“One of the greats….Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon.” – Stephen KingFrom the brilliant and award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin comes a classic tale of two planets torn apart by conflict and mistrust — and the man who risks everything to reunite them.A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, … from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.
To visit Urras—to learn, to teach, to share—will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. But the ambitious scientist’s gift is soon seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.
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When I read what I want most is an exploration of big ideas, and characters I care about, who ring emotionally true. Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed delivers emotional integrity in spades, and it explores big ideas. Wikipedia says that it is “utopian fiction,” although Ursula LeGuin is on record saying no society could be a perfect utopia. Read …
Wish I could’ve met Le Guin. Her mind must’ve been a wonderful place. It’ll be nine months in September since she’s gone and I like to think (even though I can’t truly bring myself to believe it) that she has found a world as rich and fascinating as the ones she has created here on Earth.
It has been quite some time since I read this book however, Ursula LeGuin’s is always fresh, innovative and insightful.
One of my favorite books ever?
What good SciFi does best: reflect on what makes us human – and how we think and act as humans – by placing characters and actions in an alien context.
With the current American political and societal climate this look at a Utopian world and it’s coexistence but self-imposed isolation from other worlds is intriguing. I found it a slow read, and had to re-read portions as my reading as of late has been YA and more pop culture easy reading. But it was worth the read. I haven’t checked yet to see if …
Complex
The worlds that provide the settings for one of sci-fi maestra Ursula K. Le Guin’s best known novels, The Dispossessed, are Anarres—the smaller of the two, a barren desert devoid of nonhuman fauna and almost all flora but rich in valuable natural resources—and Urras, an paradise resplendent with lush flora and diverse fauna but lacking the …
Good characters, ideas, and world-building: this is a science fiction novel whose main character is a scientist, which is less common than you might expect. (More books are about engineers.)
I love Le Guin’s prose, and this book also does a good job presenting a utopian socialist society dealing with scarcity and ordinary human interactions and …
This was one of the first books that got me thinking about governance and economics. It depicts two worlds which represents the two extremes of the capitalist/socialist divide. LeGuin tells the story of man who moves between the two worlds hoping science can unite the peoples of those worlds. This book really hit me where I lived when I read it. I …
Along with “The Left Hand of Darkness” I consider this a defining work of Science Fiction. The science is so fully integrated into the story as to create a sense of profound reality that never intrudes on the deeply thought provoking story. Le Guin’s work is so thoroughly character driven that empathy, compassion and aggravation flow easily in …
Ursula K. Le Guin’s inventive novel portrays the clash of two divergent civilizations: the anarchist, communitarian Annaresti and the capitalist Urrasti. But the real division emerges between individual characters: those who want to produce and create and those who want to ride their coattails. The Dispossessed is a fascinating look at different …
Ursula LeGuin is the best of the best, but she’s also addictive to read! Never a single misplaced word! Anyway, this one’s always been my favorite among many! Enjoy!
This is a great book! Good characters and a REALLY interesting story, exploring various types of government and the human condition. For instance, what we demand of each other when we vow to demand nothing. I make it sound dry and uninteresting, but it isn’t. It is a great, interesting novel.
Beautiful use of language! Le Guin’s seemingly simple sentences that gently guide the reader through the past and present chapters, her sparse but perfect descriptions of people and landscape, her clear discussion of math and physics – even of math and physics that don’t exist, her fully realized protagonist and supporting crew. A profound read.
Ursula LeGuin’s greatest novel. Challenging, moving, transformative.
One of the best from one of the 3 best SF authors of all time. Worth re-reading many times.
Le Guin takes us to another world, where the divide between communism and capitalism are drawn in stark ways. Above those philosophies is a moon on which true anarchists live, trying to survive with few resources while attempting real freedom. However, their freedom is no utopia. The same kinds of in-fighting and dominance games play out there, …
One of the best explorations of awareness of your fellow beings and socialism in a positive sense.
Got part of the way through the book – decided I wasn’t enjoying it. Life is too short to finish books purely out of obligation.