A review by thefinalduck
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
5.0
Jostein Gaardner takes us on a riveting tour of the history of philosophy, with engaging and simple prose that's perfectly suited to the stage of our lives, as the protagonist fourteen year old Sophie Amundsen has reached, when philosophical questions begin to captivate our minds. Each of the movements discussed (Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, Romanticism and beyond) is dipped into extremely lightly: the objective of the text is to summarise and inspire, rather than debate in depth.
No pretension is attempted to suggest this is not a history textbook wrapped up in a novel, with self-conscious nods appearing with increasing frequency throughout. However, my impression was to find the fictitious story the more fascinating. In particular, the ways in which the themes and ideas cropping up at later points in history are woven into the plot are ingenious, and I really felt for Sophie at times, especially near the end of the book.
As the Gaarder himself shamelessly hints at multiple times, this is a story worth revisiting, and I certainly expect to do that one day.
No pretension is attempted to suggest this is not a history textbook wrapped up in a novel, with self-conscious nods appearing with increasing frequency throughout. However, my impression was to find the fictitious story the more fascinating. In particular, the ways in which the themes and ideas cropping up at later points in history are woven into the plot are ingenious, and I really felt for Sophie at times, especially near the end of the book.
As the Gaarder himself shamelessly hints at multiple times, this is a story worth revisiting, and I certainly expect to do that one day.