The Orange Girl

Gaarder is best known as the author of Sophie’s World, a fictionalised tour of philosophy. His new book questions the purpose and value of ephemeral human life in the face of an infinite universe. Fortunately, he embeds this sometimes gloomy meditation into a romantic little story which is jointly told by the 15-year-old Georg and his deceased father. The latter part takes the form of a deathbed letter, recounting how as a young man the writer pursued a beautiful girl, dressed in orange and mysteriously laden with oranges, around Oslo. This quest is intriguing, but after its resolution we encounter much ontological agonising. Nevertheless, the book is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and ultimately optimistic enough to recommend safely to adolescents of all ages.