Cover of Looking backward

Looking backward

by Edward Bellamy · first published 1906

7mentions
4recommended by
7HN commenters
2012–2021first – last mentioned

57% recommend43% neutral

Bellamy's novel tells the story of a hero figure named Julian West, a young American, who towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up 113 years later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts), but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000, and while he was sleeping, the United States has been transformed into a socialist utopia. The remainder of the book outlines Bellamy's thoughts about improving the future. The major themes include problems associated with capitalism, a proposed socialist solution of a nationalization

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Mentions per year

20 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 0 mentions2011: 0 mentions2012: 1 mention2013: 0 mentions2014: 2 mentions2015: 0 mentions2016: 1 mention2017: 0 mentions2018: 1 mention2019: 0 mentions2020: 0 mentions2021: 2 mentions2022: 0 mentions2023: 0 mentions2024: 0 mentions2025: 0 mentions2026: 0 mentions200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • justncase80 · Jan 5, 2016 · Recommends

    I recently read an interesting book called Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy. It was written in 1887 but could have been written yesterday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Backward It was basically about a guy who accidentally travels forward in time…

    on “Working fewer hours would make us more productive” ↗
  • ghosthamlet · Nov 2, 2018 · Recommends

    …1602, The City of the Sun, Campanella 1726, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift 1848, The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 1877, The Dream Of a Ridiculous Man, Dostoevsky 1887, Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy

    on “Ask HN: Which books do you think created the best Perfect/Utopia worlds?” ↗
  • dredmorbius · Feb 11, 2014 · Recommends

    …has a far easier time arranging returns (including, as noted, an existing relationship with the manufacturer / warehouser) than I as an individual have. Side note: Edward Bellamy's socialist utopia Looking Backward, written in 1887 about the year 2000, is a fascinating read. Some of its predictions are wide of the mark, but what I found particularly accurate, though his description was of an essentially socialist…

    on “Google wins everything (part 1)” ↗
  • kthejoker2 · Dec 29, 2021 · Recommends

    5 books not on this list that might expand your.mind: * The Dice Man by George Cockroft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man?wprov=sfla1 * The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. * Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/624 * Poverty and Progress by Henry George https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55308 * The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

    on “Mind-expanding books” ↗
  • notahacker · Sep 20, 2014 · Mentions

    …information that bit easier, but I'm even more grateful for humans for creating or curating the content in the first place. [1]Compare "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" with Edward Bellamy's utopian "Looking Backward". Both versions of the early second millenium are pretty far from the mark (indeed even the technology of the latter book is more arguably more accurate despite it being written in the nineteenth century)…

    on “Why Is Our Sci-Fi So Glum About A.I.?” ↗
  • guscost · Jul 31, 2012 · Mentions

    Edward Bellamy wrote a book about 2000 in 1887 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Backward

    on “The year 2000 illustrated in 1900” ↗
  • wrycoder · Sep 8, 2021 · Mentions

    I suspect the reference to 1890 may be to Bellamy’s Looking Backward, one of the most popular books its time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_Backward

    on “Big Brothers Has Privatized” ↗

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