News from Nowhere and Other Writings
After a few interesting tasters we get into the main novel which is basically a view of an anarchist utopia in which we are treated to how it is to live in such a society and how such a society works. There are descriptions of the environment, people and their livelihoods and alongside are mini lessons on how people can live together in utopia. It's Morris' own version of utopia with some digs at things he doesn't like including architecture the houses of parliament coming out particularly badly. He doesn't shy away from the obvious questions such as why would people do hard jobs, what if someone kills someone else, how does produce get to where it's needed and how is it traded, or not in this case. It's very well written to and as a story is quite compelling. There is a love interest, possibly too much, which is ultimately when utopia falls apart but not because of it. I won't spoil the read. My only criticism of Morris' utopian vision is that women still seem to enjoy waiting on men and doing the cleaning. I know that times have changed since this was written but Morris was a pretty enlightened bloke and it's odd that he carries on with gender stereotypes. Well worth reading for the entertainment and to provoke thought.
Whilst this edition has quirky stories before the main meal the afters are a dreary let down. There are lectures which although the content is fascinating they are bloody hard work to get through and although I hate putting a book down without reading from cover to cover I just couldn't get through the essays. For instance the Useful Work versus Useless Toil lecture starts off really well questioning whether someone who does unrelenting and unsatisfying work should be seen as worse if they don't work at all. This resonates with current political thinking which is that if you don't work at anything, however depressing, you are not a worthy member of society and shouldn't be allowed benefits. Great start but gets bogged down in interminable and complex arguments that maybe shows a lack of concentration on my part. At times he seems a bit, well, pompous but maybe that's just the language that was used which after all was getting on for 200 years ago. The Occasional Prose I couldn't face but I did skim through the few Letters. I guess what could I expect from a book with 50 pages of introduction.
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