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عالم صوفي: أو موجز تاريخ الفلسفة

Jostein Gaarder,

حافظ الجمالي (ترجمة)

3.94 · Rating details · 209,812 ratings · 11,509 reviews

تعود صوفي ذات يوم من مدرستها لتجد في صندوق البريد سؤالين يقولان: من أنت؟ ومن أين جاء العالم؟

تلك هي بداية المغامرة التي ستخوضها صوفي في عالم الفلسفة مع أستاذ غامض لا يريد أن يفصح عن هويته. ولن يكون غموض هذا الأستاذ إلا لغزاً من ألغاز أخرى كثيرة ستقتحم عالم صوفي. فلماذا تتلقى صوفي باستمرار بطاقات بريدية موجهة إلى بنت أخرى اسمها هيلد؟ ومن هي هيلد هذه؟ بل ومن هي صوفي ذاتها؟ تح تعود صوفي ذات يوم من مدرستها لتجد في صندوق البريد سؤالين يقولان: من أنت؟ ومن أين جاء العالم؟

تلك هي بداية المغامرة التي ستخوضها صوفي في عالم الفلسفة مع أستاذ غامض لا يريد أن يفصح عن هويته. ولن يكون غموض هذا الأستاذ إلا لغزاً من ألغاز أخرى كثيرة ستقتحم عالم صوفي. فلماذا تتلقى صوفي باستمرار بطاقات بريدية موجهة إلى بنت أخرى اسمها هيلد؟ ومن هي هيلد هذه؟ بل ومن هي صوفي ذاتها؟ تحاول صوفي حل تلك الألغاز مستعينة بمعرفتها الوليدة بالفلسفة. لكن الحقيقة التي ستنتهي إلى اكتشافها أغرب من كل ما كان بوسعها تخيله.

في هذا القالب الروائي الشائق نطالع عرضاً مبسطاً لمسار الفلسفة الغربية منذ العصر اليوناني القديم حتى عصرنا الحاضر.

والرواية تتبع مسار ذلك الفكر في ارتباطه بالسياق التاريخي الذي تطور داخله. فهي تعرض، مثلاً، الملامح العامة للثقافة اليونانية والملامح العامة لثقافة المسيحية وكيف تصادمتا من جهة وتفاعلتا من جهة أخرى. كما تعرض لعصر النهضة وعصر الباروك والعصر الرومانسي وما كان لهذه الفترات المختلفة من تأثيرات في مجالات العمارة والفن والموسيقى. وهي تعرض أيضاً لتطور النظريات العلمية التي تركت آثارها على عالم الفكر والفلسفة مثل التصورات العلمية لجاليليو وكوبرنيك ونيوتن وداروين. وتتطرق إلى أحدث المعارف المتعلقة بنشأة الحياة ونشأة الكون. كما تتناول، علاوة على ذلك، التصورات الحديثة عن نفس الإنسان. والكتاب إذن عرض لتاريخ الحضارة الغربية ككل. ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, الرابعة, 518 pages

Published 2009 by دار طلاس (first published December 5th 1991)

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May 16, 2014 Ahmad Ebaid rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: تاريخ, أدب, فلسفة

I have started reading the English translation then I compared it to two other Arabic ones, and that was confusing as GOD, then I scheduled it again and again

بدأت القراءة في نسخة الترجمة الإنجليزية لأن أحدهم أفاد بأن الترجمة العربية سيئة، ثم قلت لنفسي "بلاش انجليزي أنا مش قد كدا"، وتراجعت للعربية ثم رجعت للإنجليزية من جديد.

"Thus was the confusing inside me - هكذا كان الصراع بداخلي"

وهكذا ضُرب علي الذل وتم تأجيل القراءة عدة مرات!...

أولاً، بجانب الترجمة الإنجليزية، فالكتاب كان متاح لي بترجمتين م I have started reading the English translation then I compared it to two other Arabic ones, and that was confusing as GOD, then I scheduled it again and again

بدأت القراءة في نسخة الترجمة الإنجليزية لأن أحدهم أفاد بأن الترجمة العربية سيئة، ثم قلت لنفسي "بلاش انجليزي أنا مش قد كدا"، وتراجعت للعربية ثم رجعت للإنجليزية من جديد.

