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Sophie's World

A Novel About the History of Philosophy

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Sophie's World

By: Jostein Gaarder
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" 

From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning - but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

A pause-resisting novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie's World has fired the imagination of listeners all over the world, having been translated into 45 languages and with over 20 million copies in print. 

Originally published in Norwegian under the title Sofies verden, ©1991 H. Aschelhoug and Co. (W. Nygaard), Oslo. Translation ©1994 Paulette Moller; (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Thought-Provoking Middle Ages
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Critic reviews

"Gaarder pulls off the difficult feat of blending philosophy and entertainment in a way that will capture [young adults'] interest and make them eager to explore further." (School Library Journal)
"First, think a beginner's guide to philosophy....Next, imagine a fantasy novel - something like a modern-day version of Through the Looking Glass. Meld these disparate genres, and what do you get? Well, what you get is an improbable international bestseller...[A] tour de force." (Time)
"Sophie's World is sheer delight. How I wish I'd had it during my college freshman survey of philosophy!" (Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time)
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Most relevant
I wasn't quite sure how to place the star ratings so I will just explain why they are as such.

The story itself is absolutely brilliant and I enjoyed every part of it right up to the end. It certainly provides a fantastic overview of philosophy throughout the ages, alongside a story that fittingly grows from simplicity in to something more complex and captivating. I won't say any more on it because I hate spoilers.

The intro/outro music is fitting to the vibe of the story and the narration is well articulated and varied. The reason for my fewer stars on performance (and therefore overall) was because I was reading the physical book alongside listening to the audiobook and found that there are several points in the audiobook that it skipped a paragraph here and there. I understand that is likely just due to my copy being an older publication, however there was one point when the narration simply skipped backwards quite far through the story and I had to faff around fast-forwarding it back to where it had skipped from in order to continue, so I think that is an actual error in the audiobook. If you were to buy the audiobook through credits (so £6) I think that is quite forgivable, however for it's full listed price I would have expected that to be amended.

Fantastic story - An instant favourite

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The idea of writing the history of philosophy in a language suitable for for young adults is a stroke of genius in itself. But Gaarder's brings it to life in a plot that is imaginative, humorous and faithful to the subject at all times. Finally, Simon Vance's performance adds an extra dimension to this already extraordinary take. Its as if the characters were telling it themselves!

Outstanding combination of subject, story telling and performance.

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The fact that there is a narrative makes it so engaging, I love it! The reader’s performances were really great as well.

Mind-blown!

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I first came across this book a good few years ago, and now hearing it read aloud was an added pleasure. There is so much food for thought contained in it, that it certainly hadn't palled over the intervening years. I found the narration was fine. There's a lot of dialogue, and although Sophie's voice may not be exactly as one imagines a 14 year old girl to speak, it did have the huge advantage of differentiating between which characters were talking - something which is not always the case in audiobooks.
Would thoroughly recommend for people of all ages.

Entertaining and thought provoking

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amazing story just for me the narrator is speaking to quickly and can't fully grasp the complex topics!

Brilliant story

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