Book Review | Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
Sophie’s World is a magical mix of philosophy, mystery, and fantasy, which promises to delight your inner child.
"...at some point something must have come from nothing..."
Sophie Amundsen lives a rather ordinary life in Crescent Cove. What she does not yet know, is that she is about to embark on an extraordinary adventure full of wonder and mystery. One day after school, she stumbles on some envelopes addressed in her name, two letters which ask two rather strange questions.
'who are you?'
'where does the world come from?'
Sure enough, this is a bit peculiar. What's most puzzling for Sophie is where did these letters come from, and who put them in her mailbox? All is shortly revealed when the next mail delivery arrives, this time containing some typewritten pages about the history of Philosophy. What essentially becomes of the mystery mail is a free correspondence course between the student, Sophie, and her teacher, Alberto Knox.
Alberto has his dog Hermes deliver the envelopes containing all the learning material to Sophie's secret 'den' in her garden. Throughout the story, we play student, just like Sophie, to Alberto Knox's philosophical teachings. Beginning with ancient Greek philosophers such as Democritus and Socrates, we pass through the era of Plato, Aristotle and the Renaissance, of course, followed by a pit stop at Romanticism, Marx and Freud.
These thousands of years' worth of information come as an easy digest for soon to be 15-year-old Sophie (us, too). As a result, she expresses curiosity in her everyday life and the big, mysterious world around her.
"It can't be pure chance that created the human eye. Don't you think there is meaning in our being able to see the world around us?"
However, there's still one puzzle. Jumbled in with the correspondence - delivered via Hermes, the dog - Sophie continues to stumble upon several postcards addressed to someone called Hilde Moeller Knag. The postcards appear to be from Hilde's father, Major Alberto Knag, who is serving in Lebanon. Funnily enough, Hilde shares the same birthday and Sophie – what a strange coincidence. But the question remains, who is Hilde, and why does she keep finding her postcards?
About halfway through we are indeed introduced to Hilde, all within a glorious twist in the plot. While we continue our journey as students in Alberto Knox's philosophy school, we see the story take a slightly different turn. This is where the mystical magic comes into play, in true Gaarder fashion, of course.
This is the second novel that I have read by the incredible Jostein Gaarder. I can't believe it's been almost three decades since this book was published and I only just discovered it? Better late than never, of course, and boy am I pleased I didn't miss out!
One of the things I really enjoy about Gaarder's novels is the playful characters and plot themes, sprinkled with a touch of mystical fantasy and in this case, a whole lot of Philosophy. Sophie's World is a creative, fun and adventurous tale; a story within a story which is an entertaining writing style that Gaarder is well known for. While this book may be on the shelves for Children, I know I won’t be the only 20-something year-old to have been totally engrossed by its delightful nature.
Without giving too much away, I got so excited about halfway through when we were introduced to Hilde. As a result, I finished the second half of the book in one day! Gaarder has created such a creative concept which promises to keep us on our toes right till the very end. I admire his young and inspiring characters and their wonder for the world. This is a theme I can see popping up in my life more and more too, so I feel a direct relation to these topics.
Given that 29 years have passed since the publication, we now find ourselves in the 21st century. I would love to read an additional chapter based on everything that has happened in the world since. Obviously, the world looks a lot different now compared to the early '90s. In some of the chapters, Gaarder already subtly touches on the now alarming trends of our warming planet. I wonder how he would paint this picture through Sophie's World and how much the philosophical messages would have become even more profound as we’ve moved into these most worrying of times.
If you are like me and hadn't heard nor read this book despite it's near three decades in circulation, I highly recommend it! In my schooling years, we didn't learn so much about Philosophy, perhaps not at all. But I can guarantee I'd take on a free correspondence course with Alberto and Sophie any day! In fact, I believe I just have.