Jostein Gaarder

Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly
Cecilie is ill and has no chance of getting well. Everyone is busy celebrating Christmas, but she is too weak to join them. She confides her thoughts to the Chinese notebook given to her by a doctor at the hospital. One day she discovers that when she is alone in her room she can see an angel. She and the angel, Ariel, begin to converse. Cecilie tries to induce the angel to reveal some of Heaven’s secrets and Ariel tells her of life’s many puzzles and about the place of the world in the grand scheme of things; in return, Cecilie teaches him what it is like to be human. The conversations between the two evolve into a meeting between Heaven and Earth, into an attempt to determine both what life is about and what it is like – and also about what it is like ‘on the other side’.

Praise for Through a Glass, Darkly:

“…one long declaration of love for life and for the possibilities and talents of each single individual.”
Weekendavisen

“So profound, so moving, so poetic and beautiful.”
Jyllandsposten