Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
Not the kind of book you review; it’s the kind of book that reviews you.
I have the feeling it’s one of those books I’m going to tap into again and again over the years.
It just makes me incredibly grateful to get my 5 minutes on this planet and to be able to experience this baffling thing called consciousness and to be able to take part in this crazy thing we call the human project.
Best of all it has given me a greater sense of my interconnectedness to my fellow humans past and present (and future, for that matter). It has filled my previously dreary morning commute with wonder.
It has made me realise that I do belong on this planet, even if I say the wrong thing sometimes and do dumb stuff on occasion. In the end, maybe it’s these foibles and frailties that make us human. At least in part. But then it’s also our insatiable need to question. When I find myself taking everything for granted, that’s when I know I’ve fallen asleep and need a book like this to come along and wake me up.
I feel all full up inside with a sense of pride and gratitude for getting to be a human for this brief blink of an eyelid, this small yet big life I get to live. Life is suffering, but life is learning too. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you for sharing a part of this crazy ride with me. To quote the last words the Ninth Doctor said to Rose before regenerating, “Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.”
I don’t know what your name is but I hope you have a good life. Thank you.