Book review: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder – The Philosophical Wonderland

Jostein Gaarder’s World Bestseller Sophie’s World is a book about philosophy, (as you may have guessed from the title of this article.) Published in 1991, the book was a resounding success – selling millions of copies and being translated into over 50 different languages (the original book was written in Gaarder’s native Norwegian).

Sophie’s World is arguably Gaarder’s best-known and most successful work. Like many of his other novels, e.g. The Christmas Mystery (1992), Through a Glass, Darkly (1993) and The Ringmaster’s Daughter (2001), it is written from a child’s perspective, reflecting Gaarder’s interest in the intensity with which children perceive the world. He has also written numerous short stories and children’s books. Gaarder began his working life as a philosophy teacher in a high school in the city of Bergen, Norway, and then moved into the world of literature following his marriage to wife Siri Dannevig in 1974.

I came across Sophie’s World last summer in an edition of Harriet Gilbert’s World Book Club on the BBC World Service, in which Gilbert and a group of readers were given the opportunity to discuss the novel with Gaarder at the LiteraturHutset (House of Literature) in Oslo. The book had clearly made a profound impact on the audience, and it was a mixture of this enthusiasm and the intrigue of a book that aimed to make philosophy more accessible that attracted me to the novel.

The idea of philosophy itself had always interested me, but prior to this book I can quite categorically describe my knowledge of the topic as rudimentary. I had skimmed over certain concepts here and there, particularly since coming to University, but I never really felt like I had the chance to fully get to grips with it. The distinguishing feature of this novel, as I have already touched upon, is the unique way in which Gaarder presents such concepts, making them at the same time easier to understand and showing how they can be applied in real life. He also intertwines our philosophical journey with a second story within the story, which immerses you even further into Sophie’s mysterious world, and encourages you to continually question and reflect upon what you are reading.

Without wanting to ruin the book for anyone yet to read it, I will just briefly summarise what happens in Sophie’s World: the novel follows the story of a young teenage girl, Sophie Amundsen, who one day begins to receive mysterious postcards addressed to another girl, Hilde Møller Knag. After that she begins receiving packages from a man named Alberto – each containing short lessons that teach her about key philosophical thinkers and concepts, from Socrates’ rationalism from the time of Ancient Greece, to Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis in the early 20th Century, which provided an important foundation for our modern understanding of human psychology.

 In the course of her study, the reader is taken on a journey of philosophical discovery with Sophie and Alberto, which is intertwined with their investigation into how and why this mysterious girl’s postcards have come to be in Sophie’s possession.

In Sophie’s World, Gaarder brings philosophy to life through numerous creative analogies, such as, his comparison of the beginning of the universe to a rabbit being pulled out of a magician’s hat; as well as this, the mystery of Hilde that runs parallel to Sophie’s course in philosophy provides the book with a degree of depth that I found greatly captivating. Through Sophie’s eyes, the reader has the opportunity to gain a general knowledge of key aspects of philosophy and philosophical figures, while being encouraged to think reflectively about their own view of such concepts. 

I really enjoyed this book, and would certainly recommend it to anyone who is interested in gaining a general insight into philosophy, but perhaps has previously found the idea of grappling with the primary texts a bit daunting. On a personal level, I feel like on finishing the book I have come away with a much better grounding with which to build upon my philosophical knowledge. Not only that, but the chance to think about such far-reaching questions as “Where does the world come from?” is quite refreshing – particularly when it feels like the world revolves solely around the stresses of examinations and coursework deadlines.

Kat Jones

Image Source:

1)  http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Kanskje-ikke-neger-i-dag-6441193.html

2) http://www.booktopia.com.au/sophie-s-world-jostein-gaarder/prod9781407230894.html

3)  http://meetville.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/page

Text References:

• leeds books
• Leeds review