Questions Asked - Hardcover

Gaarder, Jostein

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0914671669 ISBN 13: 9780914671664

Publisher: Elsewhere Editions, 2017

Synopsis

A picture book with fundamental philosophical questions, posed in a way only Jostein Gaarder is capable of. The illustrator has made an independent visual narrative that underscores the existential aspect of Jostein Gaarder's philosophical questions. Questions Asked shows confidence in a child's capacity to think deeply and read between the lines. The book follows a little boy traveling alone in an open landscape. Soon we realize he is on a journey of thoughts and dreams, asking questions about loss, myth, language, magic, and what it means to be a human being. Jostein Gaarder's philosophical questions merge with the beautiful illustrations of Akin Düzakin into a tale of friendship, love, and grief - and about daring to think about life as you live it.

About this title

About the Author

   • JOSTEIN GAARDER is a Norwegian intellectual and the author of several novels, short stories and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. His best known work is the novel Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (1991). It has been translated into 60 languages; over 40 million copies have been sold.
   • DON BARTLETT has translated novels by many Danish and Norwegian authors, among them Pet Petterson, Roy Jacobsen, Ida Jessen, and Jo Nesbo. He is the translator of Karl Ove Knausgaard's New York Times bestselling MY STRUGGLE series.

Reviews

Gr 3 Up—This layered philosophy primer from Gaarder of Sophie's World fame tells the story of a nameless young boy who works out the loss of a sibling during a trip into the woods. The entire narrative consists of a series of thought-provoking questions, mashed up with Düzakin's dreamy, calming illustrations. A ghostly figure follows the boy to a clearing and looks on as he digs up a box full of black-and-white photos, a journal, and other trinkets. Past and present alternate to reveal a boy who is devastated after losing his twin brother. The profound questions ("How do I talk?" "Can those who are not with us any more know how we are?" "Can anyone know what I think?") give clues to the boys' relationship, but we are left wondering how the twin died, and the boy's rebound from a near-fatal walk into a nearby pond seems abrupt. The unique presentation allows for the book to be read in multiple ways. The questions can stand alone as inspiration for a creative writing or journal exercise. The delicate illustrations, akin to those of Peter McCarty, function in much the same way as a wordless picture book does. Together, they weave a melancholy tale of grief and the healing that inevitably comes with time. VERDICT This is a special book for mature readers and budding philosophers who won't be afraid of the deep sense of sorrow. They will find a lot to chew on and discuss.—Kristy Kilfoyle, Canterbury School, Fort Myers, FL

Edition details

• Publisher: Elsewhere Editions
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0914671669
• ISBN 13: 9780914671664
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Duezakin Akin
• Number of pages: 72