6.6 /10 1 Votes
Language English Pages 181 Publisher Random House | 3.3/5 Goodreads Publication date 1949 Originally published 1949 Page count 181 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Mary McCarthy, Classical Studies books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Oasis, 1949, is a short novel by American writer Mary McCarthy. It is a about the failure of a utopian community of idealistic intellectuals.
Content
This satire depicts the failure of the utopian community called Utopia, set up in the mountains in New England by a group of urban radical and liberal intellectuals. They are led by a general who is discontented with the world and has a desire for the simple life. He also dislikes Stalinism. The time is the near future from 1949, and the US is on the verge of atomic war with Russia. Two groups form, teaching two different kinds of ideology. They are the Purists, practicing visionaries led by Macdougal Macdermott, the editor of a libertarian magazine, and the Realists, skeptics led by a veteran of the Communist schisms named Taub.