Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy

Written by Jostein Gaaardner and Kitt Weagant

Narrated by Jacob Needleman

One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phoenix Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 1, 1996
• ISBN: 9781614674832

Reviews for Sophie's World

[sara00almendaris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book for starters in philosophy. Everyone should read it

[Hermes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

**** Pre-Socratics to Sartre through the eyes of an old man via a young woman.

Narration: male voice 4.5/5, female 3.25/5
Something I liked about the cheap mic (?) and smokey voice of the professor. Youth of female character not convincing, it is clearly an adult.

Content: 4/5 I found it a delightful way to be introduced to the history of western philosophy. And I found the rapport (albeit formal) between the philosophy teacher and the teenage girl to be refreshing and wholesome.

Writing: 3/5 nothing special. But smooth enough. Philosophy interspersed with daily life.

This book is not not trying to be clever. It’s matter of fact, kind and straightforward. No prejudices, no sex, no violence. I also liked how the father and mother of the girl were periodically mentioned but distantly.

Mood: sunlight on the prairies (even though it’s set in Norway, it’s universal). I live in a ‘woke’ household in Canada (quite out of place in Calgary, at least historically and demographically) and this book was a great educational escape from the extremely political and self-righteous mentality here. Zero politics in this book.

[Pierre Queripel · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This abridged version is way too brief. Stick with the original.