Sofies verden
Front cover of the 1993 German edition.
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| Author | Jostein Gaarder |
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| Original title | Sofies verden |
| Country | Norway |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Genre | Philosophical novel |
| Publisher | Berkley Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (original hardcover), MacMillan (audio) |
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Publication date
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1991 |
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Published in English
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1994 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) and audiobook (English, unabridged CD & download) |
| Pages | 518 pp |
| ISBN |
ISBN ISBN |
| OCLC | 246845141 |
| LC Class | MLCM 92/06829 (P) |
Sophie's World (Norwegian: Sofies verden) is a 1991 novel by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder. It follows the events of Sophie Amundsen, a teenage girl living in Norway, and Alberto Knox, a middle-aged philosopher who introduces her to philosophical thinking and the history of philosophy.
Sophie's World was originally written in Norwegian and became a best seller in Norway. It won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1994. The English version of the novel was published in 1995, and the book was reported to be the best-selling book in the world in that year. By 2011 the novel had been translated into fifty-nine languages, with over forty million copies in print. It is one of the most commercially successful Norwegian novels outside of Norway, and has been adapted into a film and a PC game.
Sophie Amundsen (Sofie Amundsen in the Norwegian version) is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Norway in the year 1990.
The book begins with Sophie receiving two messages in her mailbox and a postcard addressed to Hilde Møller Knag. Afterwards, she receives a packet of papers, part of a course in philosophy.
Sophie, without the knowledge of her mother, becomes the student of an old philosopher, Alberto Knox. Alberto teaches her about the history of philosophy. She gets a substantive and understandable review from the Pre-Socratics to Jean-Paul Sartre. Along with the philosophy lessons, Sophie and Alberto try to outwit the mysterious Albert Knag, who appears to have God-like powers, which Alberto finds quite troubling.
Sophie and Alberto's entire world is revealed to be a literary construction by Albert Knag as a present for his daughter, Hilde, on her 15th birthday.
As Albert Knag continues to meddle with Sophie's life, Alberto helps her fight back by teaching her everything he knows about philosophy. Alberto manages to find a plan so that he and Sophie can finally escape Albert's imagination. The "trick" is performed on Midsummer's Eve, after Alberto informs Sophie's mother about everything.
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Wikipedia