laundry0099@bookwyrm.social reviewed The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels (Penguin classics)
Felt like reading modern day discourse but in a good way
5 stars
OK, Marx and Engles went off with this one. The text of the Manifesto itself is written in an extremely compelling, approachable way. I was surprised by how contemporary it felt. And of course, ‘you have nothing to lose but your chains’ is just iconic.
Most of this book, however, was a lengthy deep dive into the context of the Manifesto. It got dry and tedious quite often, but I did get through it all and I am glad I did.
It provided helpful context. It made me feel much better about myself for not having all the answers, because holy cow did Marx flip flop on his politics throughout his life.
One chapter in particular, about the role of monotheistic religions in our increasingly individualistic society absolutely blew my mind.
So yeah, it is slightly self-flagellating, but I think it was good to get through …
OK, Marx and Engles went off with this one. The text of the Manifesto itself is written in an extremely compelling, approachable way. I was surprised by how contemporary it felt. And of course, ‘you have nothing to lose but your chains’ is just iconic.
Most of this book, however, was a lengthy deep dive into the context of the Manifesto. It got dry and tedious quite often, but I did get through it all and I am glad I did.
It provided helpful context. It made me feel much better about myself for not having all the answers, because holy cow did Marx flip flop on his politics throughout his life.
One chapter in particular, about the role of monotheistic religions in our increasingly individualistic society absolutely blew my mind.
So yeah, it is slightly self-flagellating, but I think it was good to get through all of the contextual stuff beforehand.