Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (ISBN:0374530718)

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		Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (FSG Classics)
	
				(1150 reviews)			
(31417 Readers)

			Jostein Gaarder		
	
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie’s World has fired the imagination...more
 A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, 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.   less

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Highly recommend. You will love philosophy after read this.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
I would recommend the book to its audience intended: little girls. I did like it and enjoyed it but it was also vague. I'm not stupid; I am fully aware that the entire history of philosophy cannot be shoved into a book but I was hoping for other topics. It seemed that the philosophy on the perception on reality took up most of the pages. I laugh inside when the author in one of the pages wrote...more
 I would recommend the book to its audience intended: little girls. I did like it and enjoyed it but it was also vague. I'm not stupid; I am fully aware that the entire history of philosophy cannot be shoved into a book but I was hoping for other topics. It seemed that the philosophy on the perception on reality took up most of the pages. I laugh inside when the author in one of the pages wrote [paraphrasing] "if only there was a book about philosophy for fifteen year old girls."
 I noticed that for a book intended for girls in did not mention any philosophies of feminism like interdependent relationships instead of dependent or independent ones. In the end I will still recommend it.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Really cool review of philosophy (like A Brief History of Nearly Everything was for science) but story got sooooo hokey that I couldn't finish.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
As the cover says: A novel about the HISTORY of philosophy. So putting a note and a pen aside would be nice. Yet it was a good read and I did tilt my head thinking sometimes throughout reading it.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
I could not finish this book. While the passages about philosophy are highly readable and an excellent introduction to the various topics within the subject, they act more as huge speed bumps when trying to read the book as a novel. It makes the book ungainly and hard to manage. I couldn't see the story through the textbook.

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							Burcu
						
							few weeks ago						
A nice book telling the story of human thought..

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
One of the few books I was assigned to read for school that I actually enjoyed. This book is very deep and thought provoking. I read it for Dr. Stach's class at Bethany, as well as reading it with my friend Jean-Laurent, so we could discuss it. I need to re-read. Come to think of it, I can't even remember finishing it...
I like this cover better than the one on my book. I actually...more
 One of the few books I was assigned to read for school that I actually enjoyed. This book is very deep and thought provoking. I read it for Dr. Stach's class at Bethany, as well as reading it with my friend Jean-Laurent, so we could discuss it. I need to re-read. Come to think of it, I can't even remember finishing it...
I like this cover better than the one on my book. I actually never finished it, but it's a really really good book. I was reading it for Dr. Stach's class in college, and I just didn't have time to finish. So I suppose this is more something I'm "reading" but not exactly currently...   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
If you have even the slightest interest in philosophy this book is a MUST read.  The story is told through the eyes of a young girl and will catch your attention from the very first chapter - it's just intimidating to begin because it is somewhat long.  I have read it over and over through the years and always find something new and thought provoking that I didn't find the last time.

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							Shilpi
						
							few weeks ago						
This book had me speechless. I had to read three times to fully grasp the contents.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
In some ways, a frustrating book to read, given I would say general problems with parts of the narrative, some confusing philosophical components at the start, and the possible proselytising component. It would always have been difficult to bring a philosophy lecture successfully into a novel and not make it sound forced or appear to be ham-fisted. However, I give it three stars because, in the...more
 In some ways, a frustrating book to read, given I would say general problems with parts of the narrative, some confusing philosophical components at the start, and the possible proselytising component. It would always have been difficult to bring a philosophy lecture successfully into a novel and not make it sound forced or appear to be ham-fisted. However, I give it three stars because, in the end, it is still worth the read with its excellent insights into modern Western thought beginning with Descartes, which in some parts also blends perfectly with the narrative.   hide

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