admatthews 's review for:

Utopia by Thomas More

4.0

informative medium-paced

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Highly interesting as an attempt to envision an ideal society, updating Plato's work in Republic and Laws for the early modern age. More seems to pull his punches though by putting the description into the mouth of an avowed outsider (though one could say the same of Plato and Socrates) and then at the end casting doubt in his own words on how practicable or even desirable it is. There is the oddness, for us, of the ideal society engaging in warfare (albeit reluctantly) and also having (oddly happy and contented) slaves, despite slavery being illegal in England for 400 years already by then. And, although there is uncertainty over how involved More was in torturing heretics, he was certainly enthusiastic about their execution, so the long section about religious tolerance is puzzling. Also interesting as an early example of the 'fantasy discovery of new world advanced society' literature which carried on via people like Poe through to the early 20th century with Bierce and even in a way Lovecraft, while also perhaps taking some inspiration from Homer's Phaeacians.