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Title: Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder, Paulette Moller ISBN: 0425152251 Publisher: Boulevard (Mass Market) Pub. Date: March, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.1
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent for gifted children 8 and over...
Comment: If your child has read all the classics, is bored with the run-of-the-mill children's books these days, or simply looking for something to satisfy all those questions - buy this book for him/her. It is a book they will return to many times. Alternatively, read it to him/her yourself, or use the audio-tapes. I have read it twice - and thoroughly enjoyed the philosophy component. It is an easy way to acquaint onself with Western philosophy if you have had no prior experience. The story itself, with a 14-year-old girl 'involved' with a strange middle-aged man, was difficult to explain to a child! I bought this book when it was first published, and have recently re-read it. However, I STILL have yet to grasp the ending! Whilst it is highly unlikely the author would ever read all these reviews, if he does: THANK YOU for contributing so much to a gifted child's mind and heart.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Crash Course to Philosophy
Comment: 'Sophie's World' is a great mixture of fantasy and philosophy. It's an excellent book especially for those who are interested in philosophy but don't know where to start. It's gentle introduction to this subject that could very easily turn into a complicated jumble of theories, fails to lose the plot, both of what Gaarder is trying to teach us and of the story. Sophie's journey through this adventure, keeps us reading, not just to learn, but to know what happens to the young girl on her birthday. The constant twists, especially at the end, inabled me to put this book down. Gaarder's explanations of certain philosophical theories makes the book a lot easier to understand, and more believable due to the fact that I doubt that many teenage girls would understand the beliefs of Ancient Greecian men if laid out to them without any trace of an explanation. Overall, an excellent read, full of adventure and theories. Highly recommended.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good for teenagers
Comment: A cute, fairly clever novel that threads a story line and introductory philosophy lectures into a fat notebook.
I gave it 3 stars because as an introduction to philosophy it succeeds relatively well. It covers most of the key figures in Western Philosophy, and gives the gist of their ideas. It must be noted though, that the book misses some key figures, it virtually ignores Modern Philosophy and Eastern Philosophy, and it is superficial on many occasions. It is not a particularly thorough intro.
The style of presentation is just okay. Not dull but not engrossing. The summaries are presented in the form of long dialogues between Alberto and Sophie. I did not find those dialogues to be particularly stimulating - Alberto lectures and Sophie merely interjects pithily between lengthy paragraphs.
As a novel I would give it no more than 2 stars. The plot is weak, the writing pretty flat, linear, with little emotional impact and no character development or a central problem. We don't really care about the characters. What keeps it somewhat interesting as a novel, are the many clues Gaarder sprinkled throughout. They might get you curious to know how it all ends, although, frankly, that too could have been better. Had Gaarder been cleverer, he would have tied the ideas and clues all together, but he has not. The finale is not really the culmination of all the preceding ideas or clues, and that's very unsatisfying.
All in all, it's a good book to give to an intelligent teenager or young adult, as it might stimulate him or her to study philosophy. As an adult though, if you're new to the topic, you might want to read it for its novelty and for the ease of presentation. Then, you might want to turn to the real deal: Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy", which is, undoubtedly, one of the finest introductions to the topic.
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Title: The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder, Hilde Kramer, Sarah Jane Hails ISBN: 042515999X Publisher: Boulevard Books Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers by Will Durant ISBN: 0671739166 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: February, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Through a Glass, Darkly by Jostein Gaarder ISBN: 0753806738 Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind, And the Renaissance: A Portrait of an by William Manchester ISBN: 0316545562 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: June, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers by S. E. Frost ISBN: 038503007X Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1962 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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