This book is perhaps more educational in design than it is for escapism. It is a brief history of philosophy masked as a meta-narrative through the eyes of a fourteen-turning-fifteen year old Norwegian girl. Or so we think. I’m not a philosophy buff, so I actually don’t know Kierkegaard’s premises , or how Plato and Aristotle differ significantly on their outlook in life. As Sophie learns, we also learn about these philosophers and their ideas, and how they contributed to the next chain of knowledge.
And as a narrative mixed with didactic teachings of philosophy, it worked rather well. At least for a while. There is the mysterious Hilda that keeps appearing in the story, even though Sophie had never known anybody called Hilda before. There are mysterious postcards from Hilda’s father who referred to Sophie as her friend. It is almost as though Hilda’s father were omniscient and watching Sophie’s every move. All this time, Sophie had been receiving mysterious letters from a mentor who lured her into learning about philosophy.
I’m not gonna lie. The philosophy part is actually mostly enjoyable. For each chapter, the teaching follows a linear narrative, from the pre-Socratic era all the way to 20th century philosophy rounding out towards existentialism and neo-everything-else. I only have artificial understanding of philosophical ideas, and to have these ideas explained to a fourteen year old girl means that the complexity of these philosophical thoughts must be reduced significantly so even dumbasses like me can understand it. Sophie’s conversations with Alberto is reminiscent of the didactic discourse that you read in Plato’s Republic where ideas are debated through conversations.
Thankfully, the teachings of Alberto is quite easy to understand. From a brief perusing of these ideas, I was surprised by how scientific philosophy was in the beginning. Plato loved mathematics because numbers don’t lie, that empiricism and rationalisation are two very different things, that even the earliest philosophers are obsessed over the concept of matter from the very beginning. Their ideas were influential to not only philosophers who come after, but scientists who have advanced technology. The concept of atoms, penned by Democritus are still instrumental to how we define the living world. Philosophers were obsessed about how matter changes, if there was an “idea” man or animals which represent ideal beings. They were also obsessed with creation and religion. I especially love reading about the Epicureans and the Stoics.
We spar on these ideas to this day. Aristotelean and Greek philosophy were compatible with the religious philosophy of the middle ages as these ancient works became translated and becoming more widespread. But that’s where things get really wanky, because the ideas often overlap one another and become confused. I lost track of what Descartes, Locke and the others in that period were trying to say. Between the middle ages, past Kierkegaard to Sartre, I really couldn’t keep up with the differences in their ideas. Each philosopher seems to follow their own narrative, but I will need to create a reality of my own (I actually cannot remember which philosopher said this, and it wasn’t Nietzsche).
Where the book bothers me is the whole idea that an old dude was able to penetrate the domestic life of a family that he had never had contact with before, lure the daughter into some sort of relationship (albeit a mentor — student relationship) and sneak himself into the life of their family without the consent of the parents. It’s actually pretty fucking creepy if you think about it. Sophie saw Alberto alone many times over, and it bothered me that she was just willing to go. Are Norwegians more trusting in strangers?
Sophie’s learning also made her a bit of a bitch. She has only a single friend and her mother. She became condescending towards them both as she picked up this newfound philosophical knowledge from the creepy old Alberto. And let’s not mention the hangover vomit that is the ending. Sure, it reminds you that this novel is just a world of fiction and that the teachings too maybe, don’t matter, that Gardner is another author in the midst of all this mess, and you should keep in mind of his presence. But wow, I just wanted this book to be over by the time I reached the end.
Then again, you may not look at a mirror the same way again.
