Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy

by Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy

published

March 1st 1996 (first published 1995) by Berkley

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binding

Paperback, 544 pages

characters

Sophie

isbn

0425152251 (isbn13: 9780425152256)

description

Wanting to understand the most fundamental questions of the universe isn't the province of ivory-tower intellectuals alone, as this book's enormous...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 10227)

All ratings | 5 stars (2070) | 4 stars (2646) | 3 stars (2129) | 2 stars (751) | 1 star (294) | avg 3.72

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Toby

Toby rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

05/07/08

Read in July, 2004

recommended to Toby by: my wife
recommends it for: philosophy students, teenagers

It took me two months to get through this 500-page book. I can rationalize the reasons thusly:

— I was busy.

— I took time to absorb the content of the book. Instead of rushing through it, I let each chapter sink in before I moved on.

But that’s, you know, rationalizing. Here’s the real reason: It’s not very good. Okay, wait, that’s not fair. Let me start again.

Sophie’s World is, as the full title suggests, a “Novel about the history of philosophy.” The idea...more

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Beth

Beth rated it:

07/11/07

bookshelves: zzzzzzzzz

Read in January, 2005

recommends it for: nobody

I was a philosophy major in school and *everybody* would ask if I had read Sophie's World. "What an amazing book!" they would gush. "You'll love it!"

So I bought it. Purchased the book, let it simmer on my shelf for awhile, and finally picked it up a few years ago to give it a go.

I slogged through the first few chapters. Did my best to suspend my disbelief at the transparently device the author uses to introduce the ideas of many famous (and not-so-famous) philosop...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

4 comments

Rebecca

Rebecca rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

01/08/08

bookshelves: experimental-weird, froo-froo-intellectual, just-plain-bad, philosophy-and-religion

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people who want a quick philosophy lesson

The two things this book has going for it are: the plot and narrative frame are original and creative, and the story is more informative than most.

The basic premise is that a 14-year-old Norwegian girl embarks on a correspondence course with a philosopher, and he teaches her the major points of Western philosophy, from the ancient Greeks up until the existentialists. What makes the narrative structure more original than your average novel is that everything becomes very meta and self-refe...more The two things this book has going for it are: the plot and narrative frame are original and creative, and the story is more informative than most.

The basic premise is that a 14-year-old Norwegian girl embarks on a correspondence course with a philosopher, and he teaches her the major points of Western philosophy, from the ancient Greeks up until the existentialists. What makes the narrative structure more original than your average novel is that everything becomes very meta and self-referential towards the end, when it comes to light that the girl and the teacher are not what they appear to be. The book is somewhat postmodern in this respect, but brought down to a level suitable for young adult readers.

As far as the story being informative -- by the end of the book, I had learned a lot about trends in the history of philosophy, as well as the major ideas of each major philosopher's project, so in that respect Sophie's World was useful and educational.

However, the book was weighed down by several elements of the story that a good editor could have foreseen and cut out. In general the author devotes too much energy to trivial details, which ultimately results in him writing a 500 page novel that could have been improved by being merely a 300 page novel. On top of that, Gaarder is not adept at the mystery genre, but tries to make this book a mystery story anyway. Sophie is under-characterized and has several unnecessary flaws that contribute nothing to the story and only serve to make the reader dislike her. The man who teaches Sophie philosophy is condescending, patronizing, and pedantic.

Throughout the entire story, I found it very unrealistic that no one else thought that it was untoward or creepy that a 40-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl were alone together for hours in his house several days a week. Sophie's mother was very curious about this man, but she never forbade Sophie from seeing him or asked Sophie if everything was all right, and she only met him after the correspondence course had been going on for several months. Sophie was ditching schoolwork and family to be with this man and was totally obsessed with him. He remained totally in control throughout the whole story and commanded her in a way that made me uncomfortable at times. It seems that Gaarder would have been uncomfortable having the philosophy teacher be female -- Gaarder himself used to be a philosophy teacher, and so he probably found it more comfortable to have the character representing him be the same sex as him -- but he was too squeamish to confront the realities of such a socially suspect relationship, and I found that irresponsible of him, especially in a book geared towards young adults.

My other major criticism of the book is that it deals entirely with Western philosophy and only the dead white men of Western philosophy, at that. Gaarder tries to compensate for this by having Sophie be his mouthpiece for feminism, but not only do I find it highly unlikely that a 14-year-old girl would take up arms about women's rights the way she did, but I also found most of her comments to be the kind of canned, stereotypical comments that a male who didn't know much about feminism would assume a feminist would say.

My one final thought will be to say that if you read this book (and you should only read it if you have nothing better at hand), pay attention to the role of motherhood and fatherhood in the story. Although the book is not about mothers and fathers, parents play a large role in the characters' lives, and the way Gaarder portrays mothers as meddling, clueless, domestic drones and fathers as intelligent, authoritative (and absent) heroes says more about Gaarder's own life than I think he intended it to.

