An Unsocial Socialist George Bernard Shaw 9781468159363 Books
Download As PDF : An Unsocial Socialist George Bernard Shaw 9781468159363 Books
An Unsocial Socialist
An Unsocial Socialist George Bernard Shaw 9781468159363 Books
Shaw lived on after the death of Jack London on November 22, 1916, but he never wanted to think what everybody else was thinking, so he was not prone to find glory except as contradictions made faith bow to overcoming a past that was not really our future.Product details
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An Unsocial Socialist George Bernard Shaw 9781468159363 Books Reviews
As the previous reviewer has noted this book is hard to put down. I was most impressed with the author's ability to successfully create a colorful (as in inflection-filled) and thus dynamic commentary. As to the somewhat transparent but, as highlited in the title, central topic, socialism, I feel this book has equally shown the positive and the negative consequences of its application all the while keeping true to its satire.
Sidney Trefusis , son and heir to a cotton merchant, despises the world of class and privilege he was born into and takes up the socialist cause. Deserting his wife of six weeks, he poses as a labourer and-once rumbled in that guise-as a gentleman agitator for the socialist cause. But chief among his people to reform and convert are the society women in his circle who are simply expected to be unthinking adornments to their husbands who offer "Class" and "Good breeding" to atone for the vapid life they offer. If women can be made to wake up to their condition, surely the socialist cause will advance far quicker!
Shaw's 1884 novel is entertaining enough, but isn't really sure what it wants to be-the comedy of the early chapters soon switching to political preaching and melancholy. Trefusis is a ridiculous prig and the naivety of his politics is made more grating by the fact there is no challenge to them. That capitalism is brutal-earning the merchants such as Trefusis's father more than they could ever hope to spend, whilst the working class are denied the right to earn even enough to subsist-is undeniably the great social evil of its (and subsequent) days; but Shaw is naïve in thinking flowery political solutions that sound great in theory, rarely(never?) translate into reality as politics (as any reader of Orwell will tell you) is about power over the people; NOT for the people.
Perhaps a better answer already existed-Cadbury who built quality homes for his workers and paid them well, or the John Lewis model where the workers (still to this day) take a share in the profits they help generate-and could have been used by social reformers to force all capitalists to follow a just model, whereas the political model just caused a superb reason for them to entrench their position.
All in all, 'An Unsocial Socialist' is a bit of a quaint curiosity now as far as the politics goes, but it still stands up as a beacon for the feminist cause and the role of women in society. It also gives a useful window to look into and see the winds for social change that were blowing in to Victorian Britain and the world in general.
The only character to really root for is underwritten, whereas the titular socialist takes up all the book and is horrid. A good sense of Shaw's language and argument construction, but by no means an enjoyable read.
Very good, with discussions applicable to today's debates/
very good
Perhaps someday I'll feel qualified to comment on a Shavian novel as a true critic but, at this stage of my reading, I think I would be better just saying that I found the satire there but just not as biting as Major Barbara, for instance.
Downloaded this in preparation for a performance of a play adapted from the novel, one of Shaw's few before he seems to have recognized that plays best conveyed his views. Would not recommend to anyone except a Shaw scholar - stodgy prose and, for 2015, less-than-compelling ideas.
Shaw lived on after the death of Jack London on November 22, 1916, but he never wanted to think what everybody else was thinking, so he was not prone to find glory except as contradictions made faith bow to overcoming a past that was not really our future.
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