Rating: 
Summary: Not just "Sophies World"
Review: Now I say it's "Not just 'Sophies World'" mainly because reading this beautiful book is like entering another world of intrigue and beauty. Don't fear that it is only for aspiring philosophers....just fear that by the end of the book you a true believer that ANYTHING is possible! 'Sophies World' is written through the eyes of a child....who expereince some weird and wonderful things! Please forgive me that I am not writing any intracies down. I read the book 3 years ago, so detials are a little fuzzy...but the main thing is that I still recommend it to people who I think are open to something a little different....People who are willing to think outside of the circle and are willing to allow Gaarders descriptive words capture their imagination... Allow "Sophies World".....to become your world for a while!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: The book is a must read for all who are slightly interested in where we come from, who we are, and how we think. It explains easily the philosophies of all the great thinkers through known history, and has the reader wandering down philosophy's path.
Rating: 
Summary: A textbook and a story... Worth the read?
Review: Sophie's World attempts to hold the reader's interest though the plot, while the actual philosophy lessons are embedded within it. As a textbook, it was separated into sections that dealt with stages in philosophic development, whether it is a time period or a famous philosopher. Each section stated the situation during the introduction of the specific philosophy and explained the development of each philosophy step by step, through the thought process of Sophie and the guidance of Alberto. Each section also had a summary at the end, and had examples and metaphors on how the philosophy can be applied or thought of. These lessons were fascinating during the beginning of the book, but then it began to become tedious. The refreshing style of the book started to wear off. As a novel, it had a weak plot. Although the mysteries were interesting during the beginning, it quickly began to get repetitive. The mysteries are dragged out too much and they are solved long after the reader loses interest. The pace begins to pick up in the middle however. Unfortunately, this pace is not carried out through the rest of the book, as the plot gets more and more absurd, probably as an attempt building up to a climax. Although I found this a hard book to get through, I felt it was worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A pilosophy starter kit, be careful you may get hooked
Review: I finnaly sat down and read this woderful book. I could not lay it out of my hands. The author takes you and wanders with you through the centuries of mankind's search for understanding who we are, why we are here and where we come from. It is written in a captivating style,wrapped in a mystery tale and I hope that a young person would enjoy it as much as I did. I wish I had found a book like this earlier, it would have helped me to get access to philosophy much earlier in my life.
Rating:
Summary: Kirkus Review REVEALS the mystery! Danger!
Review: Warning! Do NOT read the Kirkus Review of __Sophie's World__ on this web site! The world-weary reviewer bluntly reveals the pivotal mystery inherent to the book, with no warning to his hapless reader, totally spoiling the book for those yet to finish this wonderful experience. I'm furious that Amazon has such a *deadly* review residing on the site of a Mystery novel. It's ruined the reading experience for me; I was half-way through, and the excitement has been destroyed by this thoughtless essay. Bah!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book!
Review: I think this is the best book in this world. This book is exciting and interesting. You can't put it down! I'm young and this is very long book. But I love this! At the third grade of elementary school I read this for the first time. This isn't borning at all, like every has sayed to me. I wanted this book for so long and it was impossible to get this from the library in here Finland. I wanted to buy this, but this was far too expensive. Well, I sayed to my father that I want this book so much. He sayed that isn't this quite hard to read, because it's about the history of philosophy. I sayed "no, it is not" and now it's mine! I love this! ...
Rating:
Summary: brilliant concept, less-than-perfect execution
Review: Sophie's World is really a (deep) thinking person's book. As other reviewers have pointed out, it is really a Philosophy 101 textbook wrapped into a novel. Not surprisingly it bites off more than it can chew; there is simply too much philosophical discussion to simply read through as a novel. At times it becomes a very slow, torturous read.But it almost works. After about half way through Sophie's World becomes more a novel, and the ending is rather clever (perhaps too clever for some). Overall I'm glad I read it, but it would be hard to recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: A textbook read.
Review: I picked up Sophie's World at the wrong time. Between school and a busy homelife, I needed some quick reading and this certainly wasn't light reading! The history of philosophy is, of course, very detailed. Jostein Gaarder has written an in-depth, fascinating book, but unfortunatelly, one has to be in a specific state of mind to be able to follow along, and come away from this wonderful literary experience with everything the author intended. So, to recap, great book, but only pick it up if you have the time and interest in being completely absorbed in the very detailed, and often dry, history of philosophy and the world in general. Not unlike reading a textbook -- fascinating, but often boring.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite as good as its reputation
Review: »Sophie's World« is a good way to get yourself started if you want to read about philiosophy. But the fact that Jostein Gaarder attempts to explain philosophy in a fictional frame is not only a strength. It becomes a weakness in as much as the novel fades more and more towards the end, instead of growing more and more exciting. Gaarder plays a bit with meta effects but gets to little out of their possibilities. Maybe because he wants too many things.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for those born yesterday
Review: There a myraid of books out there that offer a good if not better introduction to philosophy than this book. In my opinion the only reason why this book is so popular is because philosophy is a lost, esoteric field of study for so many people. Thus, anything that excites the mind somewhat is going to be popular among those craving for stimulation. If you're really interested in learning more, start out with some books like "Philosophy Made Simple" or "The Idiot's Guide to Philosophy." Contrary to their names, they're fairly holistic and non-biased and a much better place from which to start.
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