Thomas More's Magician: A Novel Account of Utopia in Mexico [Lingua Inglese] - Rilegato

Green, Toby

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0297829882 ISBN 13: 9780297829881

Casa editrice: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004

Riassunto

In September 1532, eleven years after the Spanish conquest, Mexico is in meltdown. As the conquistadors discover an earthly paradise, its peoples and their Gods are destroyed. This is a time of greed, uncertainty - and idealism. Despairing at his surroundings, Vasco de Quiroga - a new member of the Spanish ruling council - forges a commune on Mexico City's outskirts. Indigenous peoples flock there, and soon a new society exists, complete with a welfare system and a hospital. What distinguishes Quiroga's project is that he uses Thomas More's recently published book, Utopia, as his blueprint. As Toby Green researches Quiroga's biography in Spain and Mexico, he begins to sense an eerie resonance between Quiroga's age and our own. Based on archival research, and rich with vivid reconstructions of 16th-century Spain and Mexico, the narrative becomes a biography not only of Quiroga, but also of utopia as both an idea and a literary form. Toby Green uses this gripping slice of history to enquire into how feasible the utopian ideal is, especially when matched with our contemporary emphasis on the individual. Can the utopian dream exist in the 21st century?

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Recensione

'Green has written a vivid account of this visionary explorer...Thoughtful and imaginative.' (Anthony Sattin SUNDAY TIMES (16.5.04))

'What Green does is to tell a good and captivating story of great interest and resonance in the modern world...highly enjoyable and illuminating.' (Sandy Balfour THE SPECTATOR (22.5.04))

'a fascinating, moving story, and...Toby Green tells it very well. Travelling in Quiroga's footsteps, he beautifully describes the austere landscapes of Spain and Mexico's water-dripping, flower-twined lushness, a paradise about to be destroyed by the Spaniards and by the cattle they imported. His imaginative reconstructions of Quiroga's life on both sides of the Atlantic are carefully and subtly done.' (Ann Wroe TELEGRAPH (29.5.04))

'He [Green] adopts an original form for the book, moving between historical description and fictionalisation of his own encounters while on Quiroga's trail.' (Nick Rennison WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY)

'a witty exploration of utopianism and its place in modern thought.' (Michael Kerrigan THE SCOTSMAN (29.5.04))

'...excellent. A fascinating account study of a Utopian project in 16th century Mexico.' (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)

'remarkable...fascinating...this is that rare publication, a serious work of history and philosophy which reads with all the compelling interest of a page-turning novel.' (MORNING STAR (28.6.04))

'Green...writes very well.' (Stephen Smith OBSERVER (20.6.04))

'Fascinating.' (GOOD BOOK GUIDE (1.7.04))

'a...sincere fusion of satire, history and philosophical inquiry...The author is a serious scholar with an intuitive sense of how currents of human sorrow course underneath the patina of "history"'. (Jean McNeil INDEPENDENT (21.7.04))

L'autore

Toby Green, 30, graduated from Cambridge University in 1996, having obtained a First in Philosophy. He is a Green Party councillor for Stroud District Council. This is his third book.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Data di pubblicazione: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0297829882
• ISBN 13: 9780297829881
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 352