Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian school teacher and author of books that examined the history of philosophy and religion for an audience of young readers. Gaarder studied the history of ideas, religion, and Nordic literature at the University of Oslo. After graduating in 1976, he worked as a secondary-school teacher of philosophy, religion, and literature in Oslo and Bergen. He began his literary career gradually, lecturing occasionally, submitting articles and poems to newspapers, and coauthoring textbooks. Gaarder debuted as an author of fiction with two short stories published in 1982 and 1986, and he followed those with two children’s books: The Children from Sukhavati in 1987 and The Frog Castle in 1988. Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy is Jostein Gaarder's unique novel, which is not only a mystery but also a complete and entertaining history of philosophy. Sophie Amundsen is about to turn 15 when she receives a letter from one Alberto Knox, a philosopher who undertakes to educate her in his craft. Sections in which we read the text of Knox's lessons to Sophie about the pre-Socratics, Plato and St. Augustine. But Sophie is also receiving a separate batch of equally unusual letters. To solve the riddle, Sophie uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined. You can listen online to free English audiobook “Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy” by Jostein Gaarder on our website.
