This is the second book of Gaarder’s I’ve read, the first being the much-loved “Sophie’s World”. If you loved "Sophie's World", I'm quite sure you'd enjoy this one as well! And if you didn't like "Sophie's World", well, I think you'd appreciate this one more. For one thing, it's less of a headache because there's no heady philosophy mumbo-jumbo to sift through, only stories of many kinds to enjoy. Yet the delightful simplistic manner in which Gaarder tells his stories (which I hope is reflected well through the process of translation) is still there. The protagonist, Petter, is as endearing as Sophie, and a bit of an eccentric character, which really adds to his likeability as well as his aura of mystery. We follow Petter through his rehasing of his life, and how he came to do the job he had, and now why it's so important that he tell everyone his life story. At the end, there's a little twist to the story as well, a quite unexpected one, but one that reflects the overall magical overtone of the novel.
I love how Gaarder takes a simple plot and weaves it into something magical, with stories in stories. And it appears that he has lots of ideas for stories as well, since there are quite a few usable story ideas in this book of his. I wonder what it would be like to read his works in the original language...
Anyway, a lovely book to read!
Rating: *****out of 5
