Utopia

Book Description

Critics

• Call yourself a conquistador...

  Thomas More's Magician: A Novel Account of Utopia in Mexico by Toby Green Weidenfeld & Nicholson £20, pp280 As disenchanted five-star generals and recusant spooks rush for the exits from Iraq, there's been no more plaintive cry from this newly volubl ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Out of this World

  It can hardly be a coincidence that the historical study of utopias has accelerated as faith in the promises of utopianism has declined. The very idea that utopias, those rose-tinted cities stranded outside time, might have a history is itself a rece ... (read full critics)

  lrb published on Sun, 5 Sep 2010

4 Reviews

• 

  Utopia can either mean 'good place' or 'no place', and this double-meaning runs throughout the book.

  The virtues and structure of Utopia are in great contrast to the England and Europe that More knew. More speaks of (of sorts): democracy; equality between men and women; communitarianism; liberal i ... (continue)

  Utopia can either mean 'good place' or 'no place', and this double-meaning runs throughout the book.

  The virtues and structure of Utopia are in great contrast to the England and Europe that More knew. More speaks of (of sorts): democracy; equality between men and women; communitarianism; liberal interventionism; universal education; euthanasia; religious tolerance, etc.

  This is in stark contrast to More's world - run by Kings and religious fundamentalists.

  Utopia is highly provocative and interesting, though not emotionally engaging at all.

  If only socialism had developed like More described, rather than like Marx!

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  Garethlewisshelton said on Sep 26, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Utopia. I have not yet been there, but have read this book before. It deserved rereading. Thomas Moore wrote this satire in incredible times (1515/1516): the discovery of America was hot of the press and Luther was about to initiate protestant reformation.

  Moore was not yet agreeing with himself (… ... (continue)

  Utopia. I have not yet been there, but have read this book before. It deserved rereading. Thomas Moore wrote this satire in incredible times (1515/1516): the discovery of America was hot of the press and Luther was about to initiate protestant reformation.

  Moore was not yet agreeing with himself (…) whether to publish the work. The story of Utopia (the perfect society if you will) is actually told by a traveler. He is the one who makes to the real daring statements, at the time. Most of these today have become reality. Some examples are: education for all children and in their local language (not Latin), reasonable labor hours (not 12 to 16 hours per day), a pension for the elderly.

  Some other interesting statements from this book:

  Heads of state are much more interested in conquering new land, instead of well governing what they already have (like Hadrianus tried to ).
  Why should the state take a life, when only money is stolen? Surely money has a lower value than life itself? (a thief received capital punishment in those days)
  Maybe France is already too big to be decently ruled by one person alone?
  In the bible (then only in Latin) there is much more Christianity to be found then the current morals in the country. Is there a moral to keep that silent?
  Today’s wealthy states are just a conspiracy of the rich, mixing general interests with their own personal interests.
  (Like Darwin) he observes have soldiers and thieves have a lot in common (soldiers are never afraid to steal).
  The more innocent statements are e.g. on town planning: how cities should be build and planned (houses in straight lines, along a wide street, with gardens, very utopic at the time). Mind you, no private property in Utopia. If all wealth is measured in money, there is no room for law and prosperity. No wonder socialist thinkers have admired Moore, for his longnow thinking then.

  Making these kind of statements, even in a satire, was very dangerous at the times. I suspect it contributed somehow to Moore’s death. I could have read the Project Gutenberg version, but my Latin is rather rusty. I read the work of Marie H van der Zeyde, Athenauem, 2002 (in Dutch).

  BTW there is a great map of Utopia as well!

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  Jw. said on Aug 21, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  We're reading this book for [info]bibliogoth this month. Having read so many Victorian books about a Utopia it was quite interesting to go back and read the original version. I know it was a great inspiration for both Wells and Morris, though having now read the original I think I'd much prefer to l ... (continue)

  We're reading this book for [info]bibliogoth this month. Having read so many Victorian books about a Utopia it was quite interesting to go back and read the original version. I know it was a great inspiration for both Wells and Morris, though having now read the original I think I'd much prefer to live in Morris' Utopia than More's.

  I've studied quite a lot of Early Tudor history and I think this helped me a great deal when reading this book as there were so many references to things that were important during the time, that it seemed like there was a lot I would have missed, or not understood the significance of (for example the lengthy discourse about Sheep!) had I not had a good background. Saying that I did feel like I had been let down by not knowing as much about Ancient Greece and Rome and will be glad to get the opinions of those who know more to see just how much he was influenced by those writers, as I suspect, knowing how fond More was of his Greek, that it was quite a lot!!!

  For the most part I was struck by how ghastly the "utopian" society was. A lot of this was because of the time it was written which was very Christian, sexist and racist. It made me giggle that the perfectly egalitarian society was actually based on slave labour, and all the people were able to live this life because of their slaves, and not because they'd actually gotten a perfect communist society. The part I liked the most was at the end when he was talking about how people who didn't contribute, like the gentry and bankers should not be given wealth while those who laboured hard couldn't afford to feed their children. I felt like this was the part I could agree with most. However, the actual way the country was run kinda terrified me.

  It was interesting to see so many parts that reminded me of China. How the Utopians had the Confucian relationships, "were the oldest man of every family, as has been already said, is its governor; wives serve their husbands, and children their parents, and always the younger serves the elder". Also the communal dining reminded me so much of the Great Leap that I also found it amusing.

  In addition to the slavery I thought it was quite scary to see who Imperialism was considered perfectly justified within Utopia.

  "But if the natives refuse to conform themselves to their laws they drive
  them out of those bounds which they mark out for themselves, and use
  force if they resist, for they account it a very just cause of war for a
  nation to hinder others from possessing a part of that soil of which they
  make no use, but which is suffered to lie idle and uncultivated, since
  every man has, by the law of nature, a right to such a waste portion of
  the earth as is necessary for his subsistence"

  So it was considered perfectly just to war on people whose land you had taken if they had a problem with you taking it!!!

  Quite an interesting read, even if there wasn't much I agreed with. I disliked how men were so dominant over the women, husbands being able to punish their wives etc! But I feel like it added to my cultural understanding, and I am glad to have finally gotten around to reading it.

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  Robot-mel said on Dec 30, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  On Thomas More

  Notwithstanding some og More's positions and actions towards Protestants (actions most unfortunately complitely accepted and endorsed by the whole of the Catholic Church) "Utopia" is a book that should have a place in everyone's bookcases and on everyone's nightstands.

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  Celtic Manu said on Aug 1, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 173 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0300084293
• ISBN-13: 9780300084290
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Pub date: Mar 01, 2001
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 903 mm x 65 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Library Binding, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Libros en Español, Livros em Português, Libri Italiani, Svenska böcker

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