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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Touching, December 5, 2000
Through A Glass Darkly deals with the conversations between a young Norwegian girl, Cecila, and an angel, Ariel. Cecila has cancer, and her family know that she is very likely to not get better. As Christmas beckons, Ariel befriends the sick girl, and together they talk about life, death and everything in between. They have some entertaining and profound discussions about God, angels, and even children. Mortal bodies and their lives fascinate Ariel, and Cecila is interested about what life in heaven is like. When Cecila grows sicker, swinging between anger, despair, false hope and sadness, as winter passes into spring, Ariel takes her flying one night, and Cecila accepts her fate and prepares to leave... Through A Glass Darkly is a touching and moving story about a young girl who is about to die. Cecila and Ariel are amusing and interesting characters who manage to present death in a touching way without being trite. It also will keep you thinking about several philosophical and theological issues, which Jostein Gaardner has covered in an open and simple manner. Through A Glass Darkly is written simply but manages to convey powerful messages about life, death, God and the universe. It will keep you thinking, but keep the tissues near. It's sad but touching.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wondering at Wondering/gnirednoW ta gnirednoW, April 25, 2002
Reading "Through a Glass, Darkly" is like having a conversation with one's image in the mirror and learning that a whole other world exists on the other side of the glass. It's enough to make anyone's mind a little turvy-topsy, if you take my meaning. Here is an example of what to expect: At the beginning of the novel, Cecilia draws an angel on her windowpane with one of her tears--a tear angel. It makes her wonder if tear angels are the same as angel tears. Like I said, everything is turned downsideup . . . but it all still manages to make sense. The two main characters are a human girl named Cecilia and an angel from Heaven named Ariel. Cecilia is so ill that she cannot leave her bed, so Ariel comes to visit her on an angel watch. As he tells her things about Heaven, she tells him things about Earth; so this is really a conversation between an aspect of Heaven and an aspect of Earth. It so happens, Ariel tells Cecilia, that only angels and humans are able to wonder at themselves--to wonder at being able to wonder. The conflict in this story comes more from their dialogue than from the plot. If you like philosophy, then you'll love the way they toss ideas back and forth like a game of pong-ping. "Through a Glass, Darkly" is more mystical than "Sophie's World", however, and more poetic. In "Sophie's World" Jostein Gaarder toyed with everyone's world of knowledge, asking us how we can be sure we know what we think we know. In this novelette, he plays with the heady concept that we are all eyes of God, scattered throughout Creation: the mirrors the Creator uses to see Himself and all His works. A philosopher/astrologer named Alan Watts described this same concept as "God, playing hide-and-seek with Himself." (Or isn't it seek-and-hide?) This book is a lot like "Mr. God, This Is Anna" by Fynn. Part irreverent theology, part reverent heresy, "Through a Glass, Darkly" is so far-out that it speaks directly to what is close-in. Read it with an open mind and a young heart.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Two sides to an opinion, January 29, 2002
i read this book whilst I was ill in bed as well. It didn't make me feel like dying it actually made me feel better. Its a wonderfully touching book and deserves to be read, it only took me a few hours! Other reviewers mark it as a disappointment, I can see their point, however I think partly why they see it as such a let-down is because it is the exact point of view of a child and maybe is meant more for children or adults trying to see into their little worlds. When you're ill you tend to feel a bit like a child, being cared for by someone else, that could be why I liked it so much. There is fine line between having the talent to write from another perspective e.g a childs, and just failing to produce the standard of work aimed for. But I think to understand this piece you need to understand whos speaking the words, a child!
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