The Castle in the Pyrenees

Picking up Jostein Gaarder's new novel, you can pretty much guess what you're in for. Since the international success of 1991's Sophie's World, Gaarder has become known for his blend of fiction and philosophy, and this offering is no different.

Despite the title, there is not a castle in sight as the novel revolves around the relationship of two middle-aged Norwegians who have recently come back into contact after thirty years of silence. The story progresses as the characters first establish who they have become before delving into the unspoken mysteries surrounding the reasons why they broke up. In true Gaarder form, the male protagonist is a staunch scientific atheist while his counterpart is a highly spiritual Christian.

What follows is an examination of the merits of the conflicting ideologies, with a little bit of astro-physical analysis thrown in for good measure. Gaarder takes a little while to really get the ball rolling, but in the last fifty pages the book really comes alive as the pair tumble towards a conclusion on what exactly happened thirty years ago.

What distinguishes this book, however, is that the entire story is composed through a series of email exchanges between the pair. At first the style can be somewhat disconcerting, however before long this transforms into a sense of near gratuitous indulgence as you become privy to what is a very real and highly personal exchange between two people.

Some of these emails linger for pages on end, detailing a particular scientific idea or recalling a long-distant event in the past, while others are no more than a few words creating a sense of urgency and intensity. The back-and-forth exchange allows Gaarder to tease out issues of relationships and how at the base of it all there are two individuals, each with their own ideas and perspectives.

Gaarder's style of jumping between lecturing and storytelling constantly is not for everyone, however if you're a fan of Sophie's World or anything by Bill Bryson then this is definitely worth a read. Alexander Fleming

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