A trip into Sophie's World

A review of Sophie's World, a novel by Jostein Gaarder

This book was recommended to me by a colleague and I owe a debt to
her
for doing so. It's one of the most unusual and original books I've
read, and
one I enjoyed so much that I ended up having a day off work just so
that I
could finish it in one uninterrupted burst!
A brief summary of the plot might be as follows. A fourteen year old
Norwegian girl, Sophie, receives an unexpected letter one day in which
is simply written one question, 'Who are you?' It is the start of a
string of regular letters which take Sophie on a journey through the
world of (western) philosophy, starting with the Greeks and ending with
the existentialists.
The novel is a 'tour de force' in explaining 3000 years of
philosophy
apart from anything else, but it's also a compelling mystery - who
is
sending Sophie the letters and why, and the letters are so entertaining
(and
informative if you don't know your Socrates from your Aristotle)
that
Sophie's anticipation of what's coming next can't help but be
infectious.
Gradually Sophie becomes more and more involved with the author of the
letters and caught up in an increasingly strange world which challenges
her to come to terms with what the letter writer has been trying to
explain.
The book was published in 1996 so it's still recent (though I doubt
the
publishing world would agree) and it makes such a refreshing change to
read
a modern novel driven by substance rather than style and not containing
any
sex or violence whatsoever. It reads fluently and I found it impossible
to
put down, and in the end you can't help thinking about your own world
as well
as Sophie's. It's a truly amazing book.