Any suggestions on utopian literature?

[Wittyname]

I feel i need some positive input and thought of literature on utopian worlds.
Any good tip?

 

[Aitch]

Er, this?

 

[Wittyname]

I would prefer 20th century writings, but maybe I'll try it. Is it any good Aitch?
Sci-fi utopian books would also be nice.

 

[Fiona]

Aldous Huxley's Island is ok: bit of a sermon perhaps

 

[Wittyname]

I doubt for myself there is any "good" utopian fiction, hard to write well about all happy people in a perfect world, but it could be thought provoking at best.
I'll look into Island, tnx.

(ps. best fantasy: "The book of the new sun" by Gene Wolfe)

 

[hgc]

Er, this?

OK, that's the original by name, but how about the real original?

 

[Fiona]

Hardly utopian, methinks

 

[fuelair]

Hardly utopian, methinks

But, it's author and his followers certainly saw it as such!!

 

[Mahatma Kane Jeeves]

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland

 

[fuelair]

Approaching one, The Harrad Experiment by Robert Rimmer (avoid the movie as you would disease) - by the end, the primaries are looking toward setting up one based on their ideas/ideals. Not scify.

 

[Trent Wray]

Lord of the Flies

 

[hgc]

Lord of the Flies

Cute. And may I suggest The Road?

 

[The True Scotsman]

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, is a good Utopian novel if you're a Randroid...

But, on a serious note, I enjoyed "The Giver" by Lois Lowry and would suggest that.

 

[Trent Wray]

Cute. And may I suggest The Road?

Hmm ... thanx for the recomendation

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, is a good Utopian novel if you're a Randroid...

But, on a serious note, I enjoyed "The Giver" by Lois Lowry and would suggest that.

I was going to say Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead for sure. Utopias of the Inner Human I suppose you could say ...

 

[Wittyname]

Thanks for the tips and the irony. I've started with "Herland".

 

[Aitch]

I would prefer 20th century writings, but maybe I'll try it. Is it any good Aitch?

It's a while since I read it, but IIRC it was an interesting read, though the language was a bit strange for my 20thC, 18 year old taste. I shall dig out my copy and re-read it.

What I did find interesting was the introductory essay (about the same length as the book!), by Michael Foot if my memory isn't on the blink again. That was very of-its-time. Which I think is not unexpected - each generation reads things like this in the light of its own experience.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

I'm a big fan of this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Backward

A

 

[Beerina]

http://www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html




Hey, I can be sarcastic, too!

 

[kellyb]

This is about a post-death, post-scarcity world.
And it's free.

http://craphound.com/down/download.php

 

[Fnord]

"Anthem" -- Ayn Rand

It starts out with the ideal Socialist utopia, and ends with the protagonist getting a girl pregnant.

... well, that's what happens!