The Ringmaster's Daughter (Ome) [Import] [Paperback]

Jostein Gaarder (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Open Market Ed edition (October 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297829432
• ISBN-13: 978-0297829430
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Beautiful!!, August 19, 2005

By 

Mortiis27 (Carlsbad, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ringmaster's Daughter (Paperback)

The Ringmaster's Daughter is told from the perspective of a young boy, Petter. Petter's overactive imagination is amazing, but sometimes gets him in trouble too. Petter is able to weave these fantastic stories, that are beautiful and sad. But he's a little crazy, too. He sees a little man that's not really there. This little man is always bossing him around. Petter can't distinguish between dreams and memories.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. I thought it was really unique that we got to read the stories that Petter came up with. Sometimes Petter tells stories in a way that reveals something about him or something important that he can't say flat out. Every story that Petter tells is amazing and tragic and ends with a twist, kinda like this book. Gaarder uses his "story within a story" method yet again and it works.

This is by far the best book I've read in a long time.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth reading, May 28, 2006

By 

R. Aifeng - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ringmaster's Daughter (Paperback)

This is my favorite book by Jostein Gaarder. I think what has made it a better story than others lies in its intensity: love, pain, treason, mystery are interwoven very tightly. Gaarder has succeeded in creating a very intellectual, yet eccentric narrator with depth. Among other things, the book discusses the core of creativity and the role of the creator. Frankly, I do not know what to make of the ending. Much like Gaarder's other works, the book is laden with beautiful moments and ingenious ideas.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Oh, what a tangled web we weave...", January 23, 2010

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ringmaster's Daughter (Paperback)

Jostein Gaarder is a gifted storyteller who is able to breathe life into the most unusual and unbelievable stories. His singular novel, "Sophie's World", shed new light upon the history of philosophy in an unexpectedly enjoyable way. While the magic is not quite recaptured in "The Ringmaster's Daughter", Gaarder has once again created a truly unique character whose life is bound to the power of words, for better or for worse.

"The Ringmaster's Daughter" is narrated by Petter, a solitary man who suffers from an extremely overactive imagination. Since he was a boy, he has been followed around by Metre Man, a man no bigger than a meter who no one else can see. Petter cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality, believing his dreams to be real and his life to be a fantasy. Gifted as he is with his imagination, Petter has no desire to share his stories with others in the normal sense. So he begins a business of helping out struggling writers by giving them his ideas, asking only for payment in return and promising that he will never divulge the transaction to anyone. A harmless enough pursuit to begin with, Petter later finds that he has woven a dangerous web around himself with the words he has allowed others to proclaim as their own.

Gaarder's title may be a little misleading, since it references one story that Petter repeatedly tells and improves upon, but it is fitting for the trickery that his main character employs; for Petter is ringmaster to all the authors he helps and to all the people he unwittingly hurts in his life. His story is full of compelling contrasts - lighthearted and dark, mirthful and disturbing. Just as Petter allows his clients to make of his words what they will, Gaarder allows his readers to pass their own judgment on Petter's actions and his life.