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

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780374530716 ISBN: 0374530718 Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 544 Publication Date: 2007-03-20 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Release Date: 2007-03-20 Studio: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Editorial Reviews: 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.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A pale imitation Comment: Sophie's World is a trite and ploddingly written textbook trying to masquerade as a novel of meta fiction. Mr. Gaarder writes with a pedantic style when he presents the philosophy lectures/letters in the novel. The dialogue of the characters is trite and unrealistic at best. Usually I am little more kind in book reviews, but I do not understand all the fuss about this one. I think many people praise it because of its cutesy story arc of fictional characters living in perpetuity outside of the world of their texts. Sorry folks, but this is not a very original idea. For a far superior take on the same themes look to Pirandello's masterful play Six Characters in Search of an Author. Mr. Gaarder barely connects his two storylines about a philosophy course, and a man writing a book about a philosophy course, and when they do intersect one is hard pressed to find the thematic relevance. It is almost like he expects the reader to be impressed by the intertwining story lines and their subject matter, and to forget that he does a terrible job of bridging the two. Take a philosophy course, or read some meta fiction. This text is a poor example of both! Customer Rating: Summary: Simply fascinating ! Comment: This is a brilliant book sweeping you through history and introducing highly inspirational characters from different periods of time around the world. Even though it is described as 'A Novel About The History of Philosophy', it is barely that. To me a lot of excerpts from the words of legends such as Plato or Socrates made a lot of sense and seemed to run on logic. The novel features a girl called Sophie who receives letters from an unknown philosopher who teaches her a lot about life and the way things work. She learns and absorbs as much as she can, and soon you find that you are indeed the 'Sophie' in the story, and the book is indeed the 'Unknown Philosopher'! This book is a masterpiece that will keep you thinking till the end and after. Its a timeless wonder." Customer Rating: Summary: good intro to Philosophy for some Comment: I agree with other reviewers that the book is fun, fascinating, and informative. My only objection is that the ending is a bit over the top. I felt that the author could not quite figure out how to wrap up the story and the effect seems a little wild and crazy. Some will probably love it for that reason. Customer Rating: Summary: Very good book, but this CD is a poor recording Comment: Sophie's World is a fine book, but this recording has a couple of mixed up tracks (tracks recorded correctly, but apparently put on the CD in reverse order) and one part where either the reader (Simon Vance) accidentally skipped a couple of paragraphs or, more likely the recording was accidentally cut. I sent a letter to Macmillan explaining the problem. They politely thanked me for the input; but, a year later, nothing has happened. Customer Rating: Summary: A nice unfolding story with relevant philosophical views. Comment: This was a good book to read and the story line showed an interesting and unraveling plot twisting its way through major contents of philosophical knowledge. It is a pleasant read and one that is relaxing and kind to the mind. It is worth buying if you want to know philosophy in a simple and historical way and it will give you some basic understanding on how philosophy evolved. The author has written it in his unique perspective and it has many creative moments making it very special and memorable. More Reviews