16 February 2012

19. Utopia

Utopia - Sir Thomas More

This book was originally published in 1516. That makes it one of the oldest books I have ever read. It is quite possibly the first of it's kind, those books describing a "perfect" society. Who knows?

I liked reading it. I didn't see much that was new to me, but did see how all those common themes keep coming up in so many other books where there is a supposed perfect society.

I also think this book must have had some influences on Marx and Engels. That is just my opinion.

Some interesting little tidbits I learned while reading...

Raphael Hythloday (a narrator)...his last name, in Greek, means "speaker of nonsense".

The Greek word for Utopia means "noplace". There is another interpretation that says the Greek word was actually Eutopia, meaning "good place". I don't know which one is true.

It was an interesting book, but I can't say it was very fun or even enjoyable to read. It was different. I kept going because it was so stinking old. I kept reminding myself that this was written over 250 years before the Communist Manifesto (not that it is exactly the same, but the principles definitely are). That made it interesting.

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