About this title: 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.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780425159996ISBN:042515999X
Description: Very Good. 042515999X Previously read trade paperback book in very good condition, some very minor shelf wear, no rips or tears. 03331872 _ read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780425159996ISBN:042515999X
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very good condition. No crease on spine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 336 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. "A welcome blend of whimsy and wisdom. " Each book we list is carefully inspected, thoughtfully packaged, and promptly shipped. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Books, New York
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780425159996ISBN:042515999X
Description: Kramer, Hilde. not a pretty book, covers shelf worn & scuffed, front cover creased at bottom, back cover creased at top, tattering at top of spine, along lower back cover & top edge, some dog-earing in copy, pages yellowing due to age, clean & tight reading copy. Trade PB (US), glued binding, 349 pp. Illustrated read more
"Like all Jostein Gaarder's books - the book is filled with interesting thoughts from the world of ideas.:) It makes you question your existence - questioning not laced with doubt but with wonder at the magnificence and utter wonder of this world. While reading the book - I was all at once the Joker who sees too much and too deeply, the Ace of Hearts who always has this habit of losing herself, Frode (the Master) who fills his mind with fantasies and dreams that would soon become reality. It was like I've also tasted the Rainbow Fizz and felt all tingling sensations and delicious flavors - the strawberries surging through my upper body, a hint of lemon tickling my left ear, a dash of kurberry hitting my head and all the other flavors of honey, lavender, ringroot and gramines twirling around in my stomach. Reading the book at this point of my life wherein I already got used to the earth is such a marvelous turning point. It made me realize that the world itself is a mystery and I am part of a great game of solitaire. It made me feel blessed and thankful that I have been given this wonderful opportunity to "play" this game and it made me treasure life's simple but amazing moments. I am a living person and if each time I wake up and celebrate that thought my day would be charged with energy at all the endless possibilities I can offer the world and the world can offer me. Like the cards, my body would also be ravaged by time but the thoughts and magical ideas i spurn in my head will forever be indented in this world.:) For those tired spiritual adventurers who feel lost in this planet, take a sip of this magical book and feel yourself re-charged and ready to take on another magical journey. The mind sees what it wants to believe. So, why not believe in magic, goodness and optimism instead?:)"
"With this book I corroborate something I suspected long ago: the message delivered by a book is different from one person to another.
I loved Sophie's World, and an acquiescence recommended me this other Gaarder book.
Later on a workmate also noticed this book as one of his favourites, so I asked him if may I borrow it. And until today, after several weeks of lack of reading, finished the book. Nevertheless I didn't find in the book the exceptional and clarifying message that my peers found.
I came up with a nice story, orthogonal, symmetrical, 53 chapters, 52 cards plus a joker, which is the odd character, who is the philosopher, asking the awkward questions. And again, just as in the Sophie's world, the counterpoint is the literary style: two stories, which one depends on the other, and overlapping in one story at the end."
"This novel, which was published in Norway before "Sophie's World", is another offbeat, delightful ontology masquerading as an ingeniously constructed fairy tale. It tells the story of the 12-year-old Hans Thomas, who is driving with his father from Norway to Greece in a quest to retrieve his errant mother.
I was captivated by the twin storyline of Hans Thomas who left Norway with his philosophical father in search of his mother who had "went out into the world to find herself"; and that of Baker Hans, Albert Klages whose mother died when he was a child, Ludwig the German soldier and Frode who found himself stranded on an island with nothing but a pack of cards for company. This is a story-within-a-story in which fantasy and reality, the past and present, are brilliant mixed. Encapsulated is the advice that we should all try to be "jokers" in order to appreciate what is in front of us. "A joker is a little fool who is different from everyone else. He's not a club, diamond, heart, or spade. He's not an eight or a nine, a king or a jack. He is an outsider. He is placed in the same pack as the other cards, but he doesn't belong there. Therefore, he can be removed without anybody missing him."
Very few books make one want to sit down and re-read them all through again after the first reading, but this is one of them. It is deceptively simple, yet the ideas are so striking that you can't work out why nobody ever pointed them out before. As the story progresses, the themes of the essence of being, of God's role in the world, destiny and the joy of being alive or of the beauty of the world resonate in both stories. "Our lives are part of a unique adventure. Nevertheless, most of us think that the world is 'normal' and are constantly hunting for something abnormal. But that is just because we don't realise the world is a mystery. As for myself, I felt completely different. I saw the world as an amazing dream. I was hunting for some kind of explanation of how everything fitted together."
Gaarder, a former philosophy teacher in Norway, concentrates on these aspects of philosophy, using both stories to illustrate his themes and intrigue his reader. At one point -- during their visit to Athens -- I was reminded of a theme utilized by a lot of authors (e.g. Gaiman) to explain the intertwining of religion and the passing of time: "But in a way they were in the world, as long as people believed in them. People see what they believe - the world didn't grow old or frayed at the edges until people started to doubt."
Once you've read it you'll wonder why you never read it before. A classic plot, yet such a very new one. Simple yet incredibly complex, yet an intelligent child could understand it. "It's because the world has become a habit. Nobody would believe in the world if they hadn't spent years getting used to it. We have seen everything so many times before that we take reality for granted." A novel of ideas that is coherent and striking and memorable.
Book Details:
Title The Solitaire Mystery Author Jostein Gaarder Reviewed By Purplycookie"
"Pagi ini sangat istimewa. Belasan kupu-kupu putih beterbangan berputar-putar di sekeliling pohon-pohon kecil di bawah sana. Dengan penuh perasaan takjub kunikmati kelincahan mereka berlompatan dari dahan ke dahan; bercanda ria dengan sesama, berdua, bertiga, berempat. Ada warna tersendiri yang mereka berikan pada pagi yang kelabu ini. Ya, awan kelabu memenuhi kubah cakrawala sementara angin berhembus cukup kencang, tapiii tak mampu mengusik keceriaan para kupu-kupu putih itu.
Akulah Joker! Jangan Lupakan itu, Tuan Aku tak seperti yang lainnya, kau tahu. Aku bukan Raja atau Pangeran, tapi aku juga bukan wajik, keriting, hati, ataupun sekop
Siapakah aku? Mengapa Aku menjadi Joker? Dari manakah aku berasal, kemanakah aku akan menuju?
Pagi itu aku bersikap seperti si Joker. Heran dan takjub terhadap kehidupan. Joker membedakan dirinya dari yang lain. Dialah yang unik, yang menanyakan asal usul dan tujuan hidupnya.
Mungkin aku inilah Joker-Joker itu. Aku memiliki kemampuan untuk menanyakan asal-usul serta tujuan tindakan dan kelakukanku. Kami bisa heran, kagum, bertanya, menjawab pertanyaan, heran lagi, kagum lagi, bertanya lagi, menjawab pertanyaan lagi. Kemampuan inilah yang membedakan aku dengan yang lain.
Tetapiii aku pernah berhenti bertanya. Aku kehilangan perasaan kagum dan heran terhadap kehidupan. Aku seperti kupu-kupu yang terbang di sela-sela dahan dedaunan di himpitan rumah-rumah kos di Jakarta. Aku secara taktis dan gesit berekelana, berlompatan, berlarian, bergerak, berjatuhan, dari satu tempat ke tempat lain , dari satu dunia ke dunia lain, dari satu ide ke ide lain, dari satu kegilaan ke kegilaan yang lain.
Aku hidup seperti kupu-kupu itu! Bagaimana dengan kamu, Joker?"
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
