This is the second Gaarder book I have read, the first being Sophie's World. Other reviews mentioned reading the Solitaire Man was helpful to them, and I wish that I had read it because it would have given the story more meaning. I enjoy philosophy books, and I loved Sophie's World. I found the evolution speeches by the main character, Frank, very interesting. That's the kind of thing I couldn't read in a textbook, but putting it in a story makes much more sense to me. That being said, there is a large portion of the book where Frank is talking to a gecko who he imagines talks back to him. As a device to write more scientific information it is very creative, but as a plot point I thought it was used too much. I think some of those conversations could have been cut down. I was also confused about one of the major plot points. It seems there is a mystery, and that was the best part of the book. But the final part of the book is a post script written by a character, John who is a novelist, and the post script ruined the mystery for me and seemed like an easy way out for Gaarder. (That's all I can say without spoilers). So, I rated this book 3 stars. It doesn't get stars for the storyline, the beginning was slow and the big mystery seemed ruined for me at the end, but it does get stars for Gaarder's articulate descriptions of philosophical biology and the scientific existentialism I think we've all felt at one point or another when we look up at the stars and realize how far away they are and how old they are, and how ephemeral we are in comparison.

Salah satu novel Jostein Gaarder yang bikin aku mikir keras, ya ini terberat kedua setelah Dunia Sophie. Sekarang siapa aja yang nanya aku buku filsafat buat pemula, aku pasti sarankan buku ini.