Looking Backward-William Bellamy

[Voivod30]

First let me say that I might have the authors name wrong. I've been reading this off and on for a while now. It's a short novel but I have so many other books going it falls by the way side. I like what I've read so far but I wouldn't go quite so far as to compare it to English novels I consider truly wonderful. For the most part I'm just curious if any one else is familiar with any thing this guys written. I bought the novel on a whim and it was in the classics section of the bookstore but I had never heard of this novel or author up until that point.

[dfloyd]

published in 1888 which covers hypothetically the concepts of society from 2000 to 1888. The protagonist falls asleep in 1888 and wakes up in the year 2000. In it's time, it was the third biggest seller in the US, with only Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben Hur outselling Looking Backward. You've picked a good novel to read since Bellamy in the 19th century predicted such consumer organizations as Sam's Club and the use of credit cards by consumers. Enjoy!

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes, I've read this. I think it is a very interesting, and at the time, very popular text. The quality of writing however is not that good, in fact it is pretty poor all considered, but this is not really the point of the novel as its primary purpose was that of a utopian (socialist) platform.

It has fell out of favour with active Marxists today because it offers a sort of authoritarian model of Marxism/socialism which is not the one favoured by most. So I think that it has largely fallen out of favour altogether because it is not a good book in its own right, as a read, and not that good for most for exploring the Marxist point of view - it is however strangely quite readable, and I actually sort of liked it. I wrote an essay on it last year, I think it was, where I used some of his other stuff in support, but most of what he has to say is present in this volume and his other stuff is mostly repetitive or seeks to answer the critics of this text. I know others that enjoyed it for what it is too.

[PeterL]

For it's time it was a good thing, but looking backward at it now, Mr Bellamy looks very misguided. The political-economic system that he describes in such glowing terms was state socialism. After knowing that and comparing his hopes with what the 20th century was like, it is not a useful book. I think that it would be good for anyone to likes nanny government to read that and reflect on what the Soviet Union was like. It might be fun for someone to write an updated version now; the character might fall asleep this year and wake up in 2130. That will be well after the Plague, so everything will be rather different.

[Uberzensch]

Despite whatever the hell PeterL is talking about, it is a very interesting book.

What I enjoy about it, and find most interesting, is its incredible popularity at the time in America. To think a book as progressive and "socialist" as this was popular to the masses seems almost unthinkable in our current political landscape. It represents perhaps a less cynical time where more ideas could be legitimately discussed or imagined.

I especially like the part where they discuss the awnings that have been built around Boston. Rather than every individual carrying their own umbrella to stay dry, they all share the awnings to keep everyone dry.