Sophie’s World - A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
[Note: This is a book review that I needed to write for the book club at the school where I teach - but that doesn't mean my friends wouldn't enjoy this book too.]
There are a lot of books that I could recommend for some nice easy reading - books that won’t strain the brain, that are quick to read, and that are all about stuff that you already know or that you’ve already read about so that they require a minimum of thought or effort to get through.
Sophie’s World is not one of those books.
On the surface, Sophie’s World is a book about a young girl who suddenly receives strange letters in the mail that ask questions like “who are you?” and “where does the world come from?” To make it even more confusing, the third letter Sophie gets in the mail isn’t addressed to her at all, but to another girl named Hilde, whose fifteenth birthday was coming up just a month before Sophie’s own.
Soon Sophie is the recipient of a sort of correspondence course from a mysterious philosopher who tries to help her to answer these questions, among others, via an introduction to the highlights of Western philosophy - from the ancient Greeks philosophers Socrates and Plato through to Immanuel Kant and beyond.
Did I mention that this book is not necessarily light reading? Still, it’s about as easy going as it could be considering the weight of the subject, and it is interspersed with the philosophy is a compelling storyline that keeps the reader turning to the next page. However, there are the occasional passages that may require more than one reading or that will benefit from a bit of reflection before moving on to the next paragraph.
Anyway, a reader who is willing to stick with it and think a bit about what they are reading will finish the book with more than a passing understanding of some of the concepts that have been the cornerstones of Western thought for the last two thousand years - and that’s saying something.
Plus, did I mention the philosophy is woven among what turns out to be a pretty compelling and interesting story? In Sophie’s case this philosophical study turns out to be more than just an intellectual exercise - it reveals a truth which goes right to the roots of her very existence.
But that’s something you’ll have to learn about when you read the book.
