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biolexicon's review against another edition
2.0
A great interview to philosophers and philosophy, not so great as a novel. Starting out, the premise is a little sketchy. The descriptions of the girl portray her as innocent and lovely, she is suppose to be in her teens, but acts as if she's still in elementary school. On top of this, she is receiving letters from an unknown older male who she is replying to. She listens to her parents, who undoubtedly have told her not to talk to strangers, and shows no spark of rebellion so it makes no sense at all for her to be doing this. It definitely rings of a male writer portraying what he thinks a young female would act like, and that part is a flop. The writer does have a good knowledge of philosophy and can explain complex concepts simply, which he does through the older male's letters. That part is the only portion of the book I would recommend reading.
ssaba's review against another edition
3.0
A book containing aeons of philosophical discussions, Science, Art, History, and so much more, bounded into 471 pages. An extraordinary achievement, Jostein.
From: does Man have an innate nature? To, who is God?. Travelling through time and forward in time, learning about every aspect of human contributions to depoliticise and the development of thought.
A 15-year-old girl, Sophie, started receiving iffy letters from an unknown man, Alberto Knox. Filling her brain with overwhelming topics that haven’t occurred to her. Uncovering worlds she hadn’t been attentive to since, ever!.
Meeting new friends, new realities, new perspectives, new beliefs, and new knowledge.
An unbelievable story that everyone has to read at least once in their lifetime.
I learned about so much, Athens, Renaissance, philosophy, Science, and with all that awareness, not take life too seriously.
As a 16-year-old girl, going to 17 in a couple of months, I recommend this book to all those young or old enthusiasts who have a thirst for knowing the core of all types of deep questions. You'll have the time of your life reading this.
And to all those who have finished this masterpiece, I assure you, that the second read is better than the first.
From: does Man have an innate nature? To, who is God?. Travelling through time and forward in time, learning about every aspect of human contributions to depoliticise and the development of thought.
A 15-year-old girl, Sophie, started receiving iffy letters from an unknown man, Alberto Knox. Filling her brain with overwhelming topics that haven’t occurred to her. Uncovering worlds she hadn’t been attentive to since, ever!.
Meeting new friends, new realities, new perspectives, new beliefs, and new knowledge.
An unbelievable story that everyone has to read at least once in their lifetime.
I learned about so much, Athens, Renaissance, philosophy, Science, and with all that awareness, not take life too seriously.
As a 16-year-old girl, going to 17 in a couple of months, I recommend this book to all those young or old enthusiasts who have a thirst for knowing the core of all types of deep questions. You'll have the time of your life reading this.
And to all those who have finished this masterpiece, I assure you, that the second read is better than the first.
paintedgiraffe's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fantastic book to learn about 2,600 years of philosophical thought, but the framing story was weird, ramping up to unpleasantly BIZARRE in the final two chapters. Left a bad taste in my mouth. But I ate up the philosophy talk.
**Spoiler [content warning] Watch out for the WEIRD AF sex scene between two 15-yr-olds, watched gleefully by friends and family. And that it's routinely believed by characters that a 14/15-yr-old is dating a middle-aged man. I've encountered this strange brand of sexuality from Scandinavian authors before... **
**Spoiler [content warning] Watch out for the WEIRD AF sex scene between two 15-yr-olds, watched gleefully by friends and family. And that it's routinely believed by characters that a 14/15-yr-old is dating a middle-aged man. I've encountered this strange brand of sexuality from Scandinavian authors before... **
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racial slurs and War
wander_er's review against another edition
4.0
Sophie's World is a history of western philosophy textbook, realised as a YA novel.
As a novel, I would give it two stars (the prose is annoying and the characters flat).
As a primer on the history of western thought, however, it gets four. The author does an admirable job of condensing 2500 years of thought into 400 pages, and all in language that a high school student would understand. The story itself is just entertaining enough to keep you reading.
Definitely recommended for anyone who wants an overview of western philosophy but is too lazy to commit to a tome like Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. That being said, you should probably read both!
As a novel, I would give it two stars (the prose is annoying and the characters flat).
As a primer on the history of western thought, however, it gets four. The author does an admirable job of condensing 2500 years of thought into 400 pages, and all in language that a high school student would understand. The story itself is just entertaining enough to keep you reading.
Definitely recommended for anyone who wants an overview of western philosophy but is too lazy to commit to a tome like Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. That being said, you should probably read both!
stevyy19's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
martinaminguella's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
khaufnaak's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a good crash course through philosophy. The book was relatively well written, easy and attention grabbing for young readers (like Hilde), and a captivating and engaging storyline. But I have some concerns about it.
1. Depiction of Religion
There was at least one mention of religion that I thought was incorrect. At one point in the story the author writes about how Muslim believe they shouldn’t take photographs because it’s looked at as creating something, or something along those lines. And this is true, some Muslim, an incredibly small minority, believe this, and that’s why it’s concerning to me! Because what does a non-Muslim reader interpret when they read this? That most, if not all, Muslim believe that it’s impermissible to take photos?
2. Depiction of Communism
The chapter on Marx was interesting. What was concerning to me was the mention of communism causing a lot of harm, though possibly unintentional. The fact of the matter is, the western world’s perception is incredibly propagandized, I won’t delve too deeply into this, but I wish it could have been expressed more objectively in the story.
3. Sexual Themes
I don’t know if this was me being prude, but I felt like some parts of the story almost suggested that people were concerned Sophie and Albert were dating? I know it’s a logical assumption, but I just would have appreciated if the story navigated around it, after all, it was all the major’s imagination. Especially the scene with Joanna in the end, it was so unneeded, and to imagine a man who was almost forty imagining that of fifteen-fourteen year olds? I don’t know, it’s kind of discomforting.
4. This Isn’t All There is to Western Philosophy
It was missing a lot of more modern philosophers in the end, philosophers of race and gender. It would have been fine if it ended on a note of, oh, there are a lot of modern philosophers and philosophies that you can learn more about! And a lot of old ones too. But I fear it gave the perception that that might not have been the case.
1. Depiction of Religion
There was at least one mention of religion that I thought was incorrect. At one point in the story the author writes about how Muslim believe they shouldn’t take photographs because it’s looked at as creating something, or something along those lines. And this is true, some Muslim, an incredibly small minority, believe this, and that’s why it’s concerning to me! Because what does a non-Muslim reader interpret when they read this? That most, if not all, Muslim believe that it’s impermissible to take photos?
2. Depiction of Communism
The chapter on Marx was interesting. What was concerning to me was the mention of communism causing a lot of harm, though possibly unintentional. The fact of the matter is, the western world’s perception is incredibly propagandized, I won’t delve too deeply into this, but I wish it could have been expressed more objectively in the story.
3. Sexual Themes
I don’t know if this was me being prude, but I felt like some parts of the story almost suggested that people were concerned Sophie and Albert were dating? I know it’s a logical assumption, but I just would have appreciated if the story navigated around it, after all, it was all the major’s imagination. Especially the scene with Joanna in the end, it was so unneeded, and to imagine a man who was almost forty imagining that of fifteen-fourteen year olds? I don’t know, it’s kind of discomforting.
4. This Isn’t All There is to Western Philosophy
It was missing a lot of more modern philosophers in the end, philosophers of race and gender. It would have been fine if it ended on a note of, oh, there are a lot of modern philosophers and philosophies that you can learn more about! And a lot of old ones too. But I fear it gave the perception that that might not have been the case.
natashas_library's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
ariaenea's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0