"Thus was the confusing inside me - هكذا كان الصراع بداخلي"

وهكذا ضُرب علي الذل وتم تأجيل القراءة عدة مرات!...

أولاً، بجانب الترجمة الإنجليزية، فالكتاب كان متاح لي بترجمتين مختلفتين بالعربية: ترجمة "حياة الحويك"، وترجمة "أحمد لطفي". وبالمقارنة بين الكتابين كان الآتي:

- الثلاث ترجمات يحتوين على أخطاء في الترجمة، ولكن الأخطاء أكثر في الترجمات العربية؛ نتيجة أن الكتب لم تراجع. ومع ذلك فالأخطاء في ترجمة "الحويك" عددها محدود نوعاً ما، مقارنة بأخطاء أحمد لطفي العديدة.

- أسلوب السرد مختلف تماماً
"أحمد لطفي" يسترسل في عباراته أكتر من الترجمة الإنجليزية، وعبارات الحويك بسيطة وموجزة عن الترجمة الإنجليزية.
"حويك" سردت الكتاب بأسلوبها، واعترفت بهذا ضمنياً عندما استبدلت لفظة "المترجم" لـ "النص العربي بواسطة"،
وهذا ما سبب فرق واضح في عدد الصفحات، بواقع 130 صفحة زائدة في ترجمة "أحمد لطفي" عن ترجمة "الحويك".
فوجب التنبيه على أن ترجمة "الحويك" ليست ناقصة، بل وعلى النقيض، فترجمة لطفي ناقصة تعمداً من المترجم!!.

فنجد "لطفي" يستهل مقدمته بأنه قد أعطى لنفسه الحق في استئصال ومحو كل ما هو مخالف لثقافتنا المحلية، على حد رؤيته بالطبع
تقريبا نستطيع اعتبار أن ترجمته هي نسخه "حلال" من الرواية!.
ولكن هذا الخيار "الحلال" متاح لفئة "المسلمين الوسطيين" فقط، وهي الفئة التي ترعاها الدولة والأزهر. فإذا كنت تنتهج أحد المذاهب الأكثر انفتاحا فستشعر بأن الرواية ناقصة يلازمها العوار طوال قراءتك لها.
وإن كان نهجك أكثر تشددا بتراث السلف، فهذه الترجمة لن تقل كفراً عن ترجمة "الحويك"، بل ستعطيك ترجمة "الحويك" نظرة أكثر شمولية عن تطور الفكر الغربي ومدى كفره، فيصبح لديك حصيلة أكبر من الأسباب التي تبرر لك عدم مثاليتهم، وهذه خطوة نحو حلمك، كأي سلفي، بأن تصبح طالب علم ناجح!.

- ترجمة "حياة الحويك" لديها نقطة إيجابية إضافية على ترجمة "أحمد لطفي"، وهي أن ترجمتها متناسقة جدا، ونصوصها سلسة أقرب ما تكون لنص لغته الأصلية العربية منها لكلمات مترجمة. جيدة جداً لغويا.

وكان القرار النهائي لخطة القراءة كالآتي:
بما أنه في كل الأحوال تحتوي الترجمتان العربيتان على غلطات في الترجمة، ولكن ترجمة "الحويك" أجمل، و تعتبر ترجمة أمينة؛
فقراءتي اعتمدت بشكل أساسي على ترجمة "الحويك"، وعند بعض الجمل التي أستشعر بأنها ليست مضبوطة، أو غير مستساغة لسوء الترجمة، فأبحث عنها في ترجمة "لطفي"، ثم أرجع لاستئناف القراءة من ترجمة "الحويك" مرة ثانية.
ولقد وجدت أن الأخطاء ليست بهذا القدر الكبير من الجسامة أو الوضوح، فمن الممكن أن تنهي قراءة الكتاب دون الشعور بوجود أية أخطاء في ترجمة "الحويك"
وطبعا لو أنك ترى أن "الحلال أجمل"، أو تخاف على مشاعرك من أن تُجرحها هرطقات خارجة عن قوانين قبيلتنا، بغض النظر عن جودة النص الذي معك، فقشطة عادي، دوس في ترجمة أحمد لطفي على طول.
أنا وضحت الفروق بين الترجمتين، وكلٌ حرٌ في اختياره.

