Utopia Of a Republic's Best State and of the New Island Utopia

A world of reason that evolves around logicality and ought to be adopted in all countries today.

pretty good short read

interesting to read old theory told well

Fun to talk about, not to read. There is this section, which is an early prediction of what would happen to British sharecroppers in the coming centuries: Your sheep […] that commonly are so meek and so little, now, as I hear, they have become so greedy and fierce that they devour men themselves. They devastate and depopulate fields, houses and towns. For in whatever parts of the land sheep yield the finest and thus the most expensive wool, there the nobility and gentry, yes, and even some abbots though otherwise holy men, are not content with the old rents that the land yielded to their predecessors. Living in idleness and luxury without doing society any good no longer satisfies them; they have to do positive evil. For they leave no land free for the plough: they enclose every acre for pasture; they destroy houses and abolish towns, keeping only the churches – and those for sheep-barns.

Soo interesting, but I did not get the part about religion :(

"Milyonlarca çocuğu, köreltici bir eğitimin pençesinde bırakıyorsunuz. Erdem çiçekleri açabilecekken bu körpe fidanlar gözlerinizin önünde kurtlanıyor; büyüyüp suç işledikleri zaman, yani içlerine çocukluktan giren kötülük tohumları acı meyvelerini verdiği zaman ölüm cezasına çarptırıyorsunuz onları. Sizin yaptığınız nedir biliyor musunuz? Asma zevkini tadabilmek için hırsızlık yaratmak."

5 stars I tried to read this book a few weeks ago and really couldn't get into it. So I downloaded a free audiobook version off of Librivox and this book really amazed me. The detailed description and the style were what I liked especially.

Estou a acabar de ler o Utopia, de um tal the Thomas More, um livro publicado pela primeira vez em 1516. O próprio do More é apresentado a um viajante — curiosamente, português — de seu nome Dr. Rafael Contrasenso, que lhe relata o funcionamento de uma sociedade insular chamada "Utopia". O funcionamento é pragmático e eficiente, baseado sobretudo na lógica e no bem-estar, e por contraponto à nossa sociedade ocidental põe-te a pensar o que é absurdo na nossa realidade. É um livro com uma actualidade impressionante, claramente a sociedade não mudou assim tanto em 500+ anos.

I don't have many thoughts on this book, I think it was an interesting perspective but I mainly just read it due to it being assigned. I will say though it's not the worst book to read in an academic setting. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Utopia is not as utopian as you might originally think

So boring

I read this book solely so I could say that I have read it. And because I too want to be able to quote Thomas More as easily as Danielle does in Ever After. This experiment leads me to believe that Prince Henry was right all along. This book is a bit silly and sentimental. Sure, More presents some interesting views. A society where everyone has the same opportunities and advantages in life as everyone else sounds wonderful, but how this was executed in this faux country does not sound wonderful. And the fact that this country relies on the power of slavery is a bit strange. I know this was written in a different age, one where views on slavery were quite different, but this addition feels weird. Since everything belongs to everyone anyway, why do you need slaves? The book also included an elaborate set-up where this well-traveled, outspoken sailor was introduced. The author then debated with this sailor about different views on government and how society is run. Then the feel of the book shifts to an in-depth view of how this utopia operates. Some of the views included were a bit strange to say the least. To me, this utopia felt very much like socialism, and that doesn't quite feel like a utopia to me. Apparently, before people can get married, they must see each other completely naked. The rationale is that a buyer gets to see cattle naked before buying, so why shouldn't you be able to do the same to your bride-to-be? That notion sounds a bit demeaning to me. This instance is just one of many strange views that I'm very thankful never came into being. This book did explore some interesting things. It took a somewhat critical look at the monarchy system of government that was pretty much the only system at the time. I think it's important to question aspects of society and see someone else's perspective on society's issues. So I read this. And, while it was interesting to see More's views on society, I am a bit thankful we govern and live the way we do.