Product Description

A chance meeting on the Fijian island of Taveuni is the trigger for a fascinating and mysterious novel that intertwines the stories of John Spooke, an English author who is grieving for his dead wife; Frank Andersen, a Norwegian evolutionary biologist estranged from his wife Vera; and an enigmatic Spanish couple, Ana and Jose, who are absorbed in their love for each other. Why does Ana bear such a close resemblance to the model for Goya's famous Maja paintings? What is the significance of the Joker as he steps out of his pack of cards? As the action moves from Fiji to Spain, from the present to the past, unfolding further stories within the stories, the novel reveals an astonishing richness and complexity. As bold and imaginative in its sweep as Sophie's World, it shows again that Jostein Gaarder's unique and special gift is to make us wonder at the awe-inspiring mystery of the universe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110927 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Jostein Gaarder is not one to shirk at the larger questions: who are we? and where does the world come from? In his latest novel, Maya, he once again addresses life, the universe and pretty much everything else, concentrating on the existence of God, the evolution of life as we know it, the nature of consciousness and the meaning behind it all. It's weighty stuff for a mere 300 or so pages of prose, and Gaarder is not entirely successful in dealing with these issues in a readable manner.

The novel is set in Madrid and on the unspoiled Fijian island of Taveuini. Frank Andersen, a Norwegian evolutionary biologist who feels "oppressed by the grief that the lack of spirit and permanence in our existence brings", meets up with a beautiful Spanish Flamenco dancer, Ana, her companion Jose, and an English writer from Croydon, John Spoke. They then discuss the big issues. This is where the problem arises; there is too much discussion of ideas and not enough emotional involvement or development of characters. They exist merely as mouthpieces for different theories. Gaarder then adds a bewildering supernatural dimension. There is Ana and Jose's manifesto, a mystical dialogue that describes the creation and evolution process in a series of self-consciously obscure metaphors to consider; hints of past lives; a time-travelling dwarf; and an enigmatic photograph. All this excitement sits uneasily with the almost pedantic prose style.

Gaarder's forte is to incorporate challenging themes into a flowing, imaginative narrative. The author's earlier novel,Sophie's World, has been a phenomenal success; the novel has sold over 16 million copies, been translated into 42 languages and is a whistle-stop tour of philosophy, from Socrates to Sartre. Unfortunately in the case of Maya, the story fails to grip the reader enough and lacks the fluidity of prose that made Sophie's World such a delight to read. --Eithne Farry

About the Author
Jostein Gaarder is the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a huge bestseller in over 40 countries. He was born in Oslo in 1952 and lives there now with his wife and two sons.

Customer Reviews

A romance about the origin of the species.
The author's infectious enthusiam is clear and natual in this excellent translation. The joy of reading such a vivatious novel is felt both in the gripping, page turning, thrill of the story, but also in the underlying humour which the author clearly felt as he wrote it. He enjoys leading the reader along a narrative tale (as in a dream) and then subtly redefining the context. The basic plot is of a group of people, who for one reason or another find themselves sharing an idyllic pacific island paradise for a few days, and the author weaves the plot around their various idiocincracies. However, the tale is also a precautionary one, suggesting to its readers that they should 'sieze the day'. Life is a short, precious, miraculous gift, he suggests. Though we, the inheritors of generations of evolutionary mutations, have (finally?!) arrived at some understanding of the origins of the universe, we are unable to answer any of the deep questions, like why? how? or even what next?.

He poses the question: can we make meaningful the lives of one another?

It is at this juncture that the novel just fails to reach its fifth star. The narration of the huge time spans of evolution, the progress from reptile to mammal to human, the characters and the denoument are all tied up very well and with vitality. Clearly the author of Sophie's World has the gift of clear interesting writing, a genius for narration. His research is maticulous, with fabulous details from evolution. But,in writing such an epic novel, the author has left a lot of his own person present. The reader feels rather too like a third person present with a courting couple, a kind of awkward sentimentality pervading some of the passages that just leaves the reader slightly unsatisfied. The artificallity does not spoil the plot but slightly belittles the story.

It is a very good book, but falls just short of being a great one.

Gaarder for beginners
As a Fan of Gaarder I was sort of expecting Maya to be for evolutionary theory what Sophie's World was for philosophy. I was pleasently surprised to fine that this was not the case. As always Gaarder weaves a fairly difficult tale and I'll admit that I could only take this book in short quantities but felt well rewarded by the end. I recommend this book to anyone whoever wondered about the existance of a cosmic plan. The strands of the story are allows to tie up in a very realistic way (relatively speaking)which surprised me. If you like Gaarder you might feel this is a slight break from his previous style. If you haven't read any of his work before, this is probably the best book to ease into it

Good use of "dialogue"
It is unfair to criticise J Gaarder for using the characters in this book as "mouthpieces for different theories". This is in fact a style almost as written language, most notably favoured in this genre by Plato, and seems most effective when the book is taken as a view of philosophy in the form of a book rather than a book that tried to deal with philosophy. And if you understood that, your ready to join us.