An addictive blend of mystery, philosophy and fantasy, Sophie's World is an international phenomenon which has been translated into 60 languages and sold more than 40 million copies. Frequently Bought Together. Sophie's World. The Men Who Rule India. The Story of Philosophy. Add 3 Items to Cart. Rate Product. Philosophy as such is terse and naturally sends shivers down the reader's spine. But this book is a unique approach to present the terse in such a way 'that even a child can understand'.
It was Vivekananda who made the Indian philosophy like that for its readers. I have read once this book and would not mind reading again and again. The reason is simply the fact that each of us ask this basic simple question of our life, "Who am I?
Indians thinkers have searched A years history in pages,wonderfully written and amazingly intersting This book helps in developing an idea , how our civilization is effected by the philosophers. Sophie's World : 20th Anniversary Edition. By author Jostein Gaarder. Free delivery worldwide. Expected delivery to Germany in business days. Not ordering to Germany?
Click here. Order now for expected delivery to Germany by Christmas. Description The international bestseller about life, the universe and everything. When 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? Performance and Analytics. ON OFF. We use cookies to understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements. We use cookies to serve you certain types of ads, including ads relevant to your interests on Book Depository and to work with approved third parties in the process of delivering ad content, including ads relevant to your interests, to measure the effectiveness of their ads, and to perform services on behalf of Book Depository.
Cancel Save settings. Bestselling Series. Harry Potter. Books By Language. Books in Spanish. Free delivery worldwide. Expected delivery to Germany in business days. Not ordering to Germany? Click here. Order now for expected delivery to Germany by Christmas. Description 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? 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? What can I add to that? Regards Bader 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.
It makes him even more irritating than he was before. And the philosophy is kind of obvious. Not to mention actually incorrect in a number of places. You're so dumb you think you understand it. Kids like me know that we don't understand it at all.
It might be completely different from how you imagine it is, but you never stop to think about that any more. I read books on quantum theory—" But Manfred's having none of it. Quantum theory is small potatoes as far as he's concerned. You read the book too quickly. Manfred looks crushed for a moment, but comes back strong. I read it all, every word, and I really thought about it.
See, Sophie believes at the beginning that she knows who she is, but she finds she's wrong. She thinks she's an ordinary girl in an ordinary Norwegian town, but that's not who she is at all. But Manfred's not impressed by my irony. She learns the truth by working hard and studying philosophy. Real philosophy. And because she's studied philosophy, she's able to figure out how to escape. That stupid tea party—" Manfred looks smug. You remember they talk about Freud, and the unconscious, and the Surrealists, and automatic writing?
And how Alberto has a plan he can't explain? The reason the writing stops making sense is that they trick the Major into letting his unconscious take over. And they hint several times that the Major isn't the real author either, and that maybe even he's being written.
They don't just trick him, they trick Gaarder too. He loses control of his characters, and Sophie and Albert escape. They really do get out into the world. Damn, is it possible that this little brat noticed something I missed?
Maybe I'm just a character in a story. Maybe you are. How do you know? I promise, even if you don't get it, some other kids will. 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 I'm not sure how to rate this book. It was not terribly long -like History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, which took me ages to finish and a third of it went over my head. So 4 stars because I believe it's a good introduction to philosophy and we get a good mystery as a bonus. Loved the idea very much! Recommended for people who are interested in philosophy.
In a nutshell, the book is about the history of philosophy, featuring a year-old girl named Sophie and her philosophy teacher, Alberto Knox. Sophie gets letters from a stranger which grow into a course in philosophy.
In the first pages, nothing happens - Sophie gets a new letter and then she reads it. Finally, she meets her teacher and they talk. The plot is just a device to get from one philosophy lesson to another and to be honest, it is boring. If the story consisted of only philosophy lessons, it would surely get 5 stars. With each letter, Alberto explains to Sophie each of the major philosophies and philosophers in the history of philosophy. He starts from the pre-Socratic philosophers and moves down to the contemporary philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Existentialism.
The book is like a recap of what I've learned in high school and university and I love it. Gaarder does an excellent job at not just writing a concise history of philosophy, but also by writing a comprehensible book for everyone. But, as a novel, the book lacks proper plot, conflict, and climax.
Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers. A dream is, after all, a little work of art, and there are new dreams every night. The author failed to give her real personality. Even more, I didn't like how she easily accepted that some year old man wants to give her any kind of lessons without her knowing who he is.
The unknown letter writer had saved her from the triviality of everyday existence. Yes, philosophy is a wonderful study, but it also takes time to process. 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, each letter focusing on a different philosopher such as Aristotle, Sophocles, and Plato.
Jostein Gaarder's idea--of nonfiction philosophy lessons embedded in fictional mystery--is unique and clever, but it was all that impressed me about Sophie's World. The philosophy lessons overshadow Sophie's story to the point that Sophie's World is really just a philosophy textbook masquerading as a magical-realist mystery.
