A Norwegian schoolgirl, Sophie Amundsen, gets a letter asking who she is, and then a second one asking where the world comes from. The sender turns out to be Alberto Knox, a philosophy teacher who tutors her by post and in person, covering the pre-Socratics, Plato, the medieval period, the Enlightenment, Hegel and Marx, and modern thought. Gaarder also weaves a second plot about Hilde and her father, which slowly overlaps with Sophie's. The result is both a narrative and an introduction to Western philosophy.
Parents, teachers and curious teenagers can all make use of it. You do not need prior study, only willingness to follow questions to unexpected places.
Deep; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2004
- Publisher
- DTV Verlag
- ISBN
- 9783423620000
- Language
- DE
