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meganreads5's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
romantiques's review against another edition
2.0
"i think it not right nor justice that the loss of money should cause the loss of man’s life."
isle of pines was ,,, yeah
isle of pines was ,,, yeah
hakkun1's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
thomasfm17's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe the most boring text on the planet. Recommended for insomnia.
bigtomlaff's review against another edition
informative
slow-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
3.75
Three texts in one, so I'll review them separately.
Thomas More's 'Utopia' is something everyone should read, even if they have little interest in it. I find it fascinating how such an old text can be so applicable to today's problems, More describes the flaws of a society driven by trade and commerce instead of quality of life, and goes to show how we really have not come that far, despite the numerous achievements of humanity since More's lifetime.
Francis Bacon's 'New Atlantis' is a similarly interesting footnote on history, you can feel the influence of the scientific revolution creeping into this one. Bacon was an interesting figure; both a politician and a scientist, this is his only work of fiction. It's only a short read so if you finish 'Utopia' you may as well carry on and read this.
The final book, Henry Neville's 'Isle of Pines' however, I would skip. I read it out of curiosity and found it to be quite disagreeable. It has a lot of the tropes of utopian fiction without actually unpacking any complicated ideas, and to be honest the society described is questionable in all the wrong ways. Throw in some unpleasant racial notes and I can see why this text has been forgotten. A let down after the first two.
Thomas More's 'Utopia' is something everyone should read, even if they have little interest in it. I find it fascinating how such an old text can be so applicable to today's problems, More describes the flaws of a society driven by trade and commerce instead of quality of life, and goes to show how we really have not come that far, despite the numerous achievements of humanity since More's lifetime.
Francis Bacon's 'New Atlantis' is a similarly interesting footnote on history, you can feel the influence of the scientific revolution creeping into this one. Bacon was an interesting figure; both a politician and a scientist, this is his only work of fiction. It's only a short read so if you finish 'Utopia' you may as well carry on and read this.
The final book, Henry Neville's 'Isle of Pines' however, I would skip. I read it out of curiosity and found it to be quite disagreeable. It has a lot of the tropes of utopian fiction without actually unpacking any complicated ideas, and to be honest the society described is questionable in all the wrong ways. Throw in some unpleasant racial notes and I can see why this text has been forgotten. A let down after the first two.
amyetherington's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I actually quite liked this difficult as it was at times to read, but it is interesting to have a perspective of the world put forward by a text written nearly 500 years ago. I'm referring mainly to Thomas More's "Utopia", as it's basically a political account narrated in story form, which tells More's view on what he perceives as the perfect society. He covers everything from warfare to religion, and it was interesting to see how a 16th Century scholar living in the early Renaissance perceived idealism.
Henry Neville's "Isle of Pines" was an easier read with it being shorter and newer (written in 1668), and it covered the same basic principals: laws, rules and regulations, marriage, religion. Utopian fiction tends to curve predominantly towards the use of "wholesome laws", which appear to be the base of what holds a Utopian society together and what makes it such a "paradise".
Looking forward to dissecting this for my Utopias/Dystopias module.
Henry Neville's "Isle of Pines" was an easier read with it being shorter and newer (written in 1668), and it covered the same basic principals: laws, rules and regulations, marriage, religion. Utopian fiction tends to curve predominantly towards the use of "wholesome laws", which appear to be the base of what holds a Utopian society together and what makes it such a "paradise".
Looking forward to dissecting this for my Utopias/Dystopias module.
lukre's review
4.0
like some of More's ideas, but i wouldn't want to live there - i'd be a bit bored :)
connieischill's review
1.0
so you live on an island by yourself with four other women. imagine you sleep with 4 women. those 4 women give you 47 kids between them. and then you start pairing those kids together to reproduce. and then, when you're in your eighties, you have the AUDACITY to create a punishment for anyone who sleeps with their brother/sister, like that wasn't the whole way you created the life on that island in the first place!!!!
IF YOU'RE GOING TO PUNISH PEOPLE FOR FUCKING THEIR SIBLINGS, PUNISH YOURSELF, YOU NASTY
IF YOU'RE GOING TO PUNISH PEOPLE FOR FUCKING THEIR SIBLINGS, PUNISH YOURSELF, YOU NASTY