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A review by bigtomlaff
Three Early Modern Utopias by Francis Bacon, Henry Neville, Thomas More
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.