À travers un verre, sombrement de Jostein Gaarder

Une autre chose qui m’a surpris, c’est que ce n’était pas du tout un livre facile à lire. J’avais pensé que c’était un livre pour les enfants ou les jeunes adultes, mais j’ai lu des articles littéraires qui étaient plus faciles à lire que ce livre. Je pense que c’est juste une préférence personnelle cependant : la plupart de ce livre, au moins la partie la plus importante de

Une autre chose qui m’a surpris, c’est que ce n’était pas du tout un livre facile à lire. J’avais pensé que c’était un livre pour les enfants ou les jeunes adultes, mais j’ai lu des articles littéraires qui étaient plus faciles à lire que ce livre. Je pense que ce n’est qu’une préférence personnelle : la majeure partie de ce livre, du moins la partie la plus importante, est une conversation philosophique entre l’humaine Cecilie et l’ange Ariel. Ce format n’a pas seulement rendu le livre un peu difficile à lire, il a également mis en évidence très clairement qu’une intrigue réelle n’était pas la chose la plus importante pour l’écrivain. Par exemple, Cecilie est très malade, et nous en voyons des aperçus, mais jamais assez pour faire une impression vraiment durable. La caractérisation et l’intrigue ne sont pas vraiment développées, pour faire place à la philosophie religieuse qui est au cœur du livre.

Honnêtement, j’ai aimé les pensées philosophiques décrites dans ce livre. Gaarder fait un bon travail en mélangeant les références bibliques, les références de la mythologie nordique, ainsi que la science (l’astronomie et l’évolution, principalement) dans une vision du monde compréhensible. Mais, pour moi, il y avait pas mal d’incohérences dans la mythologie :

(voir spoiler)[- Angels aren’t supposed to sense or feel things. This means that flying doens’t bring them joy, touching snow doesn’t make them feel the cold, etc. Ariel stresses very often that angels don’t feel anything. But somehow they do feel the need to be alone every once in a while (as illustrated by the fact that Ariel sometimes goes to an asteroid I think it was because (s)he doesn’t want to see anyone for a while). Also kind of strange: Ariel says they know everything they need to know. He can’t forget or remember anything: every knowledge they need is present. But still they feel curious about how it is to be human. This is strange again: because curiosity is an emotion. I don’t know, for me this seems inconsistent.

– God is portrayed as omniscient. But still, he didn’t know how his creation would turn out, as he has no control over what he created. Maybe it’s my interpretation of the word omniscient that’s the problem here, but I think that shows God does not know everything. But then, how to draw the line? Odin for instance is not portrayed as omniscient, but he’s said to have become omniscient through his ravens who inform him about everything, whereas God is omniscient by his own ability. But later Ariel says that God’s many Angels keep him informed about people. I just find it confusing: what exactly is the definition of omniscient then? Is it just facts about the world as it is? Odin’s ability to see the future is not addressed. The fact that God doesn’t know how his creations would turn out, meaning that he doesn’t know the future, does not diminish his ability to be omniscient.
That being said, is Odin omniscient or is he not? It’s just an example, but I think there were things in this book that weren’t defined well enough.

– Ariel, as an entity without a body of flesh and blood, is able to a.o. move through walls. How is this still possible when he has Cecilie in his arms? Just being in Ariel’s arms doesn’t change the structure of Cecilie’s body, and she should not be able to move through walls. This is not addressed or explained in the slightest.

– Ariel mentions in the beginning that there’s not enough Angels to watch over ill people. But there’s also far more Angels than humans – because who else can enjoy this universe? Certainly not humans, because they are bound to planet Earth, and Angels are not. Why can’t there be more Angels looking after people then? The reason certainly isn’t that there aren’t enough Angels… so why?

– Speaking of Angels visiting the ill: sometimes they show themselves, but generally they don’t. We never found out why Ariel decided to show himself to Cecilie, other than curiosity. But that doesn’t explain why he chose her specifically, or why she was special. (hide spoiler)]