**
نقاط أخرى عن الرواية وبدون حرق للأحداث:

- أناس كثر يفتهمون الفلسفة بطريقة مغلوطة؛ فالفلسفة ليست شجاراً بين "ماركس" و"هيجل" على أشياء غير مفهومة وليس لها قيمة.
الفلسفة هي منهاج لرؤية الحياة وفهمها، وفي هذا الكتاب ستعرف كيف كان الأولين يرون الحياة، وكيفية تطور هذه النظرة بمرور العصور.

- إذا فتحت أي برنامج حواري في التلفاز ولو لمرة واحدة في حياتك ع الأقل، فأكيد أن أحد الأفكار التي قيلت فيه قد وردت في هذا الكتاب بالضرورة؛ فالفكر الأصولي عندنا مؤثر على شتى النواحي تقريبا، ومازال يُقْتَبَس من الأقدمين باعتبارهم عاشوا خير القرون.

- لو انك تنتوي القراءة في أي كتب علمية لاحقا، فستجد الأفكار التي شرحت هنا بتفصيل، تسرد هناك بدون أي شرح أو مقدمات، على اعتبار أنها بديهيات يعرفها كل محب للعلم، وقرأ عنها بالضرورة!.

وهذا الكتاب هو أفضل مقدمة في الفلسفة بدون منازع، فشرحه مرتب وسهل، ولا يتطرق سوى للأساسيات.
رغم أن "راسل" يرى أن البدء في الفلسفة بقراءة تاريخها بهذه الطريقة هو جريمة ومصادرة للفكر والتأمل، ولكن معظمنا غير متاح له رفاهية تعلّم الفلسفة بطريقة نظامية، وغلبة الناس لا يستهويهم تأمل الحياة المحض إلى هذا الحد المجهد!
**
"الفيلسوف هو الشخص الذي لم يفقد القدرة على الاندهاش من العالم"

عموما، فقراءة أول فصلين من الرواية، التي تعتبر مقدمتها، كفيلة بإخبارك إذا كنت فيلسوفا أم لا، وإذا كنت ستكمل الكتاب أم ستنفره!.

The vast of majority of people having a wrong idea about Philosophy. Philosophy is not a non-sense conflict between "Marx" and "Hegel" about an incomprehensible issues that have no practical value.
Philosophy is method and theory to see and understand the life, and this book will show you how our procedures sought of life, and how they developed their own theories by the ages.

If you opened the TV at any time, you would see at least one of the ideas which is mentioned here in the book. no mater how it is old, they will be always an attractive ideas.

If you intend to read any scientific book later, then you would see some of the philosophical ideas that is explained here, without any explanation there; as it is a primary knowledge that every scientific geek should have known about.

And this book is the best introduction to philosophy's garden, as its explanation is organized and easy to perceive, and it branches to the essentials only.
Though "Russel" thinks that learning about philosophy in historical way, is not the best way to handle it, but not all of us have spare time to attend brain storming classes about philosophy. and the vast majority have no curiosity of it to spend all that time in thinking and contemplating in philosophical ways.

Reading the first two chapters will show to you if you born as a philosopher or not, and if you would finish it or not!.

**
"Philosopher is the man who hasn't lost his ability to be surprised of world"

"Sophie's World" was a simplified introduction about the history of philosophical ideas as the first step for learning about philosophy itself. what is next? someone asked me on ask.fm what is next after Sophie's World
In an alternative way, you could watch "crush course: philosophy" series to learn about some terms of philosophy. and i do not recommend it so far; because it is so simplified that it hardly talking about serious philosophy.

