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Looking Backward, 2000-1887 (1888)

by Edward Bellamy

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Looking Backward series (1)

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3,085634,364 (3.29)118
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

One of the best-selling books of its era, Looking Backwards presents a science-fiction-influenced twist on standard political philosophy. In the novel, protagonist Julian West finds himself transported to twenty-first century America, which has become a socialist utopia. With all the talk in the media about socialism these days, Looking Backwards offers a fascinating glimpse into the origins of the socialist school of thought.

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» See also 118 mentions

English (59)  French (1)  All languages (60)
Showing 1-5 of 59 (next | show all)
A Book About the Gilded Age*

If a good book should engage a reader in a debate about its themes, Looking Backward is a good book. Edward Bellamy sends his protagonist, Julian West, forward in time to the year 2000 to witness the social transformation America has undergone in the 113 years since Julian's unusual hypnotic session propels him into the future. The novel is full of criticisms of Julian's original time, the Gilded Age, detailed through the contrasting organization of business and society in the future.

If a good book has a basis in the reality of human nature, Looking Backward fails to qualify. The America of the future is a utopia of social equality where there is no need for money, or armies. Where the citizens of the country have voluntarily migrated to this new arrangement in which the government owns all means of production and distribution, even decides what should be imported from foreign countries. Where all citizens, even children, receive an equal share of the national wealth annually to spend as they see fit (although they are so satisfied with their condition that they are incapable of spending it all). In other words, America has been overrun by non-humans who fervently believe the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one (regards, Mr. Spock) and act in accordance.

Looking Backward is an interesting read which I recommend with caveats. I laughed at Bellamy's thoughts on freedom and equality, because the patriarchy of his day is still in effect in the future. The equivalent of noblesse oblige has been transferred from the wealthy and their obligations to the less-fortunate to men and their treatment of women. If you take offense at patronizing attitudes about the delicacy of women you might skip this book. Even if you can accept travel across time, the novel also contains a fantastic coincidence, which I won't spoil, which overwhelms even the most ludicrous of Bellamy's visions of an enlightened future. If you read and enjoy 18th and 19th century fiction, this twist will be in keeping with those of greater works such as Les Miserables and Jane Eyre. If you need a plot grounded in the semblance of the possible, this book isn't for you. But overall it's an enjoyable book, if for no other reason than to see what Marx might have done as a novelist.

* - I've had to set my themed reading list aside for now, as I'm taking a couple literature classes this summer through a state program that provides free tuition for Texas residents over 55. This novel is assigned for my 19th Century American Literature class focused on the Gilded Age. ( )
  skavlanj | Dec 18, 2023 |
Interesting early time travel story. ( )
  kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
A classic well worth the read, and maybe worth going back to some day. ( )
  mykl-s | Nov 25, 2022 |
A classic and seminal text but, like all utopian novels, it presents a static world-view via a tiresome didactic narrative. ( )
1 vote sfj2 | Mar 28, 2022 |
12/12/21
  laplantelibrary | Dec 12, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 59 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (32 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Bellamy, EdwardAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Broun, HeywoodIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fromm, Erichsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Miller, Walter JamesIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
s.BENešCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Simon, AnnaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Zetkin, ClaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Preface: Living as we do in the closing year of the twentieth century, enjoying the blessings of a social order at once so simple and logical that it seems but the triumph of common sense, it is, no doubt, difficult for those whose studies have not been largely historical to realize that the present organization of society is, in its completeness, less than a century old. -Preface, 12-26-2000
I first saw the light in the city of Boston in the year 1857.
"This book is one to be read and considered seriously," the poet, designer, and political activist William Morris commented suspiciously in his review of Looking Backward (1888) in 1889, "but it should not be taken as the Socialist bible of reconstruction; a danger which perhaps it will not altogether escape." Introduction, Oxford University edition
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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

One of the best-selling books of its era, Looking Backwards presents a science-fiction-influenced twist on standard political philosophy. In the novel, protagonist Julian West finds himself transported to twenty-first century America, which has become a socialist utopia. With all the talk in the media about socialism these days, Looking Backwards offers a fascinating glimpse into the origins of the socialist school of thought.

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