Sophie's World

A Novel About the History of Philosophy

By: Jostein Gaarder

Narrated by: Simon Vance

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.

Originally published in Norwegian under the title Sofies verden, ©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)

Avoid this particular recording

While the book itself is wonderful, it should be mentioned that this recording has missing sections (not abridged, but actual dropped audio) and some areas where chapters or sections seem to have been swapped.

For the most part, you'll be able in infer what has happened in the story, but it really is enough to take you out of the experience.

5 th time reading!

I love this book. reccomended during my 1st year of PhD. Perfect beginning to a new chapter in my life and periodically as my worldview evolved. Fun storyline.

Amazing!

Fantastic book with amazing reading. the voice changes and rhythm made the whole thing come together fantastically.

Sophie’s World breaks the mold of what a philosophy book is

Sophie’s world is by far one of the greatest philosophy stories I’ve ever read because it keeps you engaged while learning about great philosophers from the past! I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the world of philosophy.

Best way to obtain a short history of Philosophy

I read this book in high school and fell in love with it. Hearing the book on audio I fell in love with it again. It really expands your way of thinking causing you to get lost into your thoughts. All I can say is everyone should read this book.