The second step for philosophy, I think it should be book about specific topics with kind of depth, and i recommend "Luc Ferry's" books such as "Learning to Live" as it super smart ideas summarized to easy sense,
and I recommend "Introducing" series by "David Robinson", as is exhibited with graphics, and focuses about contemporary philosophy, which Sophie's World do not consider at all.

You may want to read more about historical schools of philosophy; because reading it for one time is not enough, so would love to read another book about it.
and I recommend trilogy of "A History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russel, and "The story of Philosophy" by Will Durant.
That is far OK for beginners, then it will direct you to another great book about specific topics.

In the end, be cautious of book with "Introduction" in its title, so that most of them are difficult to understand or so simplified that it has no importance. and be cautious of Goodreads reviews from "Intellectuals of Novels" because they only understand in novels, not PHILOSOPHY.

***

ما هي الخطوة التالية؟ سألني أحد على الأسك عن الخطوة التالية ، وإليكم ما ارتأيته من إجابة

عالم صوفي كان بداية مبسطة جدا عن تاريخ الفلسفة كمدخل لاستيعاب الفلسفة ذاتها.
هنالك طريق مواز لبدء الفلسفة، يمثله ما اتخدته ""سلسلة كراش كورس عن الفلسفة""، من شرح المفاهيم الفلسفية ضمن الإطار الحديث لتصنيف فروع الفلسفة، وهو بداية جيدة، ولكني لا أحبذها لشدة إختصارها

المرحلة التالية أفضل أن تكون موضوعات بعينها بنوع من الاستفاضة، وأرشح منها كتب "لوك فيري"، وبالتحديد كتاب "تعلم الحياة، سأروي لك قصة الفلسفة"
ويمكنك المرور على سلسلة "أقدم لك" التي قدمها للعربية الأستاذ والفيلسوف "إمام عبد الفتاح إمام"، وهي مبسطة نوعا ما وموضحة بالرسومات، كما أنها تغطي ما فات "عالم صوفي" من الحديث عن الفلسفات المعاصرة
كما أن قراءتك "لعالم صوفي" ليست بالكافية لتكوين لمحات عن المذاهب الفلسفية وتطورها، لأن القراءة الأولى للمعلومة لن تغرسها بالقدر الكافي،
فيمكنك كحل، المرور على كتب أكثر تفصيلا عن تاريخ الفلسفة، وأرشح منها ثلاثية "برتراند راسل" المعنونة بـ "تاريخ الفلسفة الغربية"، و "قصة الفلسفة" للمؤرخ ذاع الصيت "ويل ديورانت"
هذه الترشيحات أظنها كافية وبسيطة لمبتدئ. انهل منها أولا قبل التفكير في ترشيحات ثانية أبعد وأكثر تخصصاً. والترشيحات السابقة ستوجهك لمئات العناوين التالية اللي "ميجراش حاجة لو جربت حظك معاها"
وحذار من ريفيوهات "الجود ريدز" التي يكتبها "مثقفي الروايات" عن الكتب الفلسفية؛ لأن "العك كتير"، ولأنك "هتلبس ياما" في ترشيحات مهترئة بسببهم.
وكقاعدة عامة، فلا يوجد كتاب معنون بـ"مقدمة عن الفلسفة" إلا وصعب لا يستسيغه مبتدئ، أو مهتريء لا يسمن ولا يغني!.

قراءة ممتعة
...more

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May 07, 2008 Toby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: philosophy students, teenagers

Recommended to Toby by: my wife

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 is to present that history as a narrativ ...more

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Apr 28, 2008 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, german, novels, classics, literature, 20th-century, norwegian-literature

Sofies Verden = Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World is a 1991 novel by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder. It follows the events of Sophie Amundsen, a teenage girl living in Norway, and Alberto Knox, a middle-aged philosopher who introduces her to philosophical thinking and the history of philosophy.

