Club Troppo

What is Michael Caine doing playing God?  He’s in the forthcoming film Sophie’s World.  You might wonder what they’re doing turning a kids book on the history of Western philosophy into a film.  But then you might have thought a similar things bout the book – which was a huge best seller.

I reckon Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World is a great book. Aimed (I think) at people aged say 10-15 or thereabouts it’s a romp through the history of Western philosophy via a story of various apparently magical goings on in the life of a young girl called Sophie.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  My daughter who’s in the target demographic isn’t interested.  My son has always liked it – since he was about 7.  A sister-in-law of mine think’s it’s weird.

I loved it.

If you have not read it I have two suggestions.

1. read it.
2. stop after you read the chapter titled “The Enlightenment”.

You see the title of that chapter is a bit of a pun.  That’s where you  get to find what  all the strange things that have been going on in the book are all about.  And of course you find out about the Enligtenment.  After that things tend to go down hill – both with the book and with the philosophy.