I recently finished reading Jostein Gaarder’s book The Castle in the Pyrenees, which I was inspired to buy after hearing his interview at the Cheltenham Literary Festival. This is the first time I’ve read one of his books since Sophie’s World and it’s certainly a fascinating novel.
It’s written in the form of email correspondence between two ex-lovers who happen to meet again by chance at a beautiful place in Norway, where thirty years previously a strange and unsettling event took place. It was their differing interpretations of what actually happened which ultimately led to the breakdown of their relationship.
The book explores two very different world views through the prism of their memories and dialogue. Solrun takes a spiritual approach to life and believes in an afterlife, whilst Steinn, now a university professor, responds with a purely materialistic understanding of the existence of the universe and life itself.
Their relationship is rekindled through the correspondence and gradually they are forced to reassess the disturbing incident from their past. The Castle in the Pyrenees, a title based on a favourite painting by Magritte, raises serious questions about the human condition and about our understanding of reality.
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