I don’t remember how this landed on my ‘to-read’, or when I downloaded a version to my Kindle. I suspect it came about somehow because some of Campanella’s ideas are seen as precursors of socialism - the idea of the dignity of all labour, or even redistribution of it (and all property) and a four hour work day for all. This despite the strong religiosity - the Christian principles and centrality of faith.

I found the imagery of all knowledge being available on the walls, as well as the worship of the sun, quite entrancing. Every moment seems to be focused on self-improvement / enhancement of life across many different spheres, which I also found attractive

The rest was quite concerning, to say the least. You’d wish that these Utopian visions would have the foresight to eliminate gendered oppression, but alas, they are still written by men, I suppose

It is also interesting to see eugenicist instincts in such an early work - an evolutionary humanist argument to strictly control reproduction to ensure the fittest society. This makes me want to understand the history of eugenics as an idea in more detail

I have to say, the way it was written was also extremely dry. I understand there is a historical context and textual norms blah blah… but that doesn’t make it untrue



[To insert quotes from Kindle]

Cidade do Sol é uma obra política (um comunismo que deu certo), religiosa, filosófica, econômica. São insights que questionam o desenvolvimento crítico da construção de uma sociedade formada por seres humanos, sejam estes da época que o livro foi escrito (1602) ou de outra, como a nossa sociedade contemporânea. Essa crítica ao desenvolvimento crítico fica clara quando Campanella traz o seguinte trecho: "Mas, os habitantes de uma tal república seriam como os monges, que só estudam nos livros e, quando ouvem alguma coisa que não se acha neles, se escandalizam e se perturbam." (p. 65). O genial dessa obra é que o próprio escritor traz críticas a sociedade ideial que ele mesmo apregoa, rememorando a retórica de Aristóteles.
Além desse aspecto se observa inúmeros dogmas e estruturas cristãs enraizadas na obram e na construção da Cidade do Sol, trazendo à baila reflexões da Lei metafísica, com menções da filosofia de Santo Agostinho, São Crisóstomo, e outros filósofos cristãos.
As minhas críticas da obra se somam à percepção contemporânea do que seria uma sociedade ideial, ao qual não se admite uma igualdade seletiva (como Campanella menciona ao não inserir as mulheres em certas posições), ou seja, uma sociedade ideal é, antes de mais nada, aquela que, parafraseando Aristóteles, oferece tratar igualmente os iguais e desigualmente os desiguais, na medida das suas desigualdades.

Cannot say any better than that: "With the benefit of hindsight, anyone reading Campanella’s book today will see chilling hints of fascism, Stalinism, and genocide" - Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman.

Utopian Socialism circa 1600 would be Dystopia today
Review of the Loomingu Raamatukogu Kuldsari nr. 3 (May, 2020) reissue of Loomingu Raamatukogu 2005 nr. 15 [b:Päikeselinn|18806576|Päikeselinn (Loomingu Raamatukogu, #15/2005)|Tommaso Campanella|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384504117l/18806576._SY75_.jpg|1265664] translated from the Italian original [b:La città del sole|37346003|La città del sole|Tommaso Campanella|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1512946936l/37346003._SY75_.jpg|1265664] (The City of the Sun) (1602/2003 Editori Laterza)

The philosopher, theologian and poet Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639) was undoubtedly one of the most prominent utopians of the Renaissance. The clergyman was accused of heresy and of incitement to rebellion against the authorities and was repeatedly punished with both imprisonment and torture. In prison, he pretended to be insane, and thanks to a convincing performance, he escaped execution. The manuscript of the "City of the Sun" was written while in captivity in 1602. It was smuggled out of prison, page by page, under great secrecy.

In his best-known work, Campanella lays out an ideal state whose citizens live in a kind of commune: private property is not known there, all of the work is done together and everyone can hold a profession "in which they have the most talent and inclination". Of course, there has also been criticism of the author's then contemporary view of life and the ways of thinking that prevailed at the time. Campanella hoped that an ideal state like the City of the Sun could be brought to life in practice, and with the help of various efforts, he repeatedly attempted to do so. Although his attempts were doomed to failure, many of his ideas were later developed, setting an example for French revolutionaries as well as the 19th-century positivists and socialists.

This reprint of "Päikeselinn" appears in a newly edited translation and is supplemented with footnotes and an Afterword. - a translation of the Estonian language synopsis.

Campanella’s The City of the Sun is structured as an interview by a member of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller and a sea captain who relates his observations from his visit to the fictitious titular Utopian city which is described as existing in Taprobane (the Greek 4th Century BC name for the island of Sri Lanka).

From reading the biographical synopsis about Tommaso Campanella or a more extensive one such as at Wikipedia, one is primed to be hopeful that some sort of future seeing vision will be on display in The City of the Sun. Someone who was imprisoned by the Inquisition for decades of their life and who still defiantly persisted in writings such as [b:A Defense of Galileo, the Mathematician from Florence|708497|A Defense of Galileo, the Mathematician from Florence|Tommaso Campanella|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1207218356l/708497._SY75_.jpg|1870103] (1616), would surely be an early advocate for human equality and the opposition to dogma and institutions.

Instead, The City of the Sun is a extended projection of Campanella’s own monastic / church views, which include the common property ownership of all women and children, the execution of homosexuals, an element of human sacrifice (a penitence torture ritual that did not necessarily lead to death), human slavery (it is mentioned briefly as the selling of prisoners of war), a eugenical approach to procreation, etc. So, it reads like more of a dystopia to modern readers instead of the supposed utopian vision that was intended.

It was still an interesting historical view to read. The Estonian translation is based on a 2003 Italian edition so it may not be equivalent to other existing translations such as those based on Campanella’s own later Latin versions. I took a quick look at the free version on Project Gutenberg for instance, and the ending is completely different. Loomingu Raamatukogu’s high editorial standards with footnotes and an extensive Afterword were excellent as always.

Trivia and Links
The "LR Golden Series" presents readers with a selection of works published in the Loomingu Raamatukogu (The Creation Library) throughout the ages. These are favorites from over the past six decades which confirm that the classics never get old! Six books will be published annually, one every two months. - translated from the publisher's website.

The Loomingu Raamatukogu (The Creation Library) is a modestly priced Estonian literary journal which initially published weekly (from 1957 to 1994) and which now publishes 40 issues a year as of 1995. It is a great source for discovery as its relatively cheap prices (currently 3 to 5€ per issue) allow for access to a multitude of international writers in Estonian translation and of shorter works by Estonian authors themselves. These include poetry, theatre, essays, short stories, novellas and novels (the lengthier works are usually parcelled out over several issues).

For a complete listing of all works issued to date by Loomingu Raamatukogu including those in the Golden Series (at the bottom) see Estonian Wikipedia at: https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loomingu_Raamatukogus_ilmunud_teoste_loend_aastak%C3%A4iguti

“Dicono che è gran dubbio sapere se 'l mondo fu fatto di nulla o delle rovine d'altri mondi o del caos; ma par verisimile che sia fatto, anzi certo.”

Veloce promemoria del fatto che il caro Campanella era pure imprigionato nel carcere di Napoli quando scrisse La città del sole (27 anni di carcere per aver tentato di organizzare una rivolta anti-spagnola in Calabria, la sua terra natale) e altre opere, fra le quali una Apologia pro Galileo.