Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 598
 My Entire Book Club HATED it March 20, 2010
Connietrue Simons (West Jordan, UT United States)
We read Sophie's World for my book club. Our group consists of three English teachers, two science teachers, a history teacher, a philosophy major, and an RN. We are not "fluff" readers, so we expected to enjoy this novel about philosophy. Boy, were we wrong!
None of us liked it. It read like an introduction to philosophy textbook with unbelievable characters. Most of us teach middle school and none of us believed Sophie's incredible interest in philosophy, her amazing knack at grasping such ephemeral concepts so quickly, nor her close relationship to her "mentor."
The idea of the outlying story was interesting, but poorly written. Both the imaginary and "real" worlds in Sophie's World were so flat and unrealistic that it was impossible to reach the suspension of disbelief necessary to become engaged in the text. I would not recommend this book to anyone for any reason.
 History of philosophy March 17, 2010
Tara
I would highly reccomend this book to anyone intersted in philosophy. It is a history lesson told through the eyes of a philosopher, insiring a young girl to think philosophically. It is a great way to learn the history of philosophy because it captures your attention with its content and layout.
 Sophie's CRAZY World February 18, 2010
Francene Areopagita (Mt.Prospect, IL)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jostein Gaardner tries to teach readers about philosophy through his book Sophie's World. He uses a young 15-year-old fictional character named Sophie and a mysterious philosopher to appeal to readers.
Gaardner is a Norwegian intellectual and a human rights activist. His anomalous writing technique, writing about difficult topics from the perspective of children, has appealed to many teens and even adults all around the world. Sophie's World, The Ringmaster's Daughter, and many other books by Gaardner were written in this way. By doing this, the challenging topics are more easily understood. However, Sophie's World was not as comprehensible as it was portrayed to be.
The book has advanced side vocabulary that makes it a little harder to understand if the reader is not familiar with "big" words. This can also be a positive thing for people wanting to learn new words. The book is a page-turner except for the long parts in a chapter that are purely about philosophy. These parts in the book can be compared to "long talking parts" in an action movie. This for some people can be frustrating. This book is better for people that are more advanced in reading and English.
A reader does not necessarily have to know anything about philosophy to be intrigued by this book. Sophie's World teaches readers about philosophy by discussing Socrates, Plato, Athens and other philosophers. There are a lot of good quotes a reader can get from this book. Even life lessons are taught, which can help a reader in the future. On the other hand the book has a bizarre story plot that can be weird in a good way and bad. A good way is the story's eccentricity is entertaining because of it being in a perspective of a young girl, in a parallel universe, with a mystery philosopher man. The bad way, is because the book may be superfluous and cause boredom for some readers.
Gaardner made the book in a way that the reader walks away knowing a little more about philosophy and they may also have a different outlook on life's big questions. If a reader can get past the long philosophy filled parts, the book is excellent.
 Review of 'Sophie's World' December 17, 2009
Ryan S. Mease (Chicago, IL, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wish I had read this book when I was about 15. It presents itself as a novel and a primer in philosophy. It certainly succeeds in the latter role. The book manages to covers three thousands years of thought in a very concise and simple format (without distorting positions) for young readers.
If this book has faults, they are as a novel. 'Sophie's World' has a great twist toward the beginning of the work, which opens up a second-world that can't be explained without revealing too many spoiling details. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize how chaotic this second-world becomes toward the end of the book. The author takes too much pleasure in fantasy and disorder to render a coherent 'world' for Sophie. The overarching story is still touching and effective, and the second-world effect is, overall, a nice touch.
Philosophy 101 December 5, 2009
Leslie (California, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a great course on Philosophy 101, easy to understand most of the time and it used great examples. I would recommend this book for anyone who is curious about the history or what philosophy is. the only thing I disliked was the main characters development towards the end of the book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 598
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