Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World (FSG Classics) (Berkeley Signature Edition)

by Jostein Gaarder

When 14-year-old Sophie encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy, mysteries deepen in her own life. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined. A phenomenal worldwide bestseller, SOPHIE'S WORLD sets out to draw teenagers into the world of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and all the great philosophers. A brilliantly original and fascinating story with many twists and turns, it raises profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

4 of 5 stars

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Sophie’s World is written as a novel but really dives into the history of Philosophy. The book is about a teenage girl, Sophie who keeps getting letters on philosophy in the mail. These letters spark Sophie’s curiosity and provide questions and answers to questions on life. Jostein Gaarder intended the book to be both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy, which made the book very easy to read.

Sophie started her studies with the natural philosophers, before moving onto the popular Greeks (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle) all the way up to Darwin, Freud, and Sartre. Though covering most of the major philosophers Gaarder didn’t shy away from the lesser known or even the controversial ones (Marx). He did a good job of showing the positive and negative points of each philosopher, while trying not to tell the reader which ones are better than others.

The novel aspect of this book is bizarre and intriguing, with little examples of philosophical theories along the way. It did a great job of breaking up the history lesson to bring the reader back to the feeling of reading a novel. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading it again. Next time I plan to read it slower and spend time exploring these philosophers in greater detail. Well worth the read and a good introductory point into the world of philosophy.

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  • Started reading
  • 19 August, 2010: Finished reading
  • 19 August, 2010: Reviewed