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Kman

Kman rated it:

07/25/07

Read in January, 2000

Marx accused philosophers of describing the world and failing to change it. One of the extremely innovatinve aspects of this book is the author's ability to demonstrate how the world would be if philosophers did indeed change it. Bizarre though Berkeley, Hegel and Leibniz may seem to us, Gaarder does a remarkable job showing us how the world would looks like through the spectacles of these thinkers. Sophie's World is arguably unparalleled in its ability to "apply" the philosophical dis...more Marx accused philosophers of describing the world and failing to change it. One of the extremely innovatinve aspects of this book is the author's ability to demonstrate how the world would be if philosophers did indeed change it. Bizarre though Berkeley, Hegel and Leibniz may seem to us, Gaarder does a remarkable job showing us how the world would looks like through the spectacles of these thinkers. Sophie's World is arguably unparalleled in its ability to "apply" the philosophical discourse to the way "the world is." Furthermore, there is no doubt that Gaarder pays very careful and too often neglected attention to the context in which the philosophers developed their theories. The writing is clear enough that a lay reader will have no difficulty understanding what is going on, and the plot is sufficiently intriguing. There is one area, however, where this book is a disappointment. The passages describing the philosophers' lines of thought and such what, largely standard stuff, read like entries copied out of an encyclopedia. Perhaps their nature compels them to be long and rather dry, but they can be shortened sufficiently, or divided up more so that theory may be presented by example in the plot, and so on. There is also a very awkward sense of discontinuity between theory and practice that this fosters. Finally, I disagree with his decision to restrict discussion about recent philosophy to Freud and Sartre. While understandable, the enormous influence in philosophy proper of characters like the Pragmatists, Frege or Heidegger gets little to no mention while a great deal is spent on pre-Hegelian romantics and other groups I consider not horribly important. Gaarder does demonstrate an interesting subthesis showing how the sciences slowly removed themselves from "philosophy" (from Ptolemy to Darwin)and perhaps Freud, placed in this context, is understandable. However, as this is a minor point, the work is nevertheless altogether enjoyable and uncontroversial when it comes to describing most of the philosophers....less

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Karen

Karen rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

09/04/07

bookshelves: books-i-didnt-like-

Read in August, 2007

What went right in the beginning of with Sophie's World? And what caused it to plunge so grievously, groan-inducingly wrong? As a colleague commented to me, it's not often that we make it all the way through books that turn us off so dramatically. True. However, it's also unusual that a book would seem at least moderately intriguing and appealing for 500 pages, then flop. Flop in my personal opinion, that is.

The good things about Sophie's World...Interesting frame story that evolves int...more

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Bader

Bader rated it:

(review of isbn 0374530718)

11/06/07

bookshelves: arabic, in-my-library

recommends it for: get in Philosophy

Have you ever got from your friend that notebook where you like to read or study from it? Have you every said thing such: “OMG, He got the professor’s idea and wrote it very well” or thing such: “great summary you did for these lessons, may you give it to me to copy it”. Jostein Gaarder is one of these people who know how to give you a well done summary which makes you so comfortable with studying. However, while you were studying that notes to achieve what you want to achieve you will...more

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Virgianti

Virgianti rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

10/17/07

Buku ini gue baca udah lama banget, pas awal-awal gw kul di psikologi. Direkomendasikan oleh salah satu temen gw, ktanya bgs buat belajar filsafat. Secara gue waktu SMA ga pernah tau dg keberadaan ilmu filsafat sama sekali, dan gw harus menghadapi mata kuliah filsafat selama 2 tahun berturut2 (kalo ngulang, ya berarti lbh lama lg dr itu...).

So... I read this book. Menarik banget. Diawali dgn seorang gadis kecil named Sophie, yang, spt kebanyakan anak kecil lainnya, penasaran dgn setiap inch...more

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Shawn

Shawn rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

08/25/07

bookshelves: philosophy

Read in August, 2007

For the most part, the history of philosophy offered in Sophie’s World is sound, though of course often overly simplified. Such simplification is expected and acceptable in a book of this size and for its intended audience. It is at its best in the classical and medieval periods. As we get into the 18th and 19th centuries, there are some disappointing and questionable choices. There is altogether too much attention given to Marx and Freud, while nothing is remarked about John Stuart Mill or ...more
For the most part, the history of philosophy offered in Sophie’s World is sound, though of course often overly simplified. Such simplification is expected and acceptable in a book of this size and for its intended audience. It is at its best in the classical and medieval periods. As we get into the 18th and 19th centuries, there are some disappointing and questionable choices. There is altogether too much attention given to Marx and Freud, while nothing is remarked about John Stuart Mill or John Locke (his political thought). A reader might get the impression that existentialism was the dominant philosophy of the 20th century and not the analytic tradition that actually does dominate, for better or for worse, the Anglo-American world. The thinkers of great importance for this tradition: Moore, Russell, Wittgenstein, are not mentioned at all. This absence is ultimately forgivable because the book was written by a Scandinavian for a Scandinavian audience. Still, the reader should be aware that philosophy in the English speaking world goes in a very different direction than the direction that Alberto takes Sophie.