The book begins with Sophie receiving two messages in her mailbox and a postcard addressed to Hilde Møller Knag. Afterwards, she receives a packet of papers, part of a course in philosophy. ...more

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Jul 11, 2007 Beth rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: nobody

Shelves: zzzzzzzzz, yuk

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) philosophers. I tried to ignore the soph ...more

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Mar 17, 2017 Luffy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: decent-enough, pretty-good, page-turner, children, review-worth-reading, classic

This has been an upsetting reread because I've found that though the book is a quiet entity on its own and in the mind of its readers, I was left hungry for more, but I was also balanced. For years after I read this book, which changed my life for the better, I thought it was the best read of the world.

Naive that I was, I also thought back then, that all philosophy books were as digestible as Sophie's World. What a delusion! The book is now slow and uncouth, being cut from the same cloth as Aris ...more

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Dec 27, 2007 Rebecca rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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-referentia 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.

...more

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Jul 19, 2014 Manny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: older-men-younger-women, parody-homage, linguistics-and-philosophy, mentions-twilight, history-and-biography, the-goodreads-experience, swedish-norwegian-and-danish, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, ya

Basically, Russell's History of Western Philosophy adapted as a postmodern Norwegian YA novel. Or if you want more details:

(view spoiler) Basically, Russell's History of Western Philosophy adapted as a postmodern Norwegian YA novel. Or if you want more details:

(view spoiler)
...more

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Jun 08, 2008 David Monroe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, children

I enjoyed the book immensely. I studied basic philosophy in college so I soon became aware that many philosophers were left out and whole era's were glossed over in this book. You know, that's OK. One - It's not a text book and two - It's NOT a text book!

The stories are separate and finally come together in a fairly predictable way. It is a bit didactic, but imagine yourself a very bright, curious, thoughtful and sensitive 14, 15 or 16 year-old struggling with the usual thoughts and feelings of ...more

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May 02, 2012 Nandakishore Varma rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is an ambitious project which falls flat - in my opinion, of course.

It is a very good introduction to European philosophy, with a few casual references to Eastern thought thrown in for the sake of comparison. Starting with Pre-Socratics, it provides a fairly simple and comprehensive look at classical philosophy. In the middle, it makes a detour into Christian theology and the Middle Ages before emerging triumphantly from the dark with Renaissance thought. Toward Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is an ambitious project which falls flat - in my opinion, of course.

It is a very good introduction to European philosophy, with a few casual references to Eastern thought thrown in for the sake of comparison. Starting with Pre-Socratics, it provides a fairly simple and comprehensive look at classical philosophy. In the middle, it makes a detour into Christian theology and the Middle Ages before emerging triumphantly from the dark with Renaissance thought. Towards the end, it discusses Marxism in detail, and Darwin's evolutionary theory and Freud's psychoanalytic techniques as though they were "philosophies" (while many other path-breaking scientific discoveries are left untouched) before ending with Sarte's existentialism. It seems to be targetted at young readers, and may encourage some of the serious ones to take up the study of philosophy: if so, that much is in the book's favour.

As to the literary merits of the work, I have to regretfully give a total thumbs-down. The story is mostly dialogue; Gaarder uses the ages-old technique of Plato to get across complex philosophical ideas through relatively simple sentences. While the intention is admirable, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Sophie comes across most of the time as rather moronic, and her teacher Alberto sounds like a pompous ass.(view spoiler) Towards the end, the style of dialogue became so repetitive as to become grating: for example, the sentence: "a mere bagatelle, Sophie." is uttered like a chant by Alberto at regular intervals (to be totally fair, it may be a problem with the translation, but I do not think so).

(view spoiler)

I would recommend this book only for casual young readers who want an introduction to European philosophy. If they are really serious, I would recommend The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, which is a much better book and much more exciting. ...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Emily May rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It was okay. But I was hoping for a beautiful and engaging tale that took away the usual textbook format of reading about philosophy. It didn't happen. This book was nothing more than a lesson in letters and conversations, and I found the style didn't add anything exciting which I'm supposing was the point.

I didn't hate it but I could have just read my Philosophy of Religion AQA guide from college.

...more

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Feb 27, 2018 AMEERA rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really liked the idea of this book and has such a beautiful informations about everything but was boring to death and the same informations repeat them self 💔!!!

