Welcome to Litsy!

...elsewhere men talk of public good, but look after their private good...in Utopia, where all possessions are in common, everyone is certain that, provided that care is taken to keep the public barns full, everyone will have whatever he wants for his private use. For there is no unfair distribution of property, there are no paupers or beggars there, and though no one has anything, yet all are rich.

A important work, from 1516 no less. Not to be tasted, but "chewed and digested" as Bacon would say. The author not only wishes us to compare actual societies against an ideal one, but if a more "communal" could even come to exist from purposeful human agency. In this American election year, it's all the more important to ask what kind of society we want & why. Not an easy read. But like most difficult tasks, it pays dividends. Recommended.

"Men could no more live without iron than without fire and water, though nature has given no use to gold and silver, which we might not easily go without, if man's folly had not put a price upon scarceness."

Not a blurb, per se. Just a picture of me & my reading buddy this morning.

Picked this up primarily due to its link to Ever After:A Cinderella Story, but reading up on it and getting stuck into the introduction has me very intrigued!

I finished this a little while ago but completely forgot to post. This isn't quite a comfort read, but it is a book I enjoy re-reading. Picture is my #handspun yarn, I've been doing a lot of #spinning lately.
#serialreader #craftingwhilereading

I think this is the biggest part I disagree with. I don't think a wonderful place would have such inequality as slavery, and fixed gender roles aren't great. It can be passed off as being of its time, but there's also the discussion about property which feels very modern.
Honestly this is why I love this book. There's always something new to discover.
#serialreader

I am thoroughly enjoying this. I'm pretty sure this is my fourth time reading it, but each time I find something new
#serialreader

Communism in 1516, I love it
#serialreader

Another day, another issue! Such an interesting look at early 16th century thought
#serialreader

Another issue done! This is the most I've read in ages. It's good to note that this was written in 1516 and is firmly against the death penalty
#serialreader

After almost two years of not even wanting to read, I've started a book.
#serialreader

Interesting first half. More gives some opinions on social problems of his day (is executing thieves a good idea, what makes people steal, does govt and social policy make them thieves?) and the difficulty of reform from within a corrupt and corrupting system. 👎

#sunlightwellness

I‘ve watched 5 episodes of Utopia on Amazon Prime with my bf over the last week. He‘s off to work out of town now, so the season is paused for now til he gets back. Hard to categorize the genre, but it‘s definitely some hybrid of horror/sci-fi/dystopian/conspiracy thriller. The plot also revolves around a mysterious graphic novel that seems to predict worldwide pandemics.

+25 points
+1 point
89 points total

#Scarathlon2020 #TeamHarkness

A satire for the early 1500s.

Finally reading Thomas More's Utopia.

DS9 2x15 #Paradise I enjoyed this episode. Well acted. Explores the tyranny of strict ideologies and the illusory nature of the “good old days“. Fast fact: they weren't. Producer Michael Piller wanted to explore cults here, but no cookie; that group is not a cult and Alixus is not a religious leader. Also it's football, DS9 writers, not soccer! It‘s not hard! Also, O‘Brien‘s underwear. Tagging the original Utopia, as you do. #startreksummerjune

I just found this new weekly game!
(New to me at least, and I'm joining it with pleasure!)
#PreMondayVibes
@pepsicola

1. Thursday: I know that I'll have to hang on just another day before having two entire ones to myself!!!

2. I'm literally obsessed with 30STM, Muse, Imagine Dragons and Bon Jovi 🤟🏻

3. Work 😭 I love my job, but I'll glady trade my work week with a vacation!!!

4. Utopia by Thomas More

Short book by Thomas More about the fictional island of Utopia, a place where people live in peace, working for the common good and private property does not exist. A "utopic" place, in fact.
A lot of what it says it's kind of predictable, no news for us here. Consider reading it in the XVI century though and you might find why it is believed to be so innovative.
I'm just halfway through it, but so far it is really interesting!

So this is an unusual little book! It came in a ‘goody bag‘ I got from Somerset House when on the London Bookshop Crawl. It says on the blurb that More proposed an alphabet in the original book and that this is a ‘translation‘ of the text into this alphabet.

I imagined it would be in English as well, but it‘s not, as you can see! 🤔

I was looking for something else when Utopia caught my eye. I asked myself, “Why buy it when it‘s on the public domain, though? Then I saw who wrote the intro and essays and I was done for.
-What makes you buy a book you could read for free?

Some thoughts:

-This book was published in 1516, and I can tell.

-This book was written by a member of the ruling class, and it shows.

