General

[Colleen]

What did you guys think of the book?

[Trish, IT]

I didn't expect this to be an entirely entertaining novel, so I didn't read it as such...

Raphael is such a rambler, I don't know how More and Gilles could have possibly listened to him politely.

I sincerely don't think Utopia would ever work in the real world, which is what I think More was trying to say. There are some aspects of Utopia that is good--they care about others, they have a fair way of dealing with prisoners--but there are just too many unrealistic ideas that would never work.

Human nature would certainly ruin a Utopian society. I'm certain the government officials would take advantage of the citizens or there would be someone who questioned the whole society like Jonas in The Giver by Lois Lowry.

I was really happy to read this book because it was mentioned in my American history classes in 8th and 11th grades, and most likely in my AP European history class in 10th grade (but I barely remember anything from that class so who knows).

(If you're not an American and you're wondering why Utopia is talked about in our history classes, it's because in the 1800's there was a Utopia-craze and Utopian societies popped up all over the place, I think mostly the East, although Utopian societies pushed Mormonism in the spotlight and they all went to Utah. They were all short-lived because of celibacy and not enough people to continue them, or because no one got along--yay America. There were some that lasted a while, but they all pretty much ended in the very early 1900's. It was a big enough deal to talk about for 5-10 minutes in class haha.)