Utopia

Thomas More's Utopia
$5.99
This is a great work on Medieval history. I recomend also anything on the Wars of the Roses as a companion.

Utopia (Penguin Classics)
$10.00
This semester the bookstore accidently ordered the Paul Turner Penguin translation of Thomas More's Utopia, and while I thought I loved everything Penguin did, this is the exception. It is almost unusable, especially in line with more traditional translations. Rather than just footnote and explain More's many Greek and Latin puns in More's fantasy place names, Turner comes up with his own words "Air City," etc. so that no one can relate it to the proper names everyone else uses (Amaurot, Anydis, etc.). Then, when More is talking about court jesters and fools (more' --a Latin pun on More's own name) Turner translates it in the politically correct, "mentally deficient" which again misleads. This translation is the least helpful I've experienced. Sad to report this, o beloved Penguin! I mean "waddling booker."

Utopia (Norton Critical Editions)
$6.77
The most insightful look at life 500 years ago written by a well to-do person with a broad first hand perspective. It seems like he was propelled to write this book because of his disgust over "thieves" being hung 20 at a time. Today it would be referred to as "assembly-line" style. An insidious way of getting rid of "excess" people. Of course, it was all legal, above board, and morally correct (Hey, stealing is wrong, it says that in the Ten Commandments). The back story is that all the tenant farmers were being thrown off the huge Estates to make way for sheep. The change from crop land to pasture land. More profitable, and, less labor intensive. The itinerent farmer with no other skills eventually is forced to steal to survive. You're left to guess what the wife does. With the children, Oliver Twist comes to mind.
"UTOPIA" seems to be More's answer to the problem, the problem of greed in human nature. His idea is communal living, no private property. Probably what the "hunter/gatherer" era of human developement was like, but set in a "city" setting. An interesting concept 350 years before Karl Marx.
Made me think of all the foreclosures going on today. Does losing your house and job create a higher crime rate. How much does it cost to incarcerate a family of four? What's the cost/benefit analysis of incarceration verse, well, not hanging, lethal injection? The business of making money, and the problem of "excess" people, whata' ya gonna do? Great book, very thought provoking. What's Society's role? Ethically. Morally. Food stamps and unemployment? Or some technique to channel the greed.

Utopia
$7.99
Bottom line: This is a below average novel that quickly becomes tedious because the narrative is mostly fluff. This book could have been much more enjoyable if 200 pages of useless descriptions were removed. Note to the author, it is ok to let the readers use their imagination.

Pros: interesting and ruthless villains; cool concept for a future theme park in Nevada near Las Vegas (I'd go).

Cons: overly wordy by 200 pages; weak and uninteresting protagonists; cheap imitation of R2-D2 type robot.

Alternative Lincoln Child book: Try "Deepstorm"; it is much more interesting and fun to read.