Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Books about Community/Utopia

[Victoria (victoria]

Hey, this is one of my favorite topics also.  Thanks for the list.  I want
to add one of my favorites:  Island by Aldous Huxley.  He was truly a
visionary.

Vicky Leary
Trillium Hollow
Portland, Oregon
----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Wolf <kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us>
To: Multiple recipients of list <cohousing-l [at] freedom2.mtn.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: Books about Community/Utopia


> Hi all
> One of my favorite subjects - utopian novels!  Almost all utopian futures
> involve community because it's the basis of a utopian society.   I collect
> utopian "science fiction" with an emphasis on novels that take place in my
> live time (<2050). The Fifth Sacred Thing was a great addition. Below are
> some books in my library.  I am always looking for other books in the
genre
> so thank you for the Dazzle Day title Gretchen.  Some day I would like to
> participate in a web page devoted to cataloging and discussing utopian
> novels and science fiction.
>
> Here are some additions to the list:
>
> Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy
> 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.
>
> The Earth, David Brin
> A great look at how the Internet creates a communities and power,
> environmental collapse, and much more.  Those of you who don't like the
> metaphysical, might not like the ending.
>
> The Mars Series - Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
> 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.
>
> Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging, Ernest Callenbach
> 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.
>
> Always Coming Home, Ursula LeGuin
> Truly a story of what cohousing communities might evolve into.  Its 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.
>
> He, She and It, Marge Piercy
> 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.
>
> The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You, Dorothy Bryant
> An early story (1971) its premises are weak but still it fits the genre.
I
> personally didn't like it much.
>
> Mating, Norman Rush
> 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.
>
> Sylviron, Joel David Welty
> 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.
>
> The Wild Shore, Gold Coast and (I forgot the name of the third in the
> series), Kim Stanley Robinson
> 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.
>
> Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson
> 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.
>
>
> This is the first time I've written down my collection and I am sure I am
> missing some.  Please send other utopian/community novels to add to this
> list.  I personally will appreciate it.  And if we keep the subject line
> with these key words, we can add to this thread over time when any of us
> find a new book! Hey, maybe one day it can become a webpage on the
> cohousing site and my little dream of a website on the subject will get a
> boost!
>
> Kevin
> ******
>
> Kevin Wolf
> 724 N Street  Davis, CA  95616
> kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us
> 530-758-4211
> www.dcn.davis.ca.us./go/kjwolf
> <><><><><><><><>
>
>
> At 11:28 PM 10/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hi -
> >
> >I read _The Fifth Sacred Thing_ before we joined cohousing, so now I'll
> >have to re-read it from a new perspective.  I also *love* everything by
> >Ursula K. LeGuin (hey, we belong to the same food coop! :-); _Four Ways
to
> >Forgiveness_ has some interesting points to make about coping with
> >conflict and rebuilding a severely fractured society.
> >
> >But the real reason I'm writing is to recommend _The Dazzle of Day_ by
> >Molly Gloss (also a Portlander).  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.  I now allow a lot more breathing space and
> >reflection time when I plan a discussion (I've been taking on a lot of
> >"special projects" that don't seem to fall under the auspices of any
> >committee).  Essentially, the elements of Quaker meeting without the
> >spiritual underlay.  I like the results a lot.  And the book is a great
> >read even if you're not looking for that kind of inspiration -- fabulous
> >writing.  Enjoy!
> >
> >Any other recommendations about community-oriented novels that might have
> >some relevance to contemporary cohousing?
> >
> >- Gretchen
> >
> >--
> >gren [at] agora.rdrop.com http://www.ogi.edu/~gren/
> >
> Kevin Wolf
> 724 N Street
> Davis, CA  95616
> kjwolf [at] dcn.davis.ca.us
> 530-758-4211
> www.dcn.davis.ca.us./go/kjwolf