“jostein gaarder”

Twelve year old Hans Thomas and his father are on a journey to Greece in search of the boy's mother when a series of unusual incidents occurs: a dwarf gives Hans Thomas a magnifying glass; a baker gives him a bun containing a miniature book that tells the story of a sailor shipwrecked on a desert is... More

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.The Solitaire Mystery weaves an astonishingly original tapestry of tales from the viewpoi... More

At fifteen, Georg comes upon a letter written to him by his dying father, to be read when he comes of age. Their two voices make a fascinating dialogue as Georg comes to know the father he can barely remember, then is challenged by him to answer some profound questions. The central mystery of "The O... More

Thrown together for three days on the paradise island of Taveuni, a lonely Norwegian biologist, a bereaved English novelist, and a strange and beautiful Spanish couple so much in love they seem to have evolved a private language, fill the long Pacific nights by playing bridge, telling stories, and d... More

Panina Manina, a trapeze artist, falls and breaks her neck. As the ringmaster bends over her, he sees around her neck an amber charm--just like the one he gave his own child before she was swept away in a torrent 16 years earlier. This tale is narrated by Petter, a precocious child and a fantasist, ... More