This could be forgiven if the lessons were engaging, but they're dry as dust. This book has its fans, so clearly some disagree; however, even I, someone who looked forward to her philosophy classes in high school and college, was bored during most of each philosophy lesson. The best parts of Sophie's World are the fictional parts--Sophie's actual world: the time spent with her friend, her reading of the letters in her garden hideout, her interactions with her mom.
That is a story. Gaarder was a philosophy teacher, so it isn't really surprising that Sophie's World is so heavy on philosophy. It's just a shame, because the mystery and magical realism elements are smart and are deserving of at least as many pages. This was such a missed opportunity that I feel disappointed for Gaarder. Philosophy is like history; it needs to be brought to life to be fully appreciated.
In the case of philosophy in particular, it's helpful to find a connection to one's own life in some way. By grounding the lessons in the story of an everyday girl, that's what Gaarder was going for, but he didn't integrate and connect the lessons to the main character's life successfully.
The lessons remain a separate entity from the mystery so that Sophie's World feels like someone ripped chapters out of a textbook and inserted them between chapters of a mystery story. What I wanted to see, what I was hoping for, was a book that was mostly a mystery with a sprinkling of philosophy--philosophy that then interacted with the mystery in ways that add dimension and pleasant surprise. Although I read more than half of Sophie's World , I was so bored I couldn't bear reading another page.
I was, however, curious enough to know how it ended that I looked up a plot summary. It looks like Gaarder finally connected all the philosophy lessons in a whirlwind at the end and that this is when the story is at its best. If only he'd connected throughout, Sophie's World would be a much better book. I don't recommend this widely, and I don't know who its ideal audience is.
I think Sophie's World is best suited to die-hard philosophy lovers only; however, with its child protagonist and a child protagonist who's unwittingly drawn into philosophy lessons at that , Sophie's World seems aimed at teens, as an educational mystery. In addition to being dull, though, the philosophy is dense and obscure at times. Those teens who do read and enjoy Sophie's World may not fully grasp its various philosophies.
High school philosophy teachers could have students read it as a supplement or maybe not, as it's not so different from a straight textbook. Adult readers could enjoy this, but that's unlikely if they're not interested in philosophy. Adapted as a graphic novel--a format I think would work beautifully for Sophie's World --it might attract a wider variety of readers, and actually be fun to read.
The fact that it's hard to pin down Sophie's World 's intended audience is further proof to me that Gaarder began writing his book more on the fly than with fully thought-out deliberation. Sadly, what he ended up with is a dull textbook with a half-hearted mystery tossed in for palatability. Jan 16, Steven Fisher rated it it was amazing Shelves: philosophy , favorites. Six months ago I bought a new copy of Sophies World , being due to the bad condition of the copy I have had for years At the end of last year my daughter told me she has chosen philosophy as an elective subject in high school for this year Being the same age as Sophie's I thought this may be just the thing to introduce my daughter to the greats of western philosophy.
Jostein Gaarder must be duly acknowledged for this wonderful book. Aug 30, Karen rated it it was ok 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. However, it's also unusual that a book would seem at least moderately intriguing and appealing for 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 What went right in the beginning of with Sophie's World? Interesting frame story that evolves into an absorbing plot twist A good refresher on basic philosophy written by an experienced teacher of that subject A rare piece of Norwegian fiction that's made it to the States in excellent translation Inquisitive and varied perspectives on religion that aren't likely to appear in literature here.
The bad things spoilers ahead The meta-meta-fiction thing that happens after the characters realize they're fiction The teacher dressing up in costumes to represent time periods And this is one of my pet peeves, but I hate it when male authors try to write an emotional and sensory passage about having cramps.
Guys, if you write a novel one day, just don't even. That said, if you're into experimental lit, and can stand the above-mentioned quirks, go for it, what the heck? This was one weird book and hard to rate and really hard to review and I did procrastinate about writing a review. It was a disappointment though. I read this as a group buddy read with Caroline, Hilary, and Ann.
I This was one weird book and hard to rate and really hard to review and I did procrastinate about writing a review. There are chapter titles but no chapter numbers. There is an index and my edition had a Reading Group Guide with some questions. They were okay, nothing readers could not think up on their own. The novel is a story inserted into what is basically a textbook in order to liven up the educational experience. That is how I experienced it. There is an index. How many novels have those?!
It really is a philosophy textbook. Maybe it would go over well as an adjunct text in a high school intro to philosophy class, or would have when it was a newer book. It started out so well for me. The storytelling is clunky, and did not tie in well enough the fictional story to the philosophies presented, in my opinion.
The questions of and statements by Sophie when conversing with Alberto Knox sound stilted and as though presented for the purpose of a lesson vs. I cringed many times. I enjoyed the history and some of the review and new learning of philosophy, but I think it could have been better conveyed.
It became quite a trip. The fictional novel is speculative fiction and that is a genre I often enjoy. The direction the story took became quite a trip.
This book would have been extremely popular with high school and college students in the last half of the s. It would have bene a huge hit!
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