BOOK LIST: Books about Community/Utopia
From: Maggi Rohde (maggiintranet.org)
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 11:56:24 -0700 (MST)
I was intrigued by the books people were posting to the list in the past
week or so, and being an itinerant librarian, I compiled a booklist.  =)
Enjoy.  Hope I got them all.  I added a few other resources at the bottom.
-Maggi

BOOK LIST: Novels on Utopia / Future Communities
------------------------------------------------

compiled from the Cohousing-L archives, 11/2/99


BELLAMY, Edward:

- Looking Backward

Elph M. says: "... written in 1888 and set in the year 2000. It tends 
towards academic arguments and is lean on action but the ideas are 
superb!"


BRADLEY, Marion Zimmer: 

- The Forbidden Tower

Jasmine says: "Its part of the Darkover series. I found it a wonderful 
example of what happens when people from two very different cultures 
and lifestyles get married. One of the Darkovan women states that she 
doesn't understand how one person can be expected to satisfy all of 
the needs of their partner: if the person is uninterested or unable 
to meet the sexual (or other needs) of their partner for whatever 
reason (sickness, temporary inability, being away, too busy, not 
interested, etc.), wouldn't she/he be happy to have the partner turn 
to someone else to have their needs met instead of having to suffer 
too? And wouldn't it be better to have that person be someone they 
both care about instead of a stranger?"


BRIN, David:

- The Earth

Kevin W. says: "A great look at how the Internet creates communities 
and power, environmental collapse, and much more.  Those of you who 
don't like the metaphysical might not like the ending."


BRYANT, Dorothy:

- The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You

Kevin W. says: "An early story (1971) its premises are weak but still 
it fits the genre.  I personally didn't like it much."


BUTLER, Octavia:

- Parable of the Sower / Parable of the Talents

Judy B. says: "... Books about founding a community - not sure of 
the time scale, but could be 2050 or so... a lot about slavery and 
survival."

Maggi R. says: "More excellent commentary on people, post-apocalypse 
survival and building new communities.  Everything by Butler is
very good."


CALLENBACH, Ernest:     

- Ecotopia / Ecotopia Emerging

Kevin W. says: "One of the first and best of the new utopian genre.  
N. Calif, Oregon and WA leave the union during a time of war in 
South America and form a utopian society. Ecotopia came first so it 
is best to read that first and then see how Callenbach describes how 
the revolution occurred.  Ecotopia was a personal inspiration in the 
formation of the co-op house (now the common house) that preceded the 
development of N Street Cohousing."


GLOSS, Molly:           

- The Dazzle of Day

Gretchen says: "Esperanto-speaking Quakers in a 200-year biosphere 
space trip -- what a premise!  There are really fantastic things
about community and meetings that have greatly affected how I bring 
items to my cohousing group."


HUXLEY, Aldous:         

- Island 

Vicky L. says: "... One of my favorites.  He was truly a visionary."


LEGUIN, Ursula K:       

- The Disposessed

Judy B. says: "It is about an anarchist utopia (sort of science 
fantasy in that the colony is on a "moon" of a rich planet).  The 
format can be hard to get into, (switching back and forth between 
present and past) but i found it fascinating, especially in the
descriptions of the power relations in a supposedly egalitarian 
society.  They have "only" community meals, and share *EVERYTHING*."

- Four Ways to Forgiveness

Gretchen says: "... Has some interesting points to make about coping 
with conflict and rebuilding a severely fractured society."

- Always Coming Home

Kevin W. says: "Truly a story of what cohousing communities might 
evolve into.  It's 2000 years in the future and humans have returned 
to pre-white Native American related social systems.  It takes place 
in Napa County CA with the oceans 200 foot higher.  Artificial 
intelligence holds all knowledge of the past 2000 years with anyone 
able to access any of it at any time if they want to.  Most everyone 
doesn't at all."


MARCUS, Clare Cooper:   

- House as Mirror of Self

Hans T. says: "Here's a stretch to non-fiction... includes chapters 
on power struggles in making a home together, territory, control and 
privacy at home, self image and location."


McINTYRE, Vonda:        

- Starfarers / Transition / Metaphase

Liz S. says: "There is no better reading than Vonda McIntyre's 
trilogy ostensibly about space travel, but really about community, 
trust and, yes, the p-word."


PIERCY, Marge:          

- He, She and It

Kevin W. says: "Only corporations and renegade communities with strong 
cyber defences and skills survive in a world gone to hell with 
pollution etc.  Takes place in next 50 or so years.  There's a great 
description of community and issues, both utopian and distopian."

- Woman on the Edge of Time  

Kevin W. says: "This is a disturbing book in its examination of our 
mental health system but provided the concept of three adult 
families and the elimination of birth as a final step in the building 
true equality among the sexes.  Marge Piercy has thought a lot about 
community."


QUINN, Daniel:          

- Ishmael / The Story of B / My Ishmael
- Beyond Civilization

Gary S. says: "Daniel Quinn's ideas are not utopian, but about having 
the best type of human culture possible. And that's more or less what 
we've had for 99.7% of human time on this planet. It's mainly only the 
last 10,000 years that have been #%$#%@ up. Of course 6 billion of us 
can't go back to that 99.7%, which is why his new book is called 
**Beyond** Civilization."


ROBINSON, Kim Stanley:  

- Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars

Kevin W. says: "The best trilogy ever.  100 carefully selected humans 
colonize Mars in 2030.  Eventually transnational corporations take 
over and the Mars colonists (who can now live for 200 plus years), 
and their children and new arrivals escape and hide in small 
cohousing/communal villages.  And it goes on and on in 2000 great 
pages of science, sociology, story telling, democracy, revolution, 
cooperative economies and business, environmental debate, community 
and society building, and more."

- Antarctica

Kevin W. says: "Takes place in current times.  I haven't read it 
yet but I understand it continues Robinson's look into community as 
global warming advances."

- The Wild Shore / Gold Coast / Pacific Edge

Kevin W. says: "Southern California distopian and utopia.  Not as 
well written as the Mars series. Stan lives in Village Homes in 
Davis, a utopia of its own."


RUSH, Norman:           

- Mating

Kevin W. says: "A modern day novel, not science fiction.  This 
utopian community is created Botswania, in the harsh desert. It 
examines roles of leadership, founders syndrome, ritual, living in 
a harsh environment, politics.  Well written and engaging."


STARHAWK:               

- The Fifth Sacred Thing

Patty and Lee say: "A novel that might give you some insight into 
both polyamory, and the idealism, courage and activism of the 
sixties, but set 50 years into the future..."

Judy B. says: "I too found it wonderful and insightful..."


TEPPER, Sherri S.:      

- A Gate to Women's Country

Lee I. says: "The ending to the book packs a powerful surprise. One 
of the things I like about Sherri Tepper's books is the depths to
which she goes to create her literary world.  You simply are 
transported to another community and see it's inner workings."


WELTY, Joel David:      

- Sylviron

Kevin W. says: "Probably not easy to find as it was published by the 
Sylviron Foundation in 1987.  It is a bit amateurish in its story 
telling and believability, and it waxes heavy on the wonders of 
community, but it was basically a good story."

---

Additional resources:

Utopian/Dystopian Literature, Brenda Kukla
http://www.cgocable.net/~rayser/utopian.txt

Future Primative: The New Ecotopias, Frank Borsch
http://www.uni-freiburg.de/borsch/fryburger/robinson.html

CAW Bibliography: Inspirations and Visions of Community
http://www.caw.org/biblio/01b.asp



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