Anyone read this? One of those books I think everyone should read. Better than communist manifesto. It’s actually kinda a shame considering the book is written in 1800s about a guy who wakes up in the year 2000 to a socialistic utopia Except when it was written I don’t think there was such a thing as socialism or communism. It was before the USSR so the author didn’t know of any of the bad side effects of a strong centralized state nevertheless I think his ideas are very reasonable. And he does emphasize that his society is voluntary which I think is one of the most important aspect that most socialist governments ignore
I read this book for a class many years ago, and I enjoyed it. It’s fun to read, especially the descriptions of his vision of the future, but the story is a bit underwhelming due to its reliance on the premise. The world is presented as utopia, and as a thought experiment it’s fairly well-developed, though this leaves the central conflict of the narrative feeling kinda toothless.
That being said, I do remember having fun reading it. The characters don’t stick out much in my memory, but I do remember the dialogue was interesting because of how the author imagined people would speak in this hypothetical future.
I really enjoyed the concepts and ideas put forth by this book.
I read it much less like an actual story, and more a Socratic discussion and exploration of socialist utopian ideas. So I didn’t really give any weight to the characters, or their personal progression, but mainly focused on the ideas presented.
I think that’s pretty common when philosophic thinkers want to get their personal ideas out. It’s a bit more palatable for most people to read a fictional story, than it is a monograph or essay on contemplative ideas. I think this is what Bellamy was going for.