Rating: 
Summary: brilliantly written!
Review: Jostein Gaarder crystalizes elementary philosophical ideas into this beautifully written novel. In this story we journey with Hans, the main character, into another story a world of talking playing cards, magic fizzy drinks, and sticky buns; the novel drizzles with sparkling imagery and plenty of creativity. I am amazed by Gaarder's ability to capture such thought-provoking philosophical ideas with beauty and simplicity. Every time I finished a chapter I could not help but sigh in contentment!
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: This book is one of my favorites. It keeps in line with Gaarder's expressed curiosity, his ability to question universal ideas. The book contains a story within a story, but is never confusing or boring. Although the inner story is something we would typically find unbelievable, Gaarder does a good job of linking it to our own existence.
Rating:
Summary: The Solitaire Mystery
Review: This is a terrific book for readers of all ages. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. J. Gaarder is truly a gifted writer and story teller and every child should have the opportunity to read his books. What a find!
Rating: 
Summary: It's readable but...
Review: The Solitaire Mystery is a good book to read with a dark side to it and little to none philosophy in it. It tells two stories one of a Norwegian boy goin on a trip with his father to find his mother who left them and went to Greece and another story which the little boy reads from a tiny book. The heart of the story is Hans Thomas , his thoughts and views on the world, his missing his mother. The story with in the story was another story! It was boring to read though the writer made honest attempts to tranfer you in another magical world ,if the Magical Mystery Tour didn't take you away then you'll survive this too!!! Also the book I bought claims that a third story is told as well,that of a conceivable trip to the world of philosophy.It is possible that I wasn't paying much attention but most likely I was and I'm disappointed to think that there hasn't been a decent philosopher since those Ancient Greeks. Philosophy is the love for wisdom and with out love there is no wisdom, rather the shadow of it...I'd say read it but beware of Jokers baring gifts!
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Summary: You Just Have To Read This Book!
Review: To all the lovers of Sophie's World, His Dark Materials, and the Harry Potter books: This is the right book for you! If you've read Sophie's World, you get the history of philosophy, and then, when you read The Solitaire Mystery, you see the philosophy applied! Also, you'll never look at a pack of cards the same again! This book was in the adult section at my library, but I personally think it's for everyone. The main characters are Hans Thomas and his father, who are on a quest to find Hans' Mommy. Along the way, Hans gets a sticky bun, a book, and a magnifying glass, and that's where everything becomes very interesting. This book is a must-read for everyone, especially those who feel like jokers in a huge pack of cards!
Rating:
Summary: An Enchanting Mystery
Review: On the very first page, the bright young philosopher Hans Thomas explains: "I would really like to think about something else. But I know I have to write everything down while there is still something of a child in me."And by the very last page, you will suddenly realize that Hans Thomas the philosopher has actually preserved the "child" in YOU! Well, with a little help from The Joker! (A personal confession. I finished reading this lovely tale this evening which happens to be April Fool's Day, no less, and before I turned the last page I had an odd feeling that maybe... just maybe... something magical was about to happen and the book in my hands just might go POOF! and end up as tiny as the sticky-bun book in the story! Well, stranger things have happened, you know....) This book would make a perfect gift for just about anyone, especially for someone who likes to THINK. Do your friend a favor though, and pull a Joker out of a deck of cards and place it in the book as a bookmark. This is a wonderful story, very nicely written -- all 52 chapters! It has a nice printing touch with card symbols on every page. It is one of the most delightful books I've read since Harry Potter.
Rating:
Summary: excellent - a must for everybody!
Review: this is, by far, my favorite jostein gaarder's book! it is extremely creative, very well written, and one you can reread again & again & again. i prefer this book rather than "sophie...", because i think the philosophy was woven almost seamlessly into the story, whilst i feel that in "sophie's world", although it is also a creative book, the philosophy was just pasted into the story. the card calendar system was truly original! i literally could not put this book down, i didn't even notice the phone ringing off the hook when reading this!
Rating:
Summary: Good book !
Review: this is a masterpiece cleverly woven by Mr Jostein Gaarder . He explores the questions of life and philosophy by intricately binding it to the characters in the story . One of his many good books . A really interesting read . A must read !!!
Rating:
Summary: A mixed opinion...
Review: I read this book after reading Sophie's World. I don't have any conscious memory of specific expectations when I began reading this book, but the unintentional comparison was there. Sophie's World was thought-provoking, a work of genius. The Solitaire Mystery is worth reading, there's no doubt of that. The complicated and interwoven plots were quite interesting to untangle. However, the story just didn't draw me in the way Sophie's World did. It was just a story.
Rating:
Summary: A Pack of Playing Cards
Review: Hans Thomas is a very thoughtful twelve year old and is in for many surprises as he joins his father on a journey to Greece to find his mother who left his father and himself in search of a new life.
quote: "We were going all the way to Athens, but we weren't on a normal holiday. In athens - or at least somewhere in Greece - we were going to try to find Mama. It wasn't certain she'd want to come home with us to Norway. But Dad said we had to try, because neither he nor I could bear the thought of living the rest of our lives without her." The surprises the little boy comes across consist of dwarves, magnifying glasses, rainbow fizz, a minature book contained inside a bun and most of all the amazing adventure he finds himself reading from the book.
quote: "Suddenly my teeth hit something hard. I tore away the bits of bun and discovered an object the size of a matchbox. Dad lay snoring on his bed. I turned on a light by the chair. What I held in my hands was a little book. On the cover was writte: The Rainbow Fizz and the Magic Island" The book explores a whole different world from ours and yet so similar. A little island far beyond our wildest imaginations that consists of a society ...a pack of playing cards. One by one the cards appear and soon the cards are all filled up. The cards each have roles and they have no thoughts of their own. They do not know why they are there but they need no reason.
quote: "'How many are you, by the way?' asked the other one. 'There's only one of me,' I said. The one with two buttons on his jacket turned to the one with three and whistled loudly. 'Ace!' he said. 'Then we've lost,' replied the other, dumbfounded. 'He'll beat the King, too.'" Everything is done around their highest wisdom, the human who is practically their god. And yet one day comes another card to the pack-a lively joker. And unlike the rest of his friends he is deep minded and loves questioning, maybe even finding the answer. He questions the man who they all think is highest: "Why?"
quote: "The old man breathed deeply and sighed. 'One morning when I was sitting on the front steps he jumped out from round the corner of the house. He turned a frisky somersault, bounced up to me with his bells jingling, cocked his little head, and said 'Master, there's something I don't understand...' If you've read [Sophie's World] which is also by Jostein Gaarder and was a million copy bestseller, then you can view [The Solitaire Mystery] which was written a little earlier as the planning of [Sophie's World]. This book is much clearer from the very beginning. It is still has a lot of mystery but it's more towards a fairy tale than a book explaining Gaarder's views on philosophy. You'll find a lot of thoughts repeated in the same way in both [Sophie's World] and [The Solitaire Mystery] so if you've read [Sophie's World] before [The Solitaire Mystery] will be an easy and swift, enjoyable read for you. But if you've never read [Sophie's World] before I recommend [The Solitaire Mystery] to be read first as a warm up to [Sohpie's World]. Unlike [Sohpie's World], this book is much more straight forward than you think and is more suitable to lower ages than [Sohpie's World] is but is still quite intellectually arresting.
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