Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Islandia (1942)by Austin Tappan Wright
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) ellink | Jan 22, 2024 |  A slow-moving personal narrative really just ends up being an overwrought romance novel with notions about romantic and domestic relationships that manage to sound both modern and dated at the same time. It was interesting to witness a male author and protagonist of 1900 trying to develop a less puritanical concept of sex and relationships that sounds almost like a concept from the 60s. Yet there is still a strange misogyny in it. I really enjoyed the arguments against capitalism, ambition and modern living — the conservative Islandia becomes the progressive utopia. Considering that most of the content was composed pre-ww1, this skepticism Western society was refreshing. By the end I was just sick and tired of circular discussions of love and wished it had more action and political intrigue. Fortunately, it’s well written with pastoral descriptions of Islandia and simple turns of phrase that charm you into reading further. A few choice quotes: Speaking of America: “But the men most thoroughly at home in life here, the men who live most naturally under present conditions, are business men. The rest are either parasites or critics.” “The voice of a foreign government is not the voice of its people, for the people are too diverse in their lives and aims to have a single voice. ‘Government’ abroad is merely a mask with a terrible face put on by different groups at different times.” “You foreigners have built up for yourselves an environment that makes the satisfaction of these desires less easy, for its complexity makes the desires complex, and its diversity makes the desires of the mind confused and obscure.” (  ) invisiblecityzen | Mar 13, 2022 | A slow-moving personal narrative really just ends up being an overwrought romance novel with notions about romantic and domestic relationships that manage to sound both modern and dated at the same time. It was interesting to witness a male author and protagonist of 1900 trying to develop a less puritanical concept of sex and relationships that sounds almost like a concept from the 60s. Yet there is still a strange misogyny in it. I really enjoyed the arguments against capitalism, ambition and modern living — the conservative Islandia becomes the progressive utopia. Considering that most of the content was composed pre-ww1, this skepticism Western society was refreshing. By the end I was just sick and tired of circular discussions of love and wished it had more action and political intrigue. Fortunately, it’s well written with pastoral descriptions of Islandia and simple turns of phrase that charm you into reading further. A few choice quotes: Speaking of America: “But the men most thoroughly at home in life here, the men who live most naturally under present conditions, are business men. The rest are either parasites or critics.” “The voice of a foreign government is not the voice of its people, for the people are too diverse in their lives and aims to have a single voice. ‘Government’ abroad is merely a mask with a terrible face put on by different groups at different times.” “You foreigners have built up for yourselves an environment that makes the satisfaction of these desires less easy, for its complexity makes the desires complex, and its diversity makes the desires of the mind confused and obscure.” ( ) invisiblecityzen | Mar 13, 2022 |  )2  MarthaJeanne | Dec 26, 2020 |  ) Darragh4444 | Oct 22, 2018 |
 The fascination of Wright’s book lies partly in the way it matches our instinctive understanding of the interior richness of other people. The thrilling privacy and patience of its construction, its unique combination of vastness and particularity—together these give us the impression of an author slowly, painstakingly bringing forth a work as colossal and idiosyncratic as a self. Belongs to SeriesIslandia (1) InspiredDistinctionsNotable Lists
Published 11 years after the author's death, this classic of utopian fiction tells the story of American consul John Lang. He visits the isolated and alien country of Islandia and is soon seduced by the ways of a compelling and fascinating world. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.2)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
4