A. D. 2000

Alvarado M. FullerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 536K words
Chapters: 54

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A. D. 2000 by Alvarado M. FullerAuthor: Fuller, Alvarado M. (Alvarado Mortimer), 1851-1924,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 29, 2013

Editor's review

This is an early futuristic novel written in English that sets its story in the year 2000, belonging to the kind of "looking forward" imaginative writing popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its appeal lies chiefly in its sense of anachronism: the author projects the world a century ahead using the science and social attitudes of the time, producing both bold visions and judgments that inevitably seem naive or dated today. For readers studying utopian and early science fiction traditions, such texts are good samples for observing how future imaginings are constrained by the present; for general readers, it is more like a light thought experiment, to be read alongside reality to see which predictions failed and which ideas unexpectedly endured. The language has the unhurried quality of old-fashioned English narrative, and the pace is less tight than modern genre fiction, requiring an archaeologist's curiosity. As a public-domain e-book it has no modern introduction, so readers had best bring their own historical context and enjoy it as an imaginative archive from the turn of the century.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers and students studying early science fiction and utopian literature
History and culture enthusiasts interested in late-nineteenth-century visions of the future
Readers who want a light thought experiment comparing past and present predictions
Readers with English proficiency who enjoy an old-fashioned narrative voice

Not a good fit for

Science fiction readers expecting hard tech settings and rigorously built worlds
Readers who prefer modern fast-paced plots and lack patience for old-style narration
Readers who struggle with English and are unwilling to look up words or use aids

Reading tips

First learn the technological level of the author's era, then read his projection of the year 2000.
Keep a "prediction list" as you read, then check each item against reality afterward.
Read it alongside other futuristic novels of the same period and compare their imaginative paths.
Don't feel obliged to read it in one sitting; read chapter by chapter and note interesting ideas as you go.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Do the science fiction premises of this book still hold up today?

Many of the specific technologies and social forms imagined in the book do not match today's reality; its value lies more in showing how people over a century ago imagined the future. Readers should not test it item by item against modern technological standards, but focus on the era's attitudes and aspirations behind the imagining.

Do I need a background in science fiction to read this book?

No specialized science fiction knowledge is required, though some familiarity with the general tradition of early futuristic novels helps. The narration is old-fashioned and the plot moves less tightly than modern works; readers new to such texts can read a few chapters first to get used to the tone.

Why is this kind of old futuristic novel worth reading today?

Such works record a particular era's hopes and anxieties about progress, technology, and social organization, and serve as a mirror for understanding how modern visions of the future evolved. Reading them trains readers to reflect: are our own visions of the future also limited by our present perspective?

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About the author

Alvarado M. Fuller Author · American · 1851–1924

Alvarado M. Fuller (1851–1924) was an American author. Public information about his life is limited: what can be confirmed is his nationality, his birth and death years, and the fact that he left behind a single work, A. D. 2000. The novel belongs to the tradition of speculative fiction, setting its narrative in the distant future and using an imagined future society to portray a utopian world. Rather than relying on complex characters or dramatic conflict, the book is closer to a work of social vision, expressing through its future panorama a hope for an ideal order. Because sources on the author are scarce, scholarly discussion of him and his work remains limited; the novel is therefore the main window through which to know Fuller, and a sample of American utopian future narrative from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century.