"Sophie's World" - a book which inspired me

Among a vast number of books I have read in my life, there are less than few titles which deserve to be labeled as sources of my inspiration. If I was to choose the one which had the greatest impact on my way of thinking, for sure it would be ?Sophie's World? by Jostein Gaarder.

The plot is concentrated around fourteen-year-old Norwegian girl called Sophie. She lives quite an ordinary live, with her friends, her mother and the cat. Suddenly, the girl receives two short anonymous messages, which seem quite strange - they contain only two questions ?Who are you? Where does the world come from??. That is the beginning of a correspondence course on philosophy, which Sophie is destined to attend. However, this course is nothing comparable with typical school learning. The anonymous man called Albert Knox conducts a complex philosophy course, beginning from the oldest ancient times, through Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and Enlightenment and does it in a concise and logical way, so that reader feels both entertained and educated at the time.

?Sophie's World? certainly had a great impact on my view at the various issues connected with culture, life and the existence of the world. It completely changed my opinion about philosophy as such ? I stopped thinking of it as a boring useless subject. While following the Albert's course I started to think more about fundamental questions and values which make the world go round. Although the answers were never so clear and obvious, I found it very thought-provoking and enjoyable.

To sum up, Jostein Gaarder wrote an outstanding novel, which at the same time can find its place in the curriculum of philosophy studies, provides intelligent entertainment and has an interesting plot suitable for both young and adults. All of these reasons were strong enough to make it one of my favourite and most inspiring books I have ever read.