Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK!!!!!
Review: Sophie's World was horrible!!! The whole book is not even a story, it was just a way for the author, Jostein Gaardner, to get his thoughts out on philosopy to people. I found myself skimming parts of it, and the characters had no depth to them, because the whole book is an annoying trick. Good luck if you buy this- it is in no means a fast read.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of scholarship, little literary effort
Review: I bought this book, simply because it had subtitle "History of Philosophy". The fact that the book already was a bestseller was not important to me. As I started reading, I was pleased to be able to refresh my memory about world's most famous philosophers and the influence they had on our world today. But at the same time, I was disappointed with the literary flows of Mr. Gaardner's ambitious 500+ pages work. This book is definitely lacking beauty of the written word and I am not sure if I am to blame it's writer or the translation for it. As much as I was glad that Mr. Gaardner brough philosophy to the mass, who sometimes has hard time understanding it, I was also let down by the lame plot of the "mystery" of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: Sophies World is an absolutely extraordinary adventure through imaginative and intellectual realms! Never have I pondered so deeply nor wondered so profoundly. While you take a course of the history of philosophy with the main character, you discover amazing theories, are interwined in solving a mystery, and ultimately contemplate the words you read on each page with so much thought and wonder. This book is amazing in its power to enlighten! Highly recommended for those readers who desire to heighten thier understanding of life, enhance thier creative minds, or just want to gain a better understanding of philosophy.
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Summary: Good introduction into the fascinating world of philosophy
Review: I found this novel to be hugely entertaining and very easy to read. Many times, people are put off by the idea of philosophy because they think that anything having to deal with it must necessarily complicated and almost incomprehensible for the average human being. This novel helps break down some of these barriers in a very nice way. I do think that this bool should be taken as it is: only an INTRODUCTION to philosophy. It largely skips many things and just gives a very slight overview of many philosophical currents. This is an entertaining work that will surely pique the curiosity of many young readers...it's greatest strength.
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Summary: The easiest way to read philosophy
Review: This book is written like a fairy tale with sharp weaves of philosophy. If you ever wondered who Freud was, or what Nietchze said or about Hobbes - then this is the book for you. It is simply written and is a great way to start a off-campus course in Philosophy. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Whose World?
Review: It was only after the first 100 or so pages that I got genuinely interested in Sophie's World. The basic subject matter plus the mass-market hype on the paperback cover got me through the first 100. It's not every day you come across a best seller written by a Norwegian. I can almost hear Garrison Keillor saying that on 'Prairie Home Companion'. And yet here was a weighty novel that also claimed to be a history of philosophy. Scholarship and artistry between the covers of one book- an irresistable package. At first however what you notice is the scholarship. The novel is quite sketchy to begin with. But I have always been fond of philosophy and since it had been 25 years since my last college course I enjoyed revisiting the Greek thinkers portrayed early on. As I read farther I began to appreciate the author's efforts to show how closely aligned philosophy and religion have been throughout most of Western history. Only in the last hundred and fifty or so years have they gone their separate ways. In the end this book just skims the surface of philosophical thought but provides a coherent, entertaining overview threaded through an engaging plot that should make most young readers think twice about perspective and the art of storytelling- just what exactly is going on in a story anyway? I would recommend it to any high schooler or other person young at heart with a curiosity about philosophical investigations.
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Summary: Shelly's World
Review: I found this book to be facinating. I love the premise, and how the key tenents of a specific philosphy is wrapped around a situation. What I also found facinating was that with the exquisite language it contains, it is a translation. I would also extend my kudos, therefore to the translator Paulette Mo/ller, as well as Jostein Gaarder.
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Summary: Philosophy in the Mud
Review: As a lover of philosophy, I was simply infuriated by "Sophie's World". The treatment of the great philosophers and their ideas is so shallow that it is simply revolting. The characters are flat and unconvincong, the dialogues are artificial, and the plot is smart-alecky and pretentious. My only hope is that young readers will not be satisfied with this book and look for ones which do more justice to this most virtuous of human pursuits. If you have not yet read "Sophie's World", I beg you - leave this mass-market piece of junk on the shelf. It will give you the worst possible misconceptions. For an excellent and interesting account I would recomment Brian Magee's "The Great Philosophers", and for economic thought - Robert Heilbroners's "The Worldly Philosophers".
Rating:
Summary: A seminal work of the last century
Review: In these cynical times, it is hard to have a sense of wonder. This is what Sophie's world aims to restore. But that is not its only function. As a history of philosophy it is incomparable and it has engaging characters and a mystery that plays with the fabric of reality... If you like either fantasy or philosophy then this novel is indispensable.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This is the best Philosophical resource I have come by. It is understandable and has all the facts and ideas of all the great philosophers. The genre is of a kind I have never seen before, but it works brilliantly. I would recommend it to anyone with a "love for wisdom" [what "philosophy" means]
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