Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder Reviews

Sophie's World is a novel by Jostein Gaarder, published in 1991. First published in Norweigan and then English and has now spread to over 30 countries and boasts sales of more than 30 million copies. Gaarder is not just a talented author but freshly invigorating and truly inspiring, often writing from the perspective of children and ...  Read the complete review

First read years ago in the school library and then later several times as an adult. The book is really an introduction to philosophical ideas going all the way from the ancient Greeks through to modern times, wrapped in the story of 'Sophie' a teenage Norwegian girl who begins corresponding with a mysterious 'philosopher' who introduces ...  Read the complete review

Do you ever wonder, where did the world come from? This book is linked with Philosophy and I am taking this at a-level and think it really does help to read this book. The book itself involves a normal teenage girl named Sophie who one day receives a letter in the post from a philosopher which kick starts her roller coaster ...  Read the complete review

Sophie Amundsen is just an average fourteen year old teenage girl living in Norway in 1990. She lives a simple life with her mother and her cat Sherekan, but her life is profoundly affected when she receives a letter out of the blue. In the letter are posed two questions: 'Who are you?' and 'Where did you come from?'. Thus unfolds a ...  Read the complete review

Do you ever wonder where we came from?? How was the Universe formed and is there a God and if so who created him?? Is he actually a he could he be a she? I often think about these types of things. I have taken a formal course in Philosophy as I took it as my third subject in my first year at Stirling University. However I deliberately ...  Read the complete review

Just occasionally, a book comes along that is truly amazing. This is one of those books that may shake your comfortable understanding of what is real. Jostein Gaarder's "Sophie's world" is not only a history of Philosphy, but a demonstration that throws up some very challenging questions. So, a little about the ...  Read the complete review

Who would have thought that you could write a history of Philosophy, and still make it extremely fun and exciting? Who would have thought you could use the ideas of Philosophy and put them into practise in a twisting plot? Well, somehow, Jostein Gaarder has done just this. Already a much acclaimed novel, ...  Read the complete review

This intriguing and original book is an attempt to combine a potted history of philosophy through the ages with a small cast of characters acting out an implausible (but diverting) storyline. The premise is that Sophie is given a course in philosophy by an enigmatic man (Alberto Knox), and we follow Sophie's story in ...  Read the complete review

for me "Sophies Världen" is one of the best books, i've ever read. the first few pages are quite slow-going and for me it took some time to get used to Gaarder's style of writing. but once you are familiar and used to his way of describing scenes, it is absolutely thrilling and you cannot put the book aside. also, i ...  Read the complete review

Probably the best known book by Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World is the story of a young girl who is guided through the history of philosophy through letters from - and later, meetings with - a mystery philosopher and his dog. Quite apart from the interesting historical journey, the whole book in itself questions the reality of ...  Read the complete review

Not even knowing what philosophy really entailed, I found Sophie's World a superb introduction to the subject, being both interesting and informative. 'Sophie's World' is basically 'philosophy for beginners', teaching the basics of the subject set around an imaginatively entertaining story. ...  Read the complete review

I have attempted to read this book 5 times and I always get stuck with it. It cannot hold my interest. It irritates me how the author attempts to simplify a lot of the philosophy in the book, I get annoyed with how it jumps from her seemingly mundane life to theese postcards and then into philos again. And the "mystery" Hilde ...  Read the complete review

Most people have read this cult classic by Jostein Gaarder and for good reason. Sophie's World is one of those books you never forget reading. Jostein Gaarder; a norwegion philosophy teacher, certainly knows how to tell a good story. This book is fiction in its truest sense. A very gripping storyline you wish so much that ...  Read the complete review

I read this book a few years ago and have an unabridged set of audiotapes of it that I got on the cheap. I think that it offers a very good basic introduction to the subject of Philosophy. I have resently been studying a second level philosophy course with the Open University and have found that some of the information given ...  Read the complete review

I enjoyed this novel very much, though it did require some perseverence and often reading back over a chapter that I had just read to try and understand the topic fully. Not even knowing really what philosophy was when I started to read Sophie's World, I felt that I learned a great deal from reading this book, and, at the ...  Read the complete review

This book was recommended by my consciousness lecturer to help with the basics of philosophy -and any help is appreciated. It proved to be a valuable and informative book. That aside this is an engaging book about the young girl Sophie and her mysterious friend that leaves her tantalising insights into another world - as you ...  Read the complete review

Sophies World is probably the best known of Jostein Gaarder's books, and also probably the most critically acclaimed. In my earlier version of this review I pointed out that "The name betrays the fact that the author is Norwegian, and the fame of this book betrays the fact that it isn't his first novel- only his most ...  Read the complete review

I recently found a book that I think might make learning about the history of philosophy a little easier and the subject more understood by the casual reader. It is a novel called Sophie’s World, written by Jostein Gaarder. The story is about a young Norwegian girl named Sophie, who begins to find letters delivered to her ...  Read the complete review