Nick Pateras | Hello? Is anybody there?
BOOK REVIEW
Hello? Is Anybody There? – Jostein Gaardner
A masterful exploration of our inherent and oft-disregarded questions as children
I rediscovered this book during a reorganization of my library and immediately paused my task at hand to reread it, recalling the wonder it had instilled in me as a child. Gaardner, whose best known work is the famed Sophie’s World, has built a reputation as a splendid children’s author particularly because he successfully distills complex subjects into a comfortable and digestible allegory. As with Le Petit Prince, the ostensible target for this book is children yet it still offers much on which adults can chew, though admittedly at a slower pace and in less emphatic fashion.
"An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward."
The narrative is told from the viewpoint of Joe, who is excitedly awaiting his parents’ return from the hospital with his newborn brother when he is visited by Mika, a curious humanoid from another planet. Mika is both smart and inquisitive, reciprocating Joe’s fascination with him as they explore Joe’s house and garden. They come to appreciate that despite differences in their appearance and cultures, they are overwhelmingly similar – a maxim many of today’s adults could learn for the first time. Their conversations open questions about the universe, covering topics of scientific significance such as why we evolved as we did and whether it could have been different. Other passages are more inconsequential but still memorable: I distinctly remember first reading the section, at around age 10, in which Joe and Mika discuss where, on the way to the moon, ‘up’ becomes ‘down’. This book exemplifies why as adults, we should be eager, and never embarrassed, to revisit the ingredients of our youth.
- NP, Sept. 2016