Join Sophie and enter a world of philosophy. You will be joining the
philosophy's teacher, Alberto Knox on this ride. Sophie's World will
open up your mind to many things that you never thought about before.
You won't be learning these in most schools unless if you are in a
philosophy school.
You are bound to learn everything you need to
know about philosophy in one journey. Sophie is the main character in
this story, along with Alberto Knox. Occasionally her mother, her best
friend and her pets make appearances in the story. Her father is a
captain of an oil tanker and therefore, rarely stays at home.
In
this book, you will get to learn about medieval philosophy, meet
Socrates, Plato and many more. Often you will be asked questions in this
book to stimulate your philosophy thinking. Just how many of us are
interested in philosophy if not because of this book. At least I know, I
won't be interested if I didn't read this book at all.
You have
to read this book to believe it. You will meet Hermes, Alberto's dog. It
is also the delivery dog as it delivers the many packages to Sophie.
The first two questions you will have to answer would be "who are you?"
and "where does the world come from?".
This is the book for
general. After all normal people like us will never thought about
learning philosophy. Philosophy is seen as a boring topic. The truth is
you will like philosophy once you have read this book. Enjoy it.
Monday, 27 August 2012
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Book Review: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
Truly amazing! Excellent piece of intellectual fiction! This is what I have been looking for!
Sophie's World is a beautifully written tale (within a tale (within a tale)) that will take you to an inspirational journey through the history of philosophy. Dyed in the colors of mystery with a tint of fantasy, soaked in intriguing lines that will spark imagination and thinking and inspire you for the rest of your life; this book will teach you the art of philosophy in a simple story-like manner.
This is a story of a 14-year old Norwegian girl named Sophie who begins her correspondence course of philosophical lessons via a dog under the guidance of an unknown tutor named Alberto who takes her to a philosophical time-travel from Ancient Mythology to Hellenism to Christianity and Natural Philosophy, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and Romanticism, teaching her philosophical achievements of each period. The plot takes a mysterious twist when surreal characters are thrown in creating confusion and mystery in the novel. Add to this, the story takes a U-turn when a girl named Hilde receives a birthday gift from her father--a book written by him titled 'Sophie's World'. From here onwards the story switches to Hilde's perspective where Sophie Amundsen and Alberto Knox become a mere characters of a book that Hilde is reading. As the philosophy lessons progress so does the story which turns in to a story written within a story (within a story) and the reality and imagination overlaps so much that even the characters become suspicious of their own existence. Hilde believes in Sophie's existence in real world while Sophie becomes sure of her existence only as a character from a book and her presence in the mind of Hilde's father who is writing a book for her daughter.
The ending is enchanting and philosophic ("Yes, we too are star dust"). The book is filled with inspiring one-liners and thought-provoking dialogues that will rouse your imagination. With lots of twists and turns what keeps the novel moving is its continuous shift between reality and illusion captured in surreal fashion where Gaarder teaches history of philosophy in simple terms omitting too much detail and depth that otherwise would have stolen the beauty of the story.
This Alice in Wonderland of philosophy is strongly recommended to all those who possess a philosophic mind, eyes of a child and taste for intellectual readings...("The path of Ultimate Truth lead inwards")
Sophie's World is a beautifully written tale (within a tale (within a tale)) that will take you to an inspirational journey through the history of philosophy. Dyed in the colors of mystery with a tint of fantasy, soaked in intriguing lines that will spark imagination and thinking and inspire you for the rest of your life; this book will teach you the art of philosophy in a simple story-like manner.
This is a story of a 14-year old Norwegian girl named Sophie who begins her correspondence course of philosophical lessons via a dog under the guidance of an unknown tutor named Alberto who takes her to a philosophical time-travel from Ancient Mythology to Hellenism to Christianity and Natural Philosophy, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and Romanticism, teaching her philosophical achievements of each period. The plot takes a mysterious twist when surreal characters are thrown in creating confusion and mystery in the novel. Add to this, the story takes a U-turn when a girl named Hilde receives a birthday gift from her father--a book written by him titled 'Sophie's World'. From here onwards the story switches to Hilde's perspective where Sophie Amundsen and Alberto Knox become a mere characters of a book that Hilde is reading. As the philosophy lessons progress so does the story which turns in to a story written within a story (within a story) and the reality and imagination overlaps so much that even the characters become suspicious of their own existence. Hilde believes in Sophie's existence in real world while Sophie becomes sure of her existence only as a character from a book and her presence in the mind of Hilde's father who is writing a book for her daughter.
The ending is enchanting and philosophic ("Yes, we too are star dust"). The book is filled with inspiring one-liners and thought-provoking dialogues that will rouse your imagination. With lots of twists and turns what keeps the novel moving is its continuous shift between reality and illusion captured in surreal fashion where Gaarder teaches history of philosophy in simple terms omitting too much detail and depth that otherwise would have stolen the beauty of the story.
This Alice in Wonderland of philosophy is strongly recommended to all those who possess a philosophic mind, eyes of a child and taste for intellectual readings...("The path of Ultimate Truth lead inwards")
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - Book Review
Sophie's World is one of the most unique novels I have ever read
in my life, and I am proud to say I own both the hardcover and softcover
versions of the book as well as Jostein Gaarder's other works.
Sophie's World will provide readers with not only an intriguing fictional plot, but a history lesson on philosophy as well.
Prior to Sophie Amundsen's fifteenth birthday, she receives a mysterious letter in the mail from one Alberto Knox, a friendly philosopher who begins to educate Sophie on the history of philosophy dating back to Socrates and working its way up to the present time. As Mr. Knox teaches Sophie about philosophers throughout time, Sophie soon begins to receive other strange letters written between another teenager named Hilde Moller Knag and her father Albert. A complicated mystery arises from the exchanges of all these letters between the novel's characters, and creates a fantasy-like, Alice-in-Wonderland-type feel.
This novel is a great substitute for a boring philosophy textbook, which in my opinion is a dry subject to begin with. Sophie's World is probably the best way to learn about philosophy! Even more redeeming is the fictional portion of the novel, so although readers may grow bored and want to skip over the philosophy lesson bits, you'll still find yourself being pulled in enough to finish the entire lengthy book.
Personally I thought the philosophy lessons were tiresome, but Jostein Gaarder paints such a beautiful picture and story that Sophie's World truly is compelling.
Sophie's World will provide readers with not only an intriguing fictional plot, but a history lesson on philosophy as well.
Prior to Sophie Amundsen's fifteenth birthday, she receives a mysterious letter in the mail from one Alberto Knox, a friendly philosopher who begins to educate Sophie on the history of philosophy dating back to Socrates and working its way up to the present time. As Mr. Knox teaches Sophie about philosophers throughout time, Sophie soon begins to receive other strange letters written between another teenager named Hilde Moller Knag and her father Albert. A complicated mystery arises from the exchanges of all these letters between the novel's characters, and creates a fantasy-like, Alice-in-Wonderland-type feel.
This novel is a great substitute for a boring philosophy textbook, which in my opinion is a dry subject to begin with. Sophie's World is probably the best way to learn about philosophy! Even more redeeming is the fictional portion of the novel, so although readers may grow bored and want to skip over the philosophy lesson bits, you'll still find yourself being pulled in enough to finish the entire lengthy book.
Personally I thought the philosophy lessons were tiresome, but Jostein Gaarder paints such a beautiful picture and story that Sophie's World truly is compelling.
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