The story itself is not all that interesting. There is little in the way of characterization and the mystery and fantasy elements are too forced. Sophie can be annoying in the way a 15 year old know it all can be annoying. The adults, other than Alberto, are hardly more developed than the adults of Charlie Brown. And for all the fantastic elements in the book, the hardest to believe is that Sophie’s mother lets her daughter gallivant around with a 50-year old stranger.

I do not think this is not a book for a seasoned philosopher or really any adult reader. It is just a bit too childish. I would probably recommend it, however, for a young adult interested in learning about philosophy. But, then again, if that young adult were precocious enough to be interested in philosophy at that age, I would rather just hand him something by Plato or Aristotle.
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Diah Ayu

Diah Ayu rated it:

(review of isbn 0374530718)

08/14/07

bookshelves: foreign-novel

recommends it for: anyone who wants to know about philosophy

well, selesai baca buku ini, aku dapat dengan yakin memutuskan satu hal: aku gak suka filsafat.

bukan, bukan karena buku ini jelek. samasekali enggak. justru buku inilah yg bikin aku ngerti apa seh sbenernya filsafat itu. buku yg menceritakan para filsuf terkenal dan pemikiran mereka mule dari jaman Plato sampe Sigmund Freud (iya, diurutin berdasarkan tahun gitu, bener2 kya ensiklopedi). buku yg berusaha keras (aku tahu si Jostein Gaarder bener2 berusahaaaa...) menjelaskan pemikiran filsafat ...more

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Michelle

Michelle rated it:

(review of isbn 0374530718)

11/07/08

bookshelves: norway, philosophy

Read in November, 2007

recommended to Michelle by: a friend
recommends it for: everyone

Sophie's World is a magical tale in the vast philosophical world. From Plato to contemporary philosophy.
Fantastic and great tale!. Extraordinary travel in the past, present and future.....an odyssey.

No stamp, no sender ... The interior? a piece of paper with simply writing: "Who are you?"
How stupid question! It is Sophie! Sophie Amundsen! But if it was someone else? Synnøve Amundsen, ...more

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Ginnie

Ginnie rated it:

(review of isbn 0374530718)

02/10/08

If a book doesn't interest me I am usually comfortable closing it and going on to something else. This one I loathed so heartily I wanted to rip it apart - but it belonged to the public library and so I returned it unripped. I had read several positive reviews and hoped a book aimed at 15-year olds would be just my speed for a philosophy survey. Bosh. A philosophy book that skitters through the middle ages giving less than half a page to scholasticism is a strange one. Sophie's World ...more

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5 comments

Peejo

Peejo rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

10/25/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: thinkers, quesioners of authority

Wow. This book is a personal victory for me. I am currently entering the second great phase of reading in my life, and finally finishing this goddam book is responsible for that. I haven't read many books since graduating high school, and in those days I would read all the time in and out of class. My mom gave me this for my birthday a few years ago, and I've been slowly but surely reading it since then. I finally put some energy into it and finished it just recently, and now I feel like I'...more

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Nefik

Nefik rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

10/07/07

bookshelves: fairytale, philosophy, special, world

recommends it for: everyone

When I first saw the cover and read the summary of this book, it was very unnappealing and certainly not to my taste. I was unfamiliar with the hype it got so that didn't help. (I normally pay no attention to any accomplishments listed in the book itself)

I had a hunch that there would be points where the book would impress me and at points, it had a potential to be substandard but something about it made me pick it up and I'm glad I did as this remains to be one of THE books that I will trea...more When I first saw the cover and read the summary of this book, it was very unnappealing and certainly not to my taste. I was unfamiliar with the hype it got so that didn't help. (I normally pay no attention to any accomplishments listed in the book itself)

I had a hunch that there would be points where the book would impress me and at points, it had a potential to be substandard but something about it made me pick it up and I'm glad I did as this remains to be one of THE books that I will treasure forever.

It's one of those gateway type of books that unless someone was extremely lucky to know the target idea or just was a genius or a college degree major with a high pedigree of encyclopedic knowledge on the characters within the book, could easily be tagged as one of a kind. So...it's no different from the spiritual books like Ishmael or The Alchemist but it one ups those books by bringing something that doesn't really have a bigger message but has such basic storytelling elements that it really comes off as the next evolution of a kid's storybook yet still deeply engraving all the complex nuances and names of a boring book on philosophy.

