Sophie's World

A Novel About the History of Philosophy

By: Jostein Gaarder, Paulette Møller - translator

Narrated by: Simon Vance

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print.

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, 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.

Critic reviews

“Extraordinary…read it for yourself.” —Newsweek

“A simply wonderful, irresistible book...a cross between Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy and Alice in Wonderland.” —Daily Telegraph

“Sophie's World is sheer delight. How I wish I'd had it during my college freshman survey of philosophy!” —Madeleine L'Engle

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.