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A review by athenenoctua11
The Castle in the Pyrenees by Jostein Gaarder
4.0
Mysterious, interesting, thought-provoking, slightly creepy book, with the philosophical themes you find in the other books by Gaarder.
The story is an email correspondence between two old friends/lovers but perhaps because it is a translated text it doesn't flow as well as it could. There are plenty of location references which mean nothing if you're not acquainted to Norway and which originate too many halts in the reading process.
Towards the end, I could guess where it was going and I feared it was going to be even creepier than it was. Fortunately it wasn't, but it was nevertheless a sad ending...or perhaps it was a happy ending. I guess it depends on which side of the discussion you stood on: whether you went for the more scientific, seeing-is-believing attitude, or the spiritual, meaning-seeking perspective over life. It is very much open to all interpretations and it leaves you with a few conclusions to draw for yourself, and that's what makes a good philosophical book.
The story is an email correspondence between two old friends/lovers but perhaps because it is a translated text it doesn't flow as well as it could. There are plenty of location references which mean nothing if you're not acquainted to Norway and which originate too many halts in the reading process.
Towards the end, I could guess where it was going and I feared it was going to be even creepier than it was. Fortunately it wasn't, but it was nevertheless a sad ending...or perhaps it was a happy ending. I guess it depends on which side of the discussion you stood on: whether you went for the more scientific, seeing-is-believing attitude, or the spiritual, meaning-seeking perspective over life. It is very much open to all interpretations and it leaves you with a few conclusions to draw for yourself, and that's what makes a good philosophical book.