The only accurate summary I can give to this book is it's a fun idiot's guide to philosophy. Emphasis on fun. Even if you don't care much for philosophy and just want a good read that's neither dumb nor attempts to be intelligent, this is it.

Some criticized this for it's simplified take though if you really look into it, it can't really be said to be simplified. It's more "idealized" or "conceptualized" but nothing glaring is omitted. Except of course, people will argue that something is omitted or over-emphasized or this or that should have more focus or not, etc. but appearing to forget the fact that any proper research can easily verify these accounts and for people who got enwrapped by this book, there's no question about it, if they don't research it, they will have the passion to do so when the necessity arises.

I don't think anyone's arguing that this book is to be used as a reference for the more empirical parts of philosophy but I think that's what many reviewers who see it are treating and criticizing it as.

Overall, I think this is a book that someone needs to just pick up regardless of their age or expertise. Sure, like any book this can disappoint but you never know when the life of someone who happen to chance upon and read the book will change. If anything, I disagree that the main theme of this book is philosophy.

It's something else and people who look into the philosophy part too much are really missing the essence and I'm not saying this because I'm some superior reviewer who thinks I'm better than everyone else. Most of the other reviewers probably have better credentials than me.

I'd like to try to attempt to explain what it is but I think Kamyar's comment under his review said it best (ironically while bashing the book):

http://www.goodreads.com/revie...

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Arash

Arash rated it:

(review of isbn 9644480414)

07/21/08

Read in July, 2007

همانطور که پشت جلد کتاب نوشته است،«گردر» استاد ساده نویسی و ایجاز است.
مطالعه این کتاب را مخصوصاً به کسانی که مطالعات فلسلفی کمی داشته اند توصیه میکنم.بیان ساده مسائل فلسفی به همراه مثالهایی که برای سوفی زده میشود به خواننده کمک می کند تا دیدی کلی از مطلب پیدا کند .اما لازمه خ�...more

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Jonny

Jonny rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

04/26/07

bookshelves: misc-novels

Read in January, 2004

recommends it for: People new to philosophy

This book is to philosophy what Brysons A Short History Of Nearly Everything is to science, except it's nowhere near as enjoyable a read, and it's far more vague.

If you are already interested and educated in philosophy, then this book is not for you, as it only briefly touches on some theories and it over-simplified in most cases, leading the uneducated reader into thinking they understand the theory, when in f...more

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Banafsheh

Banafsheh rated it:

(review of isbn 9644480414)

07/21/08

bookshelves: philosophy

من هر سال تابستون اين كتاب رو دستم ميگيرم از اول شروع مي كنم به خوندن اما تا به وسط كتاب مي رسم كتابو ول مي كنم... در نتيجه بخشهاي مربوط به فيلسوفان قديم رو حفظ شدم اما از نزديكترها چيزي نخوندم!!! اميدوارم امسال ديگه به اين حال نيافتم!....اما همون نصفه اي كه خوندم رو خيلي خيلي دوست د�...more

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Shery

Shery rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

11/15/08

Read in June, 2004

recommended to Shery by: Emma Kearney
recommends it for: teenagers and adults

Sophie's World is a novel about the history of philosophy. In itself the title is a paradox, just as the book is. To read the book once is a mistake. It is a story about a young girl learning about philosophy from a sage, but it is also a book about the nature of reading and existence. Sophie's World is also a birthday present from a father to a daughter and an author to his readers. To read the novel just as a story without thinking of the deeper levels of how this book works...more

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Seth

Seth rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

04/19/08

Oh my lord, this book is a "mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle"v"mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle""mere bagatelle"&quo

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fatemeh

fatemeh rated it:

(review of isbn 9644480414)

07/21/08

bookshelves: philosophy

براي كساني كه اهل فلسفه و علاقه‌مند با آشنايي با داستان فلسفه در جهان هستند، كتاب بسيار مفيد و ارزشمند است، هرچند كه من خودم رو كشتم كه بتونم تمام اين كتاب رو بخونم نتونستم چون فلسفه برام لذتبخش نيست.

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Kevin Beary

Kevin rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993284)

11/09/08

Read in January, 2002

This may be officially the first book I seriously read in my aim to educate myself. I always was a casual reader but would go months without reading and mostly read fantasy books. I did read some for dummies books and liked some of the history books , but I remember this book to be the one that set me off on my quest of self-education.

I believe the impetus was 9-11th 2001 when I realized how little I knew about this world. I also was 30 yrs old , the adult threshold , and in Jan 2002 , ...more

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