Discount Shopping Online :: Books Utopia (Penguin Classics) : :

Utopia (Penguin Classics)
by: Thomas More

Amazon.com's Price: $9.00

Prices subject to change.

Used Price: $3.06
Collectible Price: $10.00
Third Party New Price: $4.11

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 335.02
EAN: 9780140449105
ISBN: 0140449108
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: May 06, 2003
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Release Date: April 29, 2003
Sales Rank: 39150
Studio: Penguin Classics

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Revised introduction; new chronology and further reading

Translated with an Introduction by Paul Turner.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Astonishing - Given Who Wrote It
This is an astonishing work - given that it was written five hundred years ago by Thomas More, a rich Catholic and later Lord Chancellor.

Thomas More begins his tale autobiographically and relates how he meets a traveler called Raphael who is highly educated in Greek language and literature (who is, in other words, a humanist). The rest of the short book consists mainly of Raphael's discourse about the island of Utopia, which is Greek for "no place" (though it might also be a pun for "good place").

Utopia is a country without private ownership and many other features that stood in stark contrast to More's England of the time - and, in fact, to the Catholic Church. In that way the book can be seen as a (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) critique of early 16th-century society. Utopia is truly "no place": a place that does not and will never exist. It is, instead, a literary device for More to challenge ... Read More

Rating:

- Not at all about the perfect society
I got this book because of all the hype surrounding it, especially when something carries the title "Utopian society". Yet, after reading it I find that Utopia itself was never meant to be the "perfect" society, but rather a "different" society. In fact, Utopia is far from perfect, and people need to quit thinking that it is. As a STORY, Utopia is not all that exciting. Animal Farm is a much better book in my opinion.

Rating:

- Good food for thought if you can get past the writing
I read this book out of curiousity mostly. Considering it was written several hundred years ago, it was a challenge to get over the dry writing. There isn't a story here as much as a listing of daily practices and customs in Utopia. Some silly, some almost ingenious.

The underlying theme is an example of a perfect society; but at aprice - personal freedoms. What I also found interesting was that a few of the ideals contridicted themselves throughout the novel. Everyone is equal, except for the non-king rulers. If this is a perfect society, why would there be crime in the first place? War is bad and nonsense, except when Utopian government finds merit in it. Everyone seeks out knowledge, but they need permission to gain it.

I found the writing very dry (most likely due to the period it was written) and almost like reading a text book. A good read however. Makes you think about personal ... Read More

Rating:

- Utopia: 'a place that does not exist'
I first read this book in my impressionable and idealistic youth (some time in the second half of the last century). I've read it a couple of times since then and still enjoy the way that the book can be read as either a satire (my current preferred reading) or as a description of an ideal society.

This is a very short book and well worth reading - even for those of us without Latin who can only read it in translation.

Recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Discount Shopping Online Books and Publications

Books : Utopia (Penguin Classics)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Search the web for info about Utopia (Penguin Classics)

Discount Shopping Online Books and Publications

Books : Utopia (Penguin Classics)Books and Publications Average Rating:

Search the web for info about Utopia (Penguin Classics)

Books : Utopia (Penguin Classics)
Books and Publications Average Rating: