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The Dispossessed (Hainish Cycle)

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 22,434 ratings · 1,166 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 p...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published 2006 by Gollancz (first published 1974)

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Feb 19, 2012 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: futuristik

Why America Is Full of Toxic Bullshit and Why Ambiguous Utopias Need to Check Themselves Before They Wreck Themselves Going Down the Same Fucked-Up Path
by Ursula K. Le Guin.

this excellent novel-cum-political treatise-cum-extended metaphor for the States lays its thesis out in parallel narratives. in the present day (far, far, far in the future), heroically thoughtful protagonist Shevek visits the thinly-veiled States of the nation A-Io on the planet Urras in order to both work on his Theory of...more Why America Is Full of Toxic Bullshit and Why Ambiguous Utopias Need to Check Themselves Before They Wreck Themselves Going Down the Same Fucked-Up Path
by Ursula K. Le Guin.

this excellent novel-cum-political treatise-cum-extended metaphor for the States lays its thesis out in parallel narratives. in the present day (far, far, far in the future), heroically thoughtful protagonist Shevek visits the thinly-veiled States of the nation A-Io on the planet Urras in order to both work on his Theory of Simultaneity and to pave the way for change on his homeworld. in chapters that alternate with this trip to Urras, we watch Shevek grow from boy to man on the anarcho-communist Anarres - the "Ambiguous Utopia" of the novel's subtitle. Urras and Anarres form a double-planet system within the Tau Ceti star system. The planets have a difficult relationship: 150 years prior, revolutionaries from Urras were given the mining planet of Anarres in order to halt their various revolutionary activities throughout the Urran nations. Upon establishment of their colony, Anarres cut off all but the most basic contact and trade with the despised "propertarians" of Urras.

The Dispossessed is a fiercely intelligent, passionate, intensely critical novel - yet it is also a gentle, warm and very carefully constructed novel as well. ideas do not burn off the page with their fiery rhetoric - everything is deliberately paced; concepts and actions and even characterization are parsed out slowly. its parallel narratives are perfectly executed, with different plot themes and character backgrounds brought up, expanded upon, and often reflecting upon each other. ideas are unspooled in multiple directions and serve to continually challenge reader preconceptions. overall this is not a novel that quickens the pulse (although there is some of that) but is instead a Novel of Ideas. if you are not in a contemplative mood, if you have no interest in systems of government or human potential or theoretical physics, then this is probably not the novel for you. it is a book for the patient reader - one who actually enjoys sitting back and thinking about things. Le Guin's prose does not jump up at you; nonetheless, she is a beautiful writer - equally skilled with the little details that make a scene real and and with making the Big Concepts understandable to dummies like myself. and Le Guin is a sophisticated writer. she seems constitutionally unable to write in black & white - everything is multi-leveled, nothing is all bad, nothing is perfect. humans are fallible; ideas are fallible. everything must change and yet the past is ever a living part of the present.

America as A-Io is where much of Le Guin's passion is displayed. however, the time spent in A-Io (roughly half the novel due to the alternating chapters) did not exactly challenge me. perhaps because i am already critical of the good ole U.S. of A., and have engaged in plenty of political shenanigans throughout my life, i wasn't reading anything new. i am the choir to whom the novel preached. still, i'm not sure i would say that this is Le Guin's fault. it's probably my fault, being an unpatriotic asshole who both loves and hates this crazy place, and who is in agreement regarding all the negative points - and the positive ones too (introduced fairly late in the novel by a Terran envoy). i am automatically sympathetic to all the points made about the ivory tower of education, hypocritical politicians, unncessary wars, the poisonous yet hidden class system, the demeaning of women, etc. still, despite my lack of enthusiasm about A-Io, this is also where some of the most wonderful writing occurs, and where some of the most mind-expanding concepts are described.

where the novel really shines is in the depiction of the Ambiguous Utopia, Anarres. everything is not peachy-keen on this arid, sadly animal and grass-free desert world. the ideals that created Anarres are indeed admirable; it was awesome to see my own (and countless others') anarcho-socialist jerkoff fantasies about how perfect it would be if we were all truly able to share, all able to chip in to help each other, if materialism was seen as an abomination, if we were able to give up on ridiculous hierarchical structures, etc, etc, et al enacted in a fairly realistic way and in a very positive light. but of course this is an "Ambiguous" Utopia, so Le Guin also shows how basic, power-craving, territorial human nature will always surface... how cooperative, communal living can also stamp down the individual, how it can make being different seem like a threat... how other-hatin' tribalism is ultimately toxic, no matter the tribe, no matter the utopia, no matter if the tribe is an entire nation - or world. Le Guin makes a utopia, then she nearly unmakes it by unmasking all of its issues and ugliness... but she does not denounce it. i loved that. Le Guin and Shevek still see the beauty in this culture, in a place that is anti-materialist, anti-capitalist; their goal is to explore how such a system can truly be maintained - in a way that is genuine and that respects the invididual, a society that is continuously revolutionary. and the true enemies of revolution are complacency and stasis.

a closing word and quick circle-back to the sophistication of Le Guin's writing: i loved how Shevek's Theory of Simultaneity was reflected within the book's structure and by the political and moral themes as well. an example:

"But it's true, chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The baby, agan, the animal, they don't see the difference between what they do now and what will happen because of it. They can't make a pulley, or promise. We can. Seeking the difference between now and not now, we can make the connection. And there morality enters in. Responsibility. To say that a good end will follow from a bad means is just like saying that if I pull a rope on this pulley it will lift the weight on that one. To break a promise is to deny the reality of the past; therefore it is to deny the hope of a real future. If time and reason are functions of each other, if we are creatures of time, then we had better know it, and try to make the best of it. To act responsibly."

