Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy

Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy

1991 • 544 pages

Ratings104

Average rating3.7

15

This is book about philosophy. I like philosophy. Therefore, I like this book.

The majority of the text could have been extracted into a proper ‘Introduction to the History of Philosophy' book. It is well written, it covers a large span of time in a short amount of space, and as such, it is bound to make generalizations and possible a few mischaracterizations in order to get a make a point.

I would like to empathize that I would never recommend a history book on a field of study as the first point of entry for anyone interested in that particular field. Also, because of the variety of topics covered, it is hard for everyone like every part of the book. There are some philosophers and even periods of history that I have no interest, still I had to endure a few pages dedicated to the topic.

That said, some people might, and have, made of this a successful first contact with philosophy.

By the way, the author favors a christian view in some parts of the history of philosophy, that might upset a few readers.

The fiction part of the book is passable. Intriguing at first but less so from the middle to the end.

May 31, 2017Report this review