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Oct 09, 2011 Karl-O rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, fantasy, religion, young-adult, to-be-read-again

Sophie’s World is an outline of Western philosophy that is beautifully set in a fictional story. It goes from pre-Socratic philosophy all the way to Sartre.

Jostein Gaarder does a very good job not just by writing a concise history of philosophy, but also by writing a very accessible book for as far as early teenagers, which in itself is worthy of high praise. His comparison between different philosophers throughout the book is truly remarkable and made the book very enjoyable. He demonstrates, ...more

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Oct 09, 2007 Paul Bryant rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

My dear Sophie, there comes a time when you have to face some harsh truths about this wicked world. And I think that time is now. Some people, and it pains me to say this, are not what they seem. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but that breezy scoutmaster, that avuncular English teacher, and that fit young P.E. teacher might not be paedophiles at all. I know! Sometimes you have to read between the lines, and catch the innuendo in what appear to be innocent remarks. For instance, should the E ...more

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Jan 26, 2021 DragonWithHeels rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-nonfic-challenge, dnf

Well this book sucked. It's probably one of the worst books I've ever read. Let's start with a recap.

An old man leaves questionable letters in a 14 year old girl's mailbox, and they have a secret correspondence for months. The old man continues leaving many letters, but when Sophie asks he insists that his identity be kept secret and he doesn't want to meet in person.

Because that's not problematic in the slightest way, at all.

I know what you are thinking. "The letters are only philosophy le ...more

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May 06, 2009 K.D. Absolutely rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Jillian

Recommended to K.D. by: Dexter Rutaquio

Shelves: 501, childrens

This is a truly one of the most amazing books that I read so far! After reading a few pages in 2007, I got really busy at work so this got sidelined. When I got interested on reading again a few months back and last weekend I resumed reading this, I just could not put this down and finished remaining 400 pages or so in just 2 days. I had almost zero background in Philosophy and its novel filled up my brain to the brim! And the way this novel did that was amazing. It was an easy read as I know th ...more

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Feb 05, 2018 Saadia B. || CritiConscience rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Took me a while to complete this book. But it was totally worth it.

Blog | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn ...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Settare (on hiatus) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: teenagers wanting to read something a bit more serious than YA fantasy

Shelves: teenage-ya

I read this book a million years ago (in middle school, I was around 13). At the time, I used to read mostly speculative fiction and some [abridged] classics, and I had no patience for 'philosophy', but I remember enjoying it and learning from it.

I would not be going back to it, however. Life is short, and there is a multitude of better books out there. ...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

This is a novel that I remember zipping through and highly enjoying the first time I read it 20 years ago. When I decided to reread it, in part because of all the philosophical discussions on the excellent show "The Good Place," I was surprised by how much longer it took me to finish and how easily sidetracked I was by other books. (To be fair, I think I had this book with me on a remote vacation the first time, so I was a more captive audience back then.)

As the subtitle suggests, Sophie's World ...more

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Aug 28, 2015 Corinne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, evolution, favorites, learning, philisophy

I read this book when I was twenty, and then I read it again recently on a business trip.

What's great about this book is that the author takes the prominent Philosophers from the West, and renders their essences into a form digestible by the larger public. In fact, he wrote this book only to teach his high school class in philosophy, but then it became a worldwide success.

The only thing I regret is that the author has not cared to look into the philosophers from the East. If he did, I am sure ...more

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Nov 05, 2007 Bader rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: get in Philosophy

Shelves: in-my-library, arabic

Have you ever got from your friend that notebook that you like to read or study from? Have you ever 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 are studying those notes to achieve what you want to achieve you would read this boo ...more

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Jun 09, 2017 Kaya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“It's not a silly question if you can't answer it.”

It’s refreshing when my expectations are met. Though this book is mostly for those who haven’t met with the philosophy yet, it was a nice reminder of everything I studied at University. Since he’s one of my favorite authors, it’s really hard for me to be objective about his work, but this novel is truly remarkable, despite its many flaws.

