I picked up this book with the vague sense that I am going to embark in a world previously unknown yet nevertheless fascinated me for as long as I could remember. I read it because I wanted to know about Philosophy and the evolution of the human psyche and at the same time entertain myself with a good mystery. I had no idea that I would end up reading a textbook cleverly disguised as a novel.The book's synopsis reads, as follows:
"One day Sophie comes home from school to find two questions in her mail: Who are you? and Where does the world come from?
Before she knows it, she is enrolled in a correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre and beyond, with a mysterious philosopher. But Sophie is receiving a separate batch of equally unusual letters. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up in Sophie's world?
To unravel this riddle, Sophie must make use of the philosophy she is learning. But the truth is far more complicated than she could have imagined..."
Based on this premise, I assumed that this is a mystery book with perhaps some supernatural elements. And I was right: Sophie's World features sea serpents and Little Red Riding Hood, Winnie the Pooh and a girl in the mirror winking twice.
But the novel itself is not about these things. All the elements of the story, including the characters and plot, are just devices used by the author in order to give you an appraisal of how philosophy evolved and how philosophical ideals, such as unity, moral choice, and freedom, have practical utility today.
Sophie's World is largely presented as a dialogue between the two main characters, Sophie and her philosophy teacher, Alberto Knox. Both are entertaining characters -- Sophie with her glibness and Alberto with his sometimes disturbing enthusiasm for learning.
There are other characters as well: Sophie's mother, bestfriend Joanna, Joanna's parents, and then Hilde and her father, Albert. They are all rather flat, static characters while Hilde and Albert serve as foil for Sophie and Alberto. Interactions between them are minimal as though the author only put them there to give this book the appearance of a story when the main point is philosophy...or rather, the history of philosophy.
I don't mind the philosophy lessons. And for the most part, the author presents them in such a clever manner that it really feels no more than a conversation between two intellectual minds. But because I can't expect myself to like a character that does not seem to feel any emotions stronger than mild annoyance, the text began to lose its hold on my attention.
But then we are finally introduced to Hilde and her father with the persistently strange sense of humor. And it is at this point that the narrator starts to reveal significant facets of the plot that do not necessarily add up, even with all the mystery shrouding Alberto's character.
I suppose it is just as well that the author chose to lift the curtain at this point and reveal to us for the first time that this is, in fact, a story within a story written in the style of metafiction. Otherwise, I would have dropped the book for its increasing tediousness.
As the story picked up and the plot became even more mysterious, the tediousness began to decline and I realized that I agree with Kant's idea of freedom even as I contemplate over the rest.
One important theme that the author uses all through the story is not to believe even those things you see. A wondering mind is a philosophical mind.
Sophie's World is really quite interesting, but you have to approach it from several different angles at the same time.
One: read it like you are a student enrolling for the first time in a philosophy course. Two: read it like you are a literature major learning about plot devices. Three: read it like you are a student in a creative writing class. Four: read it like a fan of the mystery genre. Five: read it like a regular person interested about the important questions in life.
If you can accomplish that task, then you can truly appreciate this book. (TIP: Reading the book more than once might help.)
COMPLETE TITLE: Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
AUTHOR: Jostein Gaardner
TRANSLATED BY: Paulette Moller
ISBN: 0-425-15225-1
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