Earth Revisited - Spiritualism

Spiritualism

In his novel, author Brooks goes farther than most utopian writers of his generation (including Macnie) ever did in uniting the utopian genre with elements of the spiritualism that was popular in his era. One contemporaneous source classified his book as a "spiritual romance." Brooks uses several elements of spiritualism in his book, including hypnotism, somnambulism, clairvoyance, mediumship, and automatic writing; reincarnation and life after death are important themes. Brooks concludes his book with a long discussion of religious and theological matters.

Every novelist who wants to send his hero into the future has to decide on a means of doing so. For Bellamy, hypnosis does the trick, while the anonymous author of The Great Romance administers a "sleeping draught" to his character. Brooks chose what is arguably the most radical approach: he has his hero die, and then awaken in the body of another man living a century later.