Sophie's World

A Novel About the History of Philosophy

By: Jostein Gaarder

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?"

From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning - but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

A pause-resisting novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie's World has fired the imagination of listeners all over the world, having been translated into 45 languages and with over 20 million copies in print.

©1991 H. Aschelhoug and Co. (W. Nygaard), Oslo. Translation 1994 Paulette Moller (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"Gaarder pulls off the difficult feat of blending philosophy and entertainment in a way that will capture [young adults'] interest and make them eager to explore further." (School Library Journal)
"First, think a beginner's guide to philosophy....Next, imagine a fantasy novel - something like a modern-day version of Through the Looking Glass. Meld these disparate genres, and what do you get? Well, what you get is an improbable international bestseller...[A] tour de force." (Time)
"Sophie's World is sheer delight. How I wish I'd had it during my college freshman survey of philosophy!" (Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time)

Enjoyable!

This was assigned for a class which I took, so I was rather worried about it being dry and dreadfully boring. I was surprised that it's actually well written and presents an interesting overview. Recommended as a great introduction to the history of philosophy.

A wonderful story with a wonderful message

This book really does change the way you think of things. Incredibly well written and beautifully voice acted. The only thing that keeps this book from getting a 5 star review is the beginning. While not bad in any sense, it did feel very much like a textbook with a small narrative to keep it strung together. I was really close to dropping this for that reason alone. However, the good reviews and want to learn more about philosophy drove me to finish. I would recommend this book to just about anyone who wants to learn about life in general as well as critical thinking.

By far one of my favorite books...

The title of this review should say it all but in case it doesn’t let me just say that this novel has everything you could look for in a book and intro to philosophy. If philosophy is even slightly intriguing to you, (I can’t see how it’s not) then this is a MUST READ.

philosophy not my thing

However, this story made so many of the concepts covered in the History of Plilosophy course I took in college much easier to understand. The story started a bit slow and I almost gave up after the first hour, but I stuck with it and really became engrossed in the story. I realized by the end that I do have a philosophical mind.

Brilliant and mind blowing intro to philosophy

I loved that this was bite size chunks to the philosophers so that you could then ponder their ideas. And being in a story narrative just added a slight twist which kept you interested too. Really makes you think and question everything.

Great Overview of the History of Philosophy

I really the approach taken to teach the basics of philosophy throughout the centuries. Had it not been for the last few chapters the story would have gotten 5 stars (no spoilers). I liked what the author did with the story but it just seemed to stall and loose the mystique right near the end.

A really useful, straightforward introduction to p

A friend recommended it to me claiming that she would not understand philosophy if it weren't for this book, and I can see why. Philosophy is a subject that can be very tiring; the texts are often complex, the reading process tends to be tedious and so on. But Sophie's World is essentially written for the main character - a 14/15-year-old girl - and thus simplifies the subject of philosophy accordingly. The plot itself is somewhat complex and has several levels so the novel is interesting in the philosophical sense and the novelistic sense.

Sophie's World

The side story is kind of lightweight, and I almost put the novel down because of that, however, Sophie's narrative provides the little breaks in the philosphical passages that allow you to digest the ideas presented. Hardcore philosphy scholars will likely dismiss this as merely a broad overview of philosophic thought. However, for readers/listeners who would like to learn a little bit about philosphy without getting mired in Aristotle's lecture notes, this makes the subject seem accessible and maybe even a little engaging.

Alright

I followed along with the book. There were several chapters in which entire paragraphs or pages weren’t in the Audible recording. But over all this was good. Not a book I’d read for personal enjoyment. I had to read it for school.

Philosophy for the new philosopher

Are you new to being a philosopher? What do you mean you aren’t a philosopher, I seriously doubt that you are looking at this review and are anything but a lover of knowledge. But are you interested in understanding the question “what is it to live a good life?” This book won’t give you the answer, nor will it disclose to you new truth, but it will help you see that you’ve always been a philosopher, and help illuminate a long history of people seriously interested in finding truth.

This book is short history of philosophy bound in a bag of tales.