Jostein Gaarder

Author profile

born

August 08, 1952 in Oslo, Norway

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Philosophy

About this author

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Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian intellectual and 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. He often uses metafiction in his works, writing stories within stories.

Gaarder was born into a pedagogical family. His best known work is the novel Sophie's World, subtitled A Novel about the History of Philosophy. This popular work has been translated into fifty-three languages; there are over thirty million copies in print, with three million copies sold in Germany alone.

In 1997, he established the Sophie Prize together with his wife Siri Dannevig. This prize is an international environment and developmen...more

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Books by Jostein Gaarder

Average rating: 3.72 · 47,327 ratings · 3,914 reviews · 42 distinct works

	Sophie's World 3.71 avg rating — 32,632 ratings — published 1991 — 134 editions	My rating:
	The Solitaire Mystery 4.01 avg rating — 4,552 ratings — published 1381 — 66 editions	My rating:
	The Orange Girl 3.79 avg rating — 2,837 ratings — published 2002 — 41 editions	My rating:
	Through a Glass, Darkly 3.72 avg rating — 1,290 ratings — published 1993 — 33 editions	My rating:
	The Christmas Mystery 3.59 avg rating — 1,197 ratings — published 1992 — 30 editions	My rating:
	Maya by Jostein Gaarder, James Anderson (Translator) 3.42 avg rating — 1,073 ratings — published 2000 — 23 editions	My rating:
	Vita Brevis: A Letter To St. Augustine 3.46 avg rating — 1,067 ratings — 29 editions	My rating:
	The Ringmaster's Daughter by Jostein Gaarder, James Anderson (Translator) 3.67 avg rating — 882 ratings — published 2000 — 27 editions	My rating:
	Perpustakaan Ajaib Bibbi Bokken by Jostein Gaarder, Klaus Hagerup, Ridwana Saleh (Translator) 3.57 avg rating — 591 ratings — 18 editions	My rating:
	Hello? Is Anybody There? by Jostein Gaarder, Sally Gardner (Illustrator), James Anderson (Translator) 3.51 avg rating — 482 ratings — published 1952 — 23 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Jostein Gaarder

“How terribly sad it was that people are made in such a way that they get used to something as extraordinary as living.”
― Jostein Gaarder, The Solitaire Mystery

tags: life , living

201 people liked it

“Wisest is she who knows she does not know.”
― Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

tags: philosophy , self-knowledge

172 people liked it

“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.”
― Jostein Gaarder, The Solitaire Mystery

tags: difference , joker , loneliness , stranger

118 people liked it

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