In a nutshell, the book is about the history of philosophy, featuring a 14-year-old girl named Sophie an ...more

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Aug 30, 2007 Karen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-didnt-like

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 into an abso ...more

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Feb 04, 2019 May 舞 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I'm not sure how to rate this book. As a novel, there were many things that irked me: the dialogue was unnatural, the characters poorly built, and the narration was uninteresting. However, as a simplified re-counting of the history of Western Philosophy, it was extremely easy and enjoyable to read. I appreciate how I finally managed to understand some philosophers who have always eluded me (hello, Hegel). It was not terribly long -like History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, which too ...more

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Feb 12, 2020 Caroline rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: he-wrote-it, lost-interest, did-not-finish, ho-hum, magical-realism, mystery, so-much-potential

***NO SPOILERS***

(Full disclosure: Book abandoned on page 234 [out of 394 pages].)

The premise for Sophie's World is ingenious. It's a story about Sophie Amundsen, a sweet fourteen-year-old Norwegian girl who one day begins receiving mysterious letters. The letters are addressed to a girl named Hilde, a girl who sounds just like Sophie, right down to age--yet they come to Sophie's house and are meant for her.

These are highly unusual letters. They're about philosophy and the history of philosophy, ...more

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Mar 17, 2016 Manny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history-and-biography, linguistics-and-philosophy, older-men-younger-women, ya, science-fiction, transcendent-experiences, german-and-dutch, children

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read Sophie's World in Norwegian last year and quite liked it. Now my inner German child, who's decided he's called "Manfred", has read it too. He tells me it just blew him away and he'll write a review so that all my friends on Goodreads will know how fantastic it is.

"You can't write a review, Manfred," I say. "You're not even three yet."

"I'm much older than that!" says Manfred. "Would a three year old know words like Schwerkraft and Rationalismus and Nahrungsmittelproduktion?" I have to admi ...more

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Feb 05, 2020 Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, readbooks-male-author-or-illust, novel, groups-buddies, philosophy, 1-also-at-librarything, speculative-fiction, cats, books-about-books, dogs

This was one weird book and hard to rate and really hard to review and I did procrastinate about writing a review. I decided on rating this book 2-1/2 stars, rounded up to 3 for its clever premise and general creativity. It was a disappointment though. I’m trying to read only 5 and 4 star books and this did not come close. I don’t regret reading it and that says something for a book I could assign 3 stars only by stretching it.

I read this as a group buddy read with Caroline, Hilary, and Ann. I ...more

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Nov 18, 2013 Ko rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It was a good chance for me to know about the basic philosophy. I've never thought about what we are, why we are living in this world. Especially, I got interested in Plato's philosophy. We tend to be inside the box like the people living inside the cave described in this story. They don't understand outside the cave. We should critically think about everything, and find out the truth. This will lead to a new creation. I'd studied my second language for a long time before I found out the best wa ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 P.E. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: magical-realism, norwegian-literature

One day, Sophie receives a letter from a Alberto Knox she never heard the mere thing about. This is the beginning of a series of letters introducing the girl to Western philosophy.

A story aptly weaving a thread of major philosophical schools in an altogether entertaining plot!
From this book I worked my way to a keener outview on philosophy than I've had from 3 years' worth of philosophy in Secondary School and Prep School.

What happens to Sophie in the end is quite heart-rending.

Matching Soundtra ...more

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Oct 27, 2012 عماد العتيلي rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I read this book a long time ago, and I really liked it. It's very powerful and attractive. It gave me a general idea of philosophy (it's worth mentioning that it was the first book I read about philosophy).
I read it in Arabic and English, and I enjoyed them both:)

I recommend it for those who have no idea of philosophy and philosophers. It's simple and noteworthy. ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Annie rated it liked it · review of another edition

An interesting little metafiction— at times, meta-metafiction— for aspiring baby philosophers. A digestible, sweet narrative of the history of philosophy that, like many actual philosophers, employs dialogues to explain ideas.

