| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
peaky
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 332
Location: Brighton, UK
|
 Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:53 pm Post subject: Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy |
 |
|
I was lent this by a guy I met at a PO chat I presented and he was very keen that I read it. In contrast to The End of Grass, this has a Utopian view of the future but not in a happy sunny silly way, but in a low-energy, egalitarian, humane, intelligent and thought-through way. It was written in 1976 but its vision presents a future that to me seems quite likely in its broad sweep, if not some of its detail if we manage to sort things out post peak.
I think it's important to remember that there are many possible futures and as Boy George (and probably many others) sang, "Heaven and Hell are right here on Earth, created by your own free will".
_________________
It's very hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Tess
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 2645
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 6:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I've read this book but I can't for the life of me remember anything about it.
Wait, wait... it's coming back... Is it the one where the protagonist 'time-travels' (dream travels?) to a past/future where the prevailing culture is all eco-minded and we go on a tour round all their facilities? I seem to recall some sort of distant war going on with remaining growth cultures and characters occasionally volunteering to go off and fight. Is that the one? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Pixie
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 44
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Tess wrote: | I've read this book but I can't for the life of me remember anything about it.
|
Ditto! Just found it hiding on a bookshelf so have dusted it off and will start reading it again... According to the back cover it's 'the most serious and fully imagined Utopia since Ursula le Guin's The Dispossessed' - I love Ursula le Guin but I don't remember this one either!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tess
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 2645
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 1:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| The Dispossessed was better I think. Very well-imagined anarchosyndicalist 'utopia' (of sorts) in an environment of extreme scarcity. I found it plausible, yet distressingly drab and utilitarian. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DamianB
Site Admin
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 554
Location: Dorset
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Just in case anyone else was wondering 
| Quote: | Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labor movement, hence the "syndicalism" qualification. Anarcho-syndicalists view labor unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and most forms of private property, which leads to class divisions. The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are:
1. Workers? solidarity
2. Direct action
3. Workers' self-management
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchosyndicalist
_________________
"If the complexity of our economies is impossible to sustain [with likely future oil supply], our best hope is to start to dismantle them before they collapse." George Monbiot |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
