A stream-of-consciousness kind of book could be very hard to tackle.  Yet when you prevail, it often rewards you well for the efforts.
“Man Gone Down” is no different.  Frustratingly absurd at times, it simply refuses to be read as your usual bedtime story.  I had to read it in a full-concentration mode to fully appreciate it.  Oh yes, in some lighter passages you can let your attention wanders, but you would risk missing some beautiful thoughts which more often than not, lurks masquerading behind some imageries and powerful allegories.
Using metaphors …

I had high hopes with this one.  After all, Gaarder was the man who penned one of the modern classics that is Sophie’s World.

And he didn’t disappoint me.  Maya is definitely a worthy successor to the likes of Sophie’s World and Vita Brevis.  Staying true to his calling, he takes us in a tour-de-force of hard philosophical questions that were difficult to imagine, - let alone deliberate, by anyone alone.  This, - I think, is where his greatest influence is supposed to be : in his provocations where one is …

If you’re anything like me, you must have some judgement ( however slight ) of a book you’re going to read.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t be interested to read any books at all.
Half Broken Things, I’m ashamed to say, is one of the books that I underestimated.  Two days later, after I finished reading it, I was completely humiliated.  Not that I mind, though..
You know.. I’ve always been fascinated by writers who can take some dull, bland and tasteless events and painted them with his words to form a vivid picture …