At times, it’s pretty adorable, and I wish I’d read this in high school. Other times, it goes off on tangents, hammers its points home a little too aggressively, and exudes a little too much glee over its own cleverness.

Sophie Amundsun is a clever fourteen-year-old full o An interesting little metafiction— at times, meta-metafiction— for aspiring baby philosophers. A digestible, sweet narrative of the history of philosophy that, like many actual philosophers, employs dialogues to explain ideas.

At times, it’s pretty adorable, and I wish I’d read this in high school. Other times, it goes off on tangents, hammers its points home a little too aggressively, and exudes a little too much glee over its own cleverness.

Sophie Amundsun is a clever fourteen-year-old full of wonder about life, death, identity. She gets a note in the mail that says “Who are you?” and then “Where does the world come from?” After letting her muse over those questions and get annoyed about the fact that nobody else seems to care about that kind of thing (instead, her classmates are absorbed in things like who has a crush on whom and who’s winning sports events. Sophie, I feel your pain), the mysterious letter-sender begins sending her a course in philosophy— in little snippets at a time.

He tells her, “The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder.” He adds that children, every time they see a dog, or a lion at the zoo, cry ‘Dog!’ or ‘Lion!’ But when they’ve seen enough dogs and lions, they’re less impressed and stop shouting about it excitedly. But it’s a shame, he says— we should all be so constantly intrigued by things, and take nothing int world for granted. His intention, he says, is to ensure that Sophie does not grow up to be one of those adults who take the world for granted. Philosophers are like small children in that the world “continues to seem a bit unreasonable— bewildering, even enigmatic. . . . So you must choose, Sophie. Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so?”

The way he describes the Platonic shadows— via the horse explanation— is probably my favourite summary of it that I’ve ever come across:

You can make a batch of identical(ish) cookies because you use a cookie mold. The individual cookies are mostly identical, but of course might have minor flaws that distinguish them from each other. But the mold is the “perfect” shape off of which the other cookies are modeled. Likewise, in some other reality, the world of ideas, there is a horse that is a “perfect” horse off of which the horses we encounter in this sensory world are copied.

Then he says, “Plato believed the soul existed before it inhabited the body. But as soon as the soul wakes up in a human body, it has forgotten all the perfect ideas. Then something wondrous happens. As the human being discovers the various forms in the natural world, a vague recollection stirs his soul. He sees a horse— bu an imperfect horse. The sight of it is sufficient to awaken in the soula faint recollection of the perfect horse, which the soul once saw in the world of ideas, and this stirs the soul with a yearning to return to its true realm. Plato calls this yearning eros- love. The soul, then, experiences a longing to return to its true origin. From now on, the body and the whole sensory world is experienced as imperfect and insignificant. The soul yearns to fly home on the wings of love to the world of ideas. It longs to be freed from the chains of the body. . . . Plato believed that all natural phenomena are merely shadows of the eternal forms or ideas. But most people are content with a life among shadows. They give no thought to what is casting the shadows. They think shadows are all there are, never realizing even that they are, in fact, shadows. And thus they pay no heed to the immortality of their own soul. Plato’s point was not that the natural world is dark and dreary, but that it is dark and dreary in comparison with the clarity of ideas. A picture of a beautiful landscape is not dark and dreary either. But it is only a picture.” ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Target reader of this book	11	31	Nov 06, 2020 09:57AM
Sophie's Mother	8	20	Sep 03, 2020 10:06PM
Alberto’s characteristics	8	11	Sep 03, 2020 09:47PM
Joestein Gaarder's novels genre	8	8	Sep 03, 2020 09:40PM
My favourite part from this book	9	9	Sep 03, 2020 09:36PM
Sophie's characteristics	7	10	Sep 03, 2020 01:52AM
my fav quotes of sophie's world	7	15	Sep 03, 2020 01:40AM

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About Jostein Gaarder

Jostein Gaarder

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Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories, and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often uses meta-fiction in his works, writing stories within stories.

Gaarder was born into a pedagogical family. His best known work is the novel Sophie's World, subtitled "A Novel a ...more