--- product_id: 5397567 title: "Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy" price: "VT1151" currency: VUV in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/5397567-sophies-world-a-novel-about-the-history-of-philosophy store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy **Price:** VT1151 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy - **How much does it cost?** VT1151 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/5397567-sophies-world-a-novel-about-the-history-of-philosophy) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, 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. Review: A book I'll keep coming back to - I bought this for my children. While the content isn't easy for my older elementary and middle schoolers to fully grasp, I think it's a wonderful book that teaches them the importance of thinking for themselves and questioning the world around them. It takes complex philosophical ideas and weaves them into a story, told from the perspective of a girl growing up from childhood to her teenage years. Through her journey, the reader can learn about philosophy and different ways of thinking. I believe this is a book that will have a positive impact on a reader's life for a long time. It's the kind of book I want to re-read multiple times at different stages of my life. Review: An excellent book to introduce oneself to philosophy - I am really looking forward to reading this book and exploring the world of philosophy from a novel standpoint ## Features - Author: Jostein Gaarder. - Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - Pages: 544 - Publication Date: 2007-03-20 - Edition: Reprint - Binding: Paperback - MSRP: 15 - ISBN13: 9780374530716 - ISBN: 0374530718 - Other ISBN: 9781466804272 - Other ISBN Binding: printisbncanonical - Language: en ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #62,559 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #422 in Literary Fiction (Books) #607 in History of Philosophy & Schools of Thought #3,847 in Reference (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 7,344 Reviews | ## Images ![Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81wrw9rY3XL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A book I'll keep coming back to *by Y***E on August 9, 2025* I bought this for my children. While the content isn't easy for my older elementary and middle schoolers to fully grasp, I think it's a wonderful book that teaches them the importance of thinking for themselves and questioning the world around them. It takes complex philosophical ideas and weaves them into a story, told from the perspective of a girl growing up from childhood to her teenage years. Through her journey, the reader can learn about philosophy and different ways of thinking. I believe this is a book that will have a positive impact on a reader's life for a long time. It's the kind of book I want to re-read multiple times at different stages of my life. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An excellent book to introduce oneself to philosophy *by O***O on February 26, 2026* I am really looking forward to reading this book and exploring the world of philosophy from a novel standpoint ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very good intro to philosophy; decent novel; a good tool for homeschool *by S***R on June 9, 2020* Sophie’s World is a novel about the history of philosophy. It is also a novel about a young Norwegian girl named Sophie. I can’t give away too much of the structure without spoiling some of the mystery that unfolds over the course of the book, but suffice it to say there are some strange twists to the plot that make the story interesting, if a bit bizarre, and are actually useful in illustrating some of the points of the volume. I am not a philosopher, but I have studied enough philosophy to recognize when a named philosopher is being described accurately. Within the realm of academia, of course, there are heated debates about what Plato really meant and whether the Cynics were always in earnest. However, this book takes the entry level historical discussions of philosophers and presents their perspectives in a recognizable way. Leave it to the college professor to nuance the understanding, and deepen it with more data, but this is Newtonian physics in a quantum world: pretty close to accurate and simple enough to gain a foothold for later exploration. As a Christian theologian, the representations of Christian thinkers was the most distorted. The Christians depicted by Gaarder are flat and lifeless. This is probably the way a philosopher views the explanations of some of the different schools of philosophy. It isn’t debilitating, but it is unimpressive. Some students are likely to gain a little of the famous sophomoric skepticism from reading the book, but a rich immersion in theology afterward is likely to help reinforce sound doctrine. Sophie’s World also has strong preference for the myth of progress. The storyline of philosophy is presented as if each philosopher advanced on the theories of previous philosophers toward some future state when, if Gaarder got his way, everyone would be governed by the United Nations. Considering that this book was originally published by a Norwegian in 1994, that view of things is understandable, but that piece of the story gets a little preachy. Some parents may have concern about a few elements of the story, as well. Throughout the story, the young teenager Sophie lies to her mother (her estranged father is away at sea) and meets up alone with a middle-aged man who becomes her philosophy tutor. Parts of this read like the lead up to a 20/20 episode, but fortunately it doesn’t result in the tragic end that would have made the air. In the chapter on Sigmund Freud there is a reference to a boy dreaming about balloons that are said to represent a girl’s breasts, which is pretty tame as Freud goes. The last couple of chapters dip into the absurd. At Sophie’s philosophy themed birthday party the participants behave bizarrely, with one of Sophie’s friend pouncing on a male classmate with kissing implied and apparent sex in the bushes, off camera. The girl declares that she’s pregnant (absurdly) to reinforce just what’s going on. Of course, what the reader gets from some of these references will depend on what the reader knows, so parents are likely to read more into the stories than an innocent child. In any case, none of these concerns are enough to justify avoiding the book. The questionable content is not extreme, nor is it close to what is available in a lot of young adult literature, but it is easier to know in advance as a parent than to find out after your child points it out. As a vehicle for communicating the history of philosophy, this is an excellent volume. There are points where the text does turn a bit dry and the dialogue does seem more like philosophy notes than conversation, but the novel is a vessel for the content. As a novel, this would not be on my list of top stories, but there is enough story and character to make the drier content more engaging. Taken as a whole, this is a very useful tool for introducing a young student to philosophy in a manageable, reasonably entertaining format. Note: This is an edited version of a review posted at Ethics and Culture. ## Frequently Bought Together - Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (Fsg Classics) - Sophie's World: A Graphic Novel About the History of Philosophy Vol I: From Socrates to Galileo - Sophie's World: A Graphic Novel About the History of Philosophy. Vol II: From Descartes to the Present Day --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/5397567-sophies-world-a-novel-about-the-history-of-philosophy](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/5397567-sophies-world-a-novel-about-the-history-of-philosophy) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-05-17*