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Semi-philosophic/insightful book suggestions

J

Jigzy

New Member
Hi!

I'm looking for a few suggestions on good semi-philosophic/insightful reads.
More precisely, I'm looking for books resembling Pirsig's "Zen and the art
of motorcykle maintenance" or Rhinehart's "The Dice man". Books in which
the author introduces interesting ideas, thoughts and obervations, which
may (or may not) be secondary to the plot of the story.

When browsing and searching Amazon, I tend to end up mostly with classical philosophical or religious books.

I would welcome any suggestions!
 
magemanda said:
Have you tried Sophie's World? That is supposed to introduce philosophical ideas.
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That would seem an excellent suggestion, and in addition another of Jostein Gaarder's books, the Solitaire Mystery, which is, in my opinion, even better. The other one that springs to mind is "His Dark Materials," which raises some important philosophical/theological issues.
 
I've read Sophie's world, and enjoyed it enough to give it another go here in the near future. It's really not much of a plot, really just holding together the philosophy elements.
 
A book that's been on my list for years now is theos odyssey. Still not read it yet, but according to amazon it might be suitable. Sounds like it does for religion what sophies world did for philosophy. And i didnt enjoy solitaire half as much as sophies world - seemed a bit laboured.
 
Iris Murdoch's novels do this really well. I think my favorite is The Philosopher's Pupil, but she has many more that manage to combine great storytelling and character development with philosophical explorations. She was primarily a philosopher, so knows her territory well.

Novella
 
Sophie's World - a messy book with a lot of questions, and no answers!

:eek: Sophie's World!! Well... How can I say this without offending someone? I can't! The book is a mess! Imagine a teenage girl, reading letters, watching television, meeting a fellow named Alberto Knox (who helps her to find some answers to her questions regarding the origin of the world and herself) and travels back and forth (Whether in the body or out of the body, I can’t tell) between time periods visiting philosophers and hearing their (well known) ideas during the past 20 centuries. As such, the book mention some truth, but fails miserable as a novel… in my humble opinion.
 
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It's not overtly philosophical, and it's quite a short and simple read, but it will make you think!
 
Chesterton said:
:eek: Sophie's World!! Well... How can I say this without offending someone? I can't! The book is a mess! Imagine a teenage girl, reading letters, watching television, meeting a fellow named Alberto Knox (who helps her to find some answers to her questions regarding the origin of the world and herself) and travels back and forth (Whether in the body or out of the body, I can’t tell) between time periods visiting philosophers and hearing their (well known) ideas during the past 20 centuries. As such, the book mention some truth, but fails miserable as a novel… in my humble opinion.
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Do you read books for answers?? Personally, I read them precisely for new ways to ask or see questions. The answers can only be provided by the reader.
 
Chesterton said:
As such, the book mention some truth, but fails miserable as a novel… in my humble opinion.
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Always nice to hear an honest, straight from the heart, opinion about the quality of a book. :rolleyes:
So if I understand you correctly, you are of the opinion that the narrative in
"Sophies world" is basically just glue, which allows the author to introduce the reader to
famous philosophers? Your point being, that this introduction is perhaps better
read elsewhere in a more consise form?

In some respects, this critique can also be directed to "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenace",
because a large part of that book is simply a somewhat dull description of a father/son crosscountry bike-ride.
The real interesting parts of the book, is where we are being introduced to Phaedrus, the treatment of Quality etc..
However, the bike-ride description serves the important purposes of making the book more digestible and seperating the more profound contents.

Have you considered whether this has also been the idea with "Sophies world"?
Anyways, I'm looking forward to reading "Sophies world", to see whether I agree or disagree with you....
 
True@1stLight said:
Do you read books for answers?? Personally, I read them precisely for new ways to ask or see questions. The answers can only be provided by the reader.
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I don't "allways" read books for answers.. Don't you?

And - by the way - answers can also be provided by "the" writer.. not always by the reader.
 
Chesterton said:
I don't "allways" read books for answers.. Don't you?

And - by the way - answers can also be provided by "the" writer.. not always by the reader.
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I'm not sure what the first sentence says, but "by the way" as you said it, I disagree with the second part. The writer can make suggestions, for it to become an answer you have to accept it. Obviously the questions addressed are hardly objective math equations, so in the end I believe it always lies in the reader's hands to accept or decline something as an answer.
 
True@1stLight said:
I'm not sure what the first sentence says, but "by the way" as you said it, I disagree with the second part. The writer can make suggestions, for it to become an answer you have to accept it. Obviously the questions addressed are hardly objective math equations, so in the end I believe it always lies in the reader's hands to accept or decline something as an answer.
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Since you are the writer to my answer, can I assume that you are wrong and I am right? In that case.. thank you!
 
Chesterton said:
Since you are the writer to my answer, can I assume that you are wrong and I am right? In that case.. thank you!
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Chesterson.. just wondering. Since you seem to dislike most of the books mentioned, which semi-philosophical books do you prefer? From where do you gather your "answers"?
 
Jigzy said:
Chesterson.. just wondering. Since you seem to dislike most of the books mentioned, which semi-philosophical books do you prefer? From where do you gathers your "answers"?
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Most of the books? Only Sophie's World!.. And as such, I don't prefer any semi-philosophical books.

I usually look in a encyclopaedia (or books) for answers, I thought that was obvious (I don't "allways" read books for answers.. Don't you? – answer written to True@1stLight earlier).
 
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