Christmas Mystery [Audiobook] [Hardcover]

Jostein Gaarder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

A boy called Joachim acquires an old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows he opens in the twenty-four days up till Christmas is a tiny piece of paper unfolding the story of a girl called Elisabeth Hansen, who disappeared fifty years ago from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb - and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2,000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. As she ran she met angels, shepherds, wise men and other biblical characters who joined her on her pilgrimage, and she heard of many things that happened in the world in the last 2000 years. And it is because of Joachim that we learn what happened to Elisabeth, and that she returns at last to Norway. This startlingly original presentation of the Nativity story transcends all barriers to reach adults and children, believers and non-believers alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even grownups enjoy a bedtime story every now and then, especially one that combines, as does this one, the sophistication of a novel with the whimsy of a fairy tale. Gaarder, the Norwegian former professor of philosophy who brought us The Solitaire Mystery (1996) and the bestselling Sophie's World (1995), is up to his usual tricks here, serving up a metaphysical brainteaser that unfolds into a warm?but not preachy?meditation on God and the Christian doctrines. Set in an unnamed town in present-day Norway, it tells the story of Joachim, a young boy who finds a faded, handmade Advent calendar in a bookstore on the eve of December first, and begs his father to let him take it home. The next morning, when he opens the calendar's first door, Joachim discovers not just the expected picture but also a tightly folded piece of paper, the first installment of the fantastic tale of a little girl's journey through time and space to be present at the Nativity. Soon the girl's story is making unexpected intrusions into Joachim's own life, and he races to solve the mystery of the calendar before Christmas Eve. First published in Norway in 1992, this work is less structurally sophisticated than Gaarder's later ones, and some will be dismayed by a repeated pro-Palestine, anti-Israel theme that undercuts the novel's larger message of universal tolerance and harmony. But in the end it is Gaarder's frank, friendly voice and the adorable character he has created in the inquisitive, enthusiastic Joachim that stay in the reader's mind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

What's Norwegian novelist Gaarder's latest plot device? In Sophie's World (LJ 9/1/94), it was philosophy taught via correspondence and in the forthcoming The Solitaire Mystery (reviewed in this issue), a pack of cards. Now, a magical advent calendar takes a little girl on an incredible journey.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752818627
• ISBN-13: 978-0752818627
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,492,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight for all ages, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Christmas Mystery (Hardcover)

This is a lovely book that I've given to children and adults the past 2 Christmases.

While not as intellectually rigorous as Sophie's World and not quite as captivating as The Solitaire Mystery (which you must, must read), The Christmas Mystery is more addictive than a bag of peanuts. Rarely have I found a book that appeals to children and adults alike -- but this one does.

Even if you have no background or real interest in Advent and Christmas, this book's fresh perspective will still delight.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Tradition, January 3, 2002

By 

Britt Arnhild Lindland (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christmas Mystery (Hardcover)

Every year, the 1st of December we find The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder in our box of Christmas books, and start to read the first chapter. The book has 24 chapters, so we keep on reading, one chapter every day, untill Christmas Eve. And when we read we follow the little girl Elisabet from Norway around 1940, down through Europe and down through history, untill she, in the last chapter meets Joseph, Maria and the little newborn king. At the same time we meet the boy Joakim who finds a very special advent calendar in an old bookshop, the advent calendar has doors to open, and inside the doors Joakim finds small sheets of paper telling the fantastic story about Elisabet and her travel.
Is the story just a fantasy story, or is Elisabet a real girl, doing a real travel?

The Christmas Story tells us about all this, and alot more. For our family it is a must every Christmas. Not all kids want to listen to it every year, but mother will keep on reading it as long as her eyes allows her :-)

Britt Arnhild Lindland

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the great seasonal novels, January 28, 2000

By 

Daniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christmas Mystery (Hardcover)

We have grown to expect striking and intelligent philosophy and thought from Gaarder's books. The Christmas Mystery is, like The Solitaire Mystery, a deceptively simple and yet richly complex story. The only flaw, as far as I'm concerned, is a faint cloying sweetness to the story, but even this can easily be overlooked by the sheer cleverness and spirit of the narrative. It is a potted history of Christmas through the ages, its evolution - or rather, devolution, handled adeptly and intelligently. It is a true book for all the family, and should become compulsory seasonal reading along with A Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Carol. The nice thing about Gaarder is that his mysteries only open up yet more mysteries - he solves his mysteries and leaves us looking at the world through new eyes, trying to explain our own personal mysteries that we have only just noticed....