re-surfaces with this novel. It is a simple book,and portrayedthrough the innocent perceptions of a child are the questions of our vastgalaxy sometimes even adults wonder about. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent book about philosophy!
I received this book as a gift in 1996. Before I have never heard about Mr.Gaarder but I got caught by the first page and the book did not let me loose till I finished it. Since then I bought several other books by Jostein Gaarder and each one is a treasure! I have just superlatives for this book, it is realy amazing!

Sofie Welt ist toll!
This is a great book in german. It is difficult to read tough ... Read more

Product Description
Se sabe, aunque la Iglesia siempre ha pasado de puntillas sobre este hecho, que San Agustin, mas tarde Padre de la Iglesia latina, tuvo en su juventud una amante que le dio un hijo al que amo con predileccion. Vita brevis es la carta manuscrita que supuestamente Floria, su amante, le escribio al hilo de la lectura de sus Confesiones. En ella, con ironia y sarcasmo, critica a Agustin por haber abandonado el verdadero y autentico amor humano para entregarse a uno divino, del que poco se sabe. ... Read more