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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Lighter read than I expected. Interesting. Glad I read it.
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Interesting socialism ideas and religious ideas that were progressive for the time. I still wouldn't choose to live in Utopia, although would prefer it over many current nations.
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Interesting socialism ideas and religious ideas that were progressive for the time. I still wouldn't choose to live in Utopia, although would prefer it over many current nations.
Somehow I never read this in school. It's a delightful little book! I read the modern English translation, which made it very easy to read (is that cheating??
I started this last night as well, cause it's due tomorrow and wooaah. I actually really enjoyed this book. Wooah. Good job. Looking forward to reading more of his stuff
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fantastical and, well, utopian society is described as way of criticizing european society at the time of writing. While views expressed haven't aged perfectly, a lot of the criticism made can still very much be aplied to modern society as a whole. At the very least, it makes you think. Where do society's ills originate? What would be the best way of organizing society?
I think I would need a higher more in-depth understanding of the text in order to give this a higher rating. However, as an incoming junior in high school at this stage in my life, “Utopia” was just not something I really enjoyed as an overall book.
I’ll start with the good parts. There are lots of places in “Book 1” that strike my fancy, especially when Raphael speaks about his ideas on why there is crime and theft in the kingdoms around Utopia and in England, as well as how the old justice system could be improved. This I do find interesting, and his ideas are very solid.
However, it seems as though Thomas More begins to incorporate more and more themes of communal farming and communism into the book nearing the end of “Book 1” and into the majority of “Book 2”. It wouldn’t be exactly right to look at this book as only a communist manifesto of some sorts, as there are most likely artistic elements that I cannot find but I’m sure are there; but in general, the theme of “equality among all” is extremely heavy when approaching the second half of the book.
If anyone’s got any more explanations for Utopia, feel free to leave a reply!
I’ll start with the good parts. There are lots of places in “Book 1” that strike my fancy, especially when Raphael speaks about his ideas on why there is crime and theft in the kingdoms around Utopia and in England, as well as how the old justice system could be improved. This I do find interesting, and his ideas are very solid.
However, it seems as though Thomas More begins to incorporate more and more themes of communal farming and communism into the book nearing the end of “Book 1” and into the majority of “Book 2”. It wouldn’t be exactly right to look at this book as only a communist manifesto of some sorts, as there are most likely artistic elements that I cannot find but I’m sure are there; but in general, the theme of “equality among all” is extremely heavy when approaching the second half of the book.
If anyone’s got any more explanations for Utopia, feel free to leave a reply!
I had to read Utopia for my Western Tradition class. The concept is fascinating, but since it's in dialogue form, it can get quite boring pretty fast. Especially since there are no breaks in between other than the two books.
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
this was a solid 3 star reading and i'm honestly a bit bummed about it. the premise was interesting, but the execution was terrible (like, how can you manage to turn the idea of some utopian land into a super-boring manual-like text?). i felt like i was reading a textbook. and don't get me wrong, i get why there needs to be a foundation to build an imaginary place like utopia but... how about writing an actual story? where things happen? this book was all theory and absolutely zero (0) action. didn't pass the vibe check, i'm afraid.