| REVIEWS
A selection of the best from recent issues of the Philosopher
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Sophie's World and Exploring Philosophy |
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The Philosopher's verdict: some books are not hyped-up enough |
Sophie's World , by Jostein Gaarder, Phoenix House, 1995, 403pp ISBN 1-897580-42-8 hb £16.99 Exploring Philosophy, by Brenda Almond, Blackwell, 1995, 238pp ISBN 0-631-19485-1 pb |
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From the international best-seller lists into the British
best seller lists comes a Norwegian novel with a philosophical undertone,
aimed at young people.The basic story line is about a girl approaching
fifteen years-of-age, who receives an unsolicited postal philosophy course.
At the same time as the girl, Sophie, is studying, the reader is presented
with a potted history of philosophy and a few ideas to think about. There
is a twist in the story, but to disclose that would spoil the book for
anyone intending to read it.
Sophie's World is a slightly odd book, probably as a result of translation, with some of the Americanisms jarring this British reader, for example, the repeated occurrence of 'mold' when referring to something one might do with jelly. I am also more used to Aristotle's Forms appearing with a capital F and similarly Plato's Theory of Ideas being capitalised. I also found strange, in a book remarkable for its political correctness, the reference to Chinese religion ( page 107 ) without specifying a particular one. Unusually for a 'philosophy book', it also spends significant space on Jesus Christ, Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud, to the point of calling the Bible 'God's autobiography'. Gaarder also limits his exploration of twentieth century philosophy to Sartre, which in my view is a grave mistake with all the developments in Europe, Britain and America. Something else that struck me was the use of the name Sophie, since it immediately brought to mind an earlier book by Brenda Almond, originally published by Penguin, in which the reader receives a guide in an excahange of letterswith a wise woman called Sophia, detailing specific topics in philosophy. However in Brenda Almond's case, she includes philosophers, as well as the all important reading list. Brenda Almond's book, previously titled The Philosophical Quest, is currently called Exploring Philosophy and is published by Blackwell and although not hyped-up enough to hit the best sellers, it probably deserves to do so rather than Jostein Gaarder's book, which I feel would deter rather than encourage the young potential philosopher. The book's main interest to me was to read a Norwegian view of the development of Western philosophy, away from the usual continental-versus- English-language rancour that has been all too common.
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Never mind what The Philosopher says - take me to the bookshop! |
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