Scan barcode
alikath's review
I'm not rating this because I don't want to but as a sociology and a political science major, I have read parts of this or the whole work enough times to appreciate the impact of this work. Marx and Engels writing in order to convince common people is so different from some of their other writings I have read of theirs when they are writing for other academics. Though we may view this work as hopelessly idyllic and impossible, I don't think you can over state the impact this work has had on many fields. Marx is considered one of the fathers of sociology and not because all sociologists are communists but rather because of his theories on class and alienation. Even though the society Marx and Engels propose here looks very different from out society today, there are still some changes that have been made to fit this vision in some countries, such as universal education in the U.S. I think there are lots of fair criticisms of this work (many later theorists have elaborated on or refuted this work) but I don't think the reputation this book has is always a fair one and I would encourage people to read it for themselves.
sarahjuanablack's review
4.0
The translation I read was pretty difficult to read, but it was enlightening to read Marx’s ideals from the source itself.
amino's review
5.0
Solid 5 stars because it was so eye-opening and it took me by surprise at times and at other times I kind of knew what to expect. People often talk about Communism and make grand, sweeping generalizations that've made me wonder if they really hold any truth. But it was really great to go back to one of the original sources and see what it has to say for itself. It definitely wasn't a page turner all throughout and I had some difficulty getting into it but thankfully it makes up for all of that in brevity.
jamieson's review
A specter is haunting Europe, the specter of Communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter; Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot, French radicals and German police spies.
Read for uni.
Karl Marx, just prior to writing this
vmalory's review
Different version. All read cover, fist in red ink on the back inside cover and Marx's face on the front inside cover.
thebookishbabbler's review
4.0
actual rating 4.75
So I never expected to really enjoy reading the communist manifesto but lets be real, I am way too much of a political nerd to not love something that is nothing but political expounding. This was so well written, so brilliantly cultivated, and so intriguing for me. I obviously don't agree with all of the views and theories presented in this but that isn't going to stop me from thoroughly enjoying this read. It has been a long time since a non-fiction has made me so interested to do my own research on the topic.
The only reason this isn't five stars is because I wanted more expounding. I wanted this to be longer and I wanted to read more of Marx and Engles ideas. I have no clue why I enjoyed this so much but I really think this is a must read for anyone remotely interested in WWI-WWII era politics and just politics and society in general. Really well written and really intriguing.
So I never expected to really enjoy reading the communist manifesto but lets be real, I am way too much of a political nerd to not love something that is nothing but political expounding. This was so well written, so brilliantly cultivated, and so intriguing for me. I obviously don't agree with all of the views and theories presented in this but that isn't going to stop me from thoroughly enjoying this read. It has been a long time since a non-fiction has made me so interested to do my own research on the topic.
The only reason this isn't five stars is because I wanted more expounding. I wanted this to be longer and I wanted to read more of Marx and Engles ideas. I have no clue why I enjoyed this so much but I really think this is a must read for anyone remotely interested in WWI-WWII era politics and just politics and society in general. Really well written and really intriguing.
carlaxxo's review
4.0
I agree with the communist's ideals and goals. Some of them are a little bit too radical and probably unattainable nowadays.
The shortest book I've ever read.
The shortest book I've ever read.
arcticsummer's review
Wanted to see what the fuss was all about. It's easy to see how someone would fall for the ideal Marx is painting here. Even without knowledge of the disasters caused by this ideal, even at the time of writing the flaws should have been visible.
babblingbooks's review
3.0
I honestly don't know how to rate this. I'm giving it 3 stars as a placeholder until I can figure out how I could articulate this better. This isn't a review, simply a list of pros and cons about the text. I definitely think it's worth reading, but I don't think that it will appeal to most readers unless they have a particular interest in political history or political theory.
Pros:
- Fascinating insight into the early development of a new framework of political thought
- Insight into mid 1800's political and social life
- Very short (50 pages in my tiny Penguin edition)
- I learnt that the central tenet of Communism is the abolition of private property
- I also learnt that one of the movement's core demands was free public schooling for all children
Cons:
- It was written in response to a specific set of situations, and thus without knowledge of the political tensions in the 1840's I was making guesses as to what some of the implications and references were about.
- The language is not at all direct, and uses many terms/words that are not in common use today.
- A lot has changed in the world since it was written, and without an introduction to give greater context I found it difficult to evaluate some of the assumptions, and predictions made in the text.
Pros:
- Fascinating insight into the early development of a new framework of political thought
- Insight into mid 1800's political and social life
- Very short (50 pages in my tiny Penguin edition)
- I learnt that the central tenet of Communism is the abolition of private property
- I also learnt that one of the movement's core demands was free public schooling for all children
Cons:
- It was written in response to a specific set of situations, and thus without knowledge of the political tensions in the 1840's I was making guesses as to what some of the implications and references were about.
- The language is not at all direct, and uses many terms/words that are not in common use today.
- A lot has changed in the world since it was written, and without an introduction to give greater context I found it difficult to evaluate some of the assumptions, and predictions made in the text.