Book Review: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

The prevalence of literature, summaries and infotainment on the internet has gotten people to understand the tenets of Western Philosophy, even if we don’t know it. The big questions of “How do I live my life”, “what makes a good life” or “how do I overcome hard times” are questions that never cease to interest us, and people post about it through memes, Facebook videos or even short Tiktoks. With our society being addicted to social media, chances are that you’d learn about it even before being interested in it.

Gaarder’s book tries to take a stab at western philosophy through a narrative of a little girl named Sophie who suddenly receives messages from a mysterious sage and his dog. These messages ask the big questions of the nature of reality and how we interpret it, and the sage will help to answer it after some thought by the protagonist. Later in the book, we notice Sophie’s World start to detach itself from coherence, and we start to wonder which parts are of her imagination, and which parts are of reality. I must say, the twist is quite surprising, but the ending slightly satisfying.

It is very hard for a book to age well (this book was published in 1995), and this book is no exception. With all the content posted online nowadays, it is hard to make explaining Western Philosophy any easier than it already is. Thus, the learning in this book is relatively complicated compared to any content you may find online, and not in any depth as you would’ve liked. Gaarder’s range of classical to modern philosophers is huge, but not as huge as other books that have been updated over the past few years. The story itself is basic, and holds no substance without the educative nature of its content.

I would give this a 3/5 stars, which is to say, that it’s worth reading if there is nothing else to read. However, in this day and age, it’s hardly ever the case.

Cheers,

Matthew Tan