-Interesting ideas, but hard for me in 2018 to consider a super patriarchal society with slavery to be ideal.😬

-More was a Catholic statesman and later sainted, so there‘s an extended section on Utopian religions...or maybe it just seemed long 😴

-My U for #LitsyClassics: easier than Ulysses. 😂

⭐️⭐️1/2

*am I Danielle de Barbarac yet?*

A ha a coincidence❣️ today's #augustisatrip photo challenge is #utopia and till today I had no idea that the word was coined by Sir Thomas More who featured prominently in the marvellous book I have recently finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It's one of those books that stays with you.

@vkois88 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My copy of #Utopia comes with this map from the 1518 edition. #augustisatrip @vkois88 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

June. It was a great month. In this month, I finished reading 10 books. Now, I have to keep up with the bar I have set for myself. I started taking ARCs in exchange for honest review and I guess I am doing good. Feels great to learn so much in just 1 month. There are few genres that I will be trying from July, just to explore. I hope to set the bar higher this month. Cheers!

Thank goodness for Serial Reader because this was a difficult one to get through for me. Some ideas and ways of the Utopians were interesting, but I found that much of this was TOO much.

#Litsyclassics
#Serialreader

...might need to re-read this one. Had to read it in high school, and it was like advanced Swahili to me.

Finally got to this bad boy after years of wanting to read it. Definitely wish I'd read it sooner. This book made me look up a bunch of stuff and I swear I spent a whole day reading about the equator and looking at old maps because of one line from this book. 😅

I have to say these serial readers are the only reason I‘d ever get through some of these classics. Some of these are just no longer relevant, imho. This was for a challenge. Or I wouldn‘t have bothered.

Heyo littens 🐱
I finally made a goodreads account! 🎉 I hardly have any idea how to use this but I would love to be connected to you all on there! So, just leave your account name below or the litsy group, or just add me (I'll leave a link!) So I can have all you wonderful littens on there!
Ps: I also need help trying to figure out how to use the website. 😂

Here's the link to my account: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/72348113-utopiyll

This one is on my top 10 list of favourites!! It relaxes my every muscle!!! He was a pure genius.

#litsyclassics #litsyclassicsmatches

@TheKidUpstairs @cobwebmoth @CherylG @Caterina @Rachbb3 @erinreads @JessNevertheless @SkeletonKey @TricksyTails @Librarybelle

This is a pick because as China Miéville explains in his introductory essay, "We are all...Thomas More's children". I found it interesting for its content and for its limitations, because More's Utopia maintains slavery and patriarchy. Considering More's social position, the lesson for modern readers may be: don't let the people in power imagine a new world for you. This particular edition is excellent just for Le Guin's set of essays alone. ⬇️

#30DaysofReadathon Countdown 29: Short book

I can't deny I love big books, but here is a selection of short ones, pulled somewhat randomly from the shelves.

Really want to read Utopia but kind of intimadated.

"For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them."
—Thomas More, Utopia

This book surprised me. It's one of those classics that everyone thinks they know, but there was more pleasure
in reading it than I expected. Book 1 was a bit slow, but Book 2 made the persistence worth it. My particular edition (Classics Club) had footnotes that referred one not just to (for example) "Plato's Republic" but gave page numbers for the Classics Club edition thereof, making it easy to look up. #letterU #LitsyAtoZ @BookishMarginalia

"where money wields all the influence, it is hard and almost impossible that there the commonwealth may justly be governed, and prosperously flourish."

I spent most of today adding books to #Libib, and now I'm going to put my feet up and read about Utopia. #LitsyAtoZ #LetterU @BookishMarginalia

I started reading Utopia tonight. It's a 1947 edition, but so far the translation seems very readable. #currentread #currentlyreading #classics #more

Not an easy read but well worth it! I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! My copy had a few poems about Utopia.

Thought you Littens would appreciate this Daily Shouts piece from The New Yorker: "Upcoming Utopian Novels (Now That We Live in a Dystopia)"

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/upcoming-utopian-novels-now-that-we-...

They have no lawyers among them, for they consider them as a sort of people whose profession it is to disguise matters and to wrest the laws, and, therefore, they think it is much better that every man should plead his own cause, and trust it to the judge...

Opening my mind to a whole new way of thinking!

Going through some old books and uncovered a "bookmark" in one. Taken together, these items are all you need to know about me in high school. #utopia #lesmiz #understudyslip

When you read this book you really have to think about the time period in which it was written. Some of More's ideas which were revolutionary in the 1500's would now be considered outdated. Readers also need to keep in mind that this book was somewhat satirical - it's likely that not all of his suggestions are serious. Even if you don't agree with More's ideas, it's an interesting and thought-provoking read.

For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.