The Dispossessed

An Ambiguous Utopia

Hardcover, 387 pages

English language

Published Aug. 14, 1991 by Harper Paperbacks.

ISBN:
978-0-06-100137-6
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OCLC Number:
23026699

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4 stars (8 reviews)

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

39 editions

Slow start, and good book with a major detractor

4 stars

This was a slow starter, but I quite liked it when it got going, it's a really fun exploration of an anarchist communist and a plutocratic capitalist society meeting.

There is only one bad thing, a rape scene a bit before the half way point that felt gratuitous and not needed, and it served very little purpose in the story, apart from that I really liked the book :)

Uno dei libri più belli che abbia mai letto

5 stars

Un libro di fantascienza geniale, avvincente e al tempo stesso ricco di significato. Negli ultimi anni ho tratto grande piacere dallo studio del pensiero anarchico e delle sue differenze con il comunismo autoritario (e chiaramente con il capitalismo). Penso che il pensiero anarchico sia criminalmente escluso dagli studi scolastici e che moltissime persone, per questo motivo, non sappiano realmente cosa sia. I reietti dell'altro pianeta immagina un'utopia anarchica, dandole però sostanza: è bellissimo vedere come funzionerebbe una società anarchica secondo Ursula Le Guin, anche perché ne presenta anche le possibili criticità. La critica feroce alla concezione del lavoro e dello sfruttamento nel capitalismo sono da pelle d'oca. Ho imparato più sull'anarchia leggendo lei che leggendo Kropotkin!

I only had one problem with it

4 stars

Content warning Spoliers

Maravillosos desposeídos

5 stars

Qué maravilla de libro... Me ha encantado, y me ha dado mucha pena terminarlo.

Muy importante el momento en que ha llegado a mí, ya habiendo leído muchos libros de la gran Úrsula, comprendiendo mejor su escritura y las obsesiones alrededor de los que gira.

Por otra parte el tema del libro, con esa fantasía valiente, reivindicativa y dispuesta a crear posibilidades de futuro, derribando muros con un enfoque humanista brutal. En ocasiones rozando el panfleto retador, poniendo el dedo en la llaga con precisión sobre muchos de los problemas que siguen igual o peor 50 años después de haber sido escrito.

También me encanta el cuidado que tiene con las palabras, en este caso evitando los posesivos y modelando una forma de pensar. En Terramar las palabras también son importantes. Es maravilloso notar cómo trabaja esto.

En definitiva, aborda muchos de los temas que me preocupan en una fantasía …

A political thought experiment

3 stars

The cover blurb for The Dispossessed makes it sound like a thrilling exciting narrative, filled with tension and action:

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

But that's not what it is, and it's certainly not Le Guin's focus. This is clear in the way she avoids what might be the more dramatic elements of the story, or distances us from them in how they are portrayed. The story is bookended by two examples of that. The opening …

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rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Science Fiction - General
  • Fiction
  • Fiction - Science Fiction