#255 of 1001 · April 12, 2021

Life’s greatest and most enduring mysteries can often be succinctly expressed in the form of questions, powerful queries whose answers may elude us forever. The subtle yet deeply affecting narrative of Questions Asked by Jostein Gaarder and Akin Düzakin unfolds as a series of musings on themes universal to the human condition. A young boy wanders out into nature, quietly reflecting on his own existence. The text (translated from Gaarder’s original Norwegian by Don Bartlett) comes only in the form of his inner monologue, with no further narration. “Where does the world come from?” he asks himself. “Can anyone know what I think?” “What do I fear losing most?” “What is time?” “Can I be sure all my memories really happened?” “Why am I alive?” “Why do I dream?” “What happens when I die?” “What shall I do with my life?” Potent philosophical material indeed. Though any one of these ideas might serve as the basis of a lengthy treatise or dialectic, the chaotic jumble of their passage truly captures the raw wonder of a child’s imagination. Each of Düzakin’s images depicts a thematic moment appropriate to the accompanying question. In black and white flashbacks, the boy shares his experiences with a twin. In the illustrations of the present, this brother is nowhere to be seen, but a pale, enigmatic specter trails the boy like a lost loved one at the edge of his memory. These components hint at an unfathomably tragic backstory, though the ultimate truth, like the answers to the ethereal questions, is left for the reader to determine. #question #questions #life #death #love #loss #grief #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks