SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
NewsA new section has been added called Inspired by.... There, you will find a choice of works regarding "Sophie's World": Music, films etc. If you have anything to contribute, please write to the web master. |
Now it can be toldWelcome to this site about the best-selling book "Sophie's World" (Sofies verden) by Jostein Gaarder. If you have read this introduction before, you may recall that the author wishes to remain anonymous. Well, being both the web master and the author's son, I can now bring a little more light into the affair. My father unexpectedly passed away in April 2003, and while in respect to him I won't reveal who he was, I can still tell you a bit more. He was really fascinated with "Sophie's World", and - being retired - he spent a good amount of time reading what other people had to say about his site. Since he didn't have Internet access at home, he went to a public Internet cafe at least twice a week and wrote down the page hits. I saw this when I went through the agendas he had left behind. Every time another 10,000 hits were reached, he proudly wrote down the number in red ink. Actually, we were going to celebrate the 100,000 hits in summer 2003, but sadly, he died before. His ideas and mine regarding the site were a bit different. He was mainly interested in people discussing his commentary - unfortunately, I feel this hasn't yet taken off. My idea was to create a community where people could discuss the book, and I think that in this respect we were successful. So, while reading the site (or the book), please share a thought for the man who started this site and keep it alive, as my father's legacy and of course as a service to all readers of "Sophie's World". Thank you! |
| The idea for this came when the commentary writer compared the Norwegian original with the English translation. While writing notes on the philosophical implications of "Sophie's World", he observed that the Norwegian text had been adapted, rather than simply translated, for the American market. This commentary is based on the English edition of "Sophie's World". |
| It quotes occasionally from "Sofies verden", first published in 1991 by H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), Oslo, but it refers mainly to the paperback version of "Sophie's World", translated by Paulette Møller into American-English and first published in 1996 by Phoenix, a division of Orion Books Ltd, London. This is the version to which the commentary pagination refers. |
| A somewhat different version of "Sophie's World", smaller but thicker than the paperback mentioned above and with different pagination, was first issued as a Dolphin paperback in 1997, also by Phoenix. This version has a much smaller index but includes a list of major philosophers, with very useful potted biographies. It is not a new translation (there appears to be no other English translation available), but American-English terminology and spelling have been replaced by the British-English equivalents. |
| With translations now available in over 40 languages, Sophie is a major player on the world scene. But, we may well ask, who is this Sophie? Despite her black hair, she is very much a Norwegian girl, but Sophie and her world have been subtly Americanised. One of the aims of this commentary is to convey (largely through direct translation) something of the piquant Norwegian flavour of Gaarder's remarkable book. It would be interesting to know how other translators have coped with their daunting task. And are their readers satisfied? The French version, "Le Monde de Sophie", admits to being "traduit et adapté", although it stays much closer to the original text than "Sophie's World". |
| Although Gaarder's approach to philosophical issues is basically orthodox, here and there he expresses some quite radical ideas. Are these ideas getting across to readers around the world, or have they been watered down or even omitted, presumably for fear of causing offence? What are your views? You have a forum here... |
| So, to whet your appetite, the commentator has created a list of intriguing questions, some of which may only make complete sense if you have read both the original and the English version. Nevertheless, he hopes they will arouse your interest in a fascinating and unique book, and he also hopes to encourage a worldwide discussion about Sophie and her world. |
| If you wish to comment on the web site, please send an e-mail to the web master. |
|
| "The notion of a separate organism is clearly an abstraction, as is also its boundary. Underlying all this is unbroken wholeness, even though our civilisation has developed in such a way as to strongly emphasise the separation into parts." The Undivided Universe, by D. Bohm and B.J. Hiley See also the website David Bohm verges on Two-Tier Reality in physics and metaphysics. |