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Apr 27, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Human nature tends towards, not entropy, but bureaucracy.

I think my father would have enjoyed this book immensely. If he hadn't read it, and I don't know whether or not he had. I could and may ask my mother. But it does seem exactly up his alley, as one of his favourite hobbyhorses is well and lovingly encapsulated in The Dispossessed.

I fear my review might focus more on Anarres and less on Urras, as it was the Anarrian sections that interested me more, the attempts to sustain (founding was the...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I started this novel I was a little worried because the prose seemed clunky and I was having a hard time settling into the novel. After a few pages that all changed, either I adjusted to her writing style or the writing smoothed out. If you experience this, hang in there, it is well worth sticking with this book.

I see some reviewers think of The Dispossessed as an anti-Ayn Rand book. I didn't come away with that impression at all. I thought LeGuin did an excellent job of showing the fallac...more

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Feb 24, 2009 Manny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, strongly-recommended, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts

First of all: if you haven't already read The Dispossessed, then do so. Somehow, probably because it comes with an SF sticker, it isn't yet officially labeled as one of the great novels of the 20th century. They're going to fix that eventually, so why not get in ahead of the crowd? It's not just a terrific story; it might change your life. Ursula Le Guin is saying some pretty important stuff here.

So, what is it she's saying that's so important? I've read the book several times since I first came...more First of all: if you haven't already read The Dispossessed, then do so. Somehow, probably because it comes with an SF sticker, it isn't yet officially labeled as one of the great novels of the 20th century. They're going to fix that eventually, so why not get in ahead of the crowd? It's not just a terrific story; it might change your life. Ursula Le Guin is saying some pretty important stuff here.

So, what is it she's saying that's so important? I've read the book several times since I first came across it as a teenager, and my perception of it has changed over time. There's more than one layer, and I, at least, didn't immediately realize that. On the surface, the first thing you notice is the setting. She is presenting a genuinely credible anarchist utopia. Most utopias are irritating or just plain silly. You read them, and at best you shake your head and wish that people actually were like that; or, more likely, you wonder how the author can be quite so deluded. This one's different. Le Guin has thought about it a lot, and taken into account the obvious fact that people are often selfish and stupid. You feel that her anarchist society actually could work; it doesn't work all the time, and there are things about it that you see are going to cause problems. But, like the US Constitution (one of my favorite utopian documents) it seems to have the necessary flexibility and groundedness that allow it to adapt to changing circumstances and survive. She's done a good job, and you can't help admiring the brave and kind Annaresti.

Another thing you're immediately impressed by is the central character, Shevek. Looking at the other reviews, everyone loves Shevek. I love him too. He's one of the most convincing fictional scientists I know; I'm a scientist myself, so I'm very sensitive to the nuances. Like his society, he's not in any way perfect, and his life is a long struggle to try and understand the secrets of temporal physics, which he often feels are completely beyond him. I was impressed by the alien science; she gives you just the right amount of background that it feels credible, but not so much that you're tempted to nit-pick the details. You're swept up in his quest to unify Sequency and Simultaneity, without ever needing to know exactly what they are. And his relationship with Takver is a great love story, with some wonderfully moving scenes. There's one line in particular which, despite being utterly simple and understated, never fails to bring tears to my eyes. As you also see in The Lathe of Heaven, Le Guin knows about love.

What I've said so far would already be enough to qualify this as a good book that was absolutely worth reading. What I think makes it a great book is her analysis of the concept of freedom. There are so many other interesting things to look at that at first you don't quite notice it, but to me it's the core of the novel. What does it mean to be truly free? At first, you think that the Annaresti have already achieved that; it's just a question of having the right social structures. But after a while you see that it's not nearly as straightforward as you first imagined. Real freedom means that you have to be able to challenge the beliefs of the people around you when they conflict with what you, yourself, truly believe, and that can be painful for everyone. But it's essential, and it's particularly essential if you want to be a scientist; I know this from personal experience. Another theme that suffuses the book is the concept of the Promise. If you can't make and keep promises, then you have no influence on the future; you are locked in the present. But promising something also binds your future self. There are some deep paradoxes here. The book folds the arguments unobtrusively into the narrative, and never shoves them in your face, but after a while you see that they are what tie all the strands together: the anarchist society, the science, the love story, the politics.

It's a much deeper book than you first realize. As I said, it might change your life. It's changed mine.
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Nov 29, 2007 Joe S rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction

Oh, Ursula. No longer will I love you in a vaguely ashamed manner, skulking through chesty-women-blow-shit-up-also-monster! book covers in the sci-fi/fantasy aisles with a moderate velocity as though I am actually trying to find Civil War biographies but am amusingly lost amongst all these shelves, that's so like me, need a GPS for Borders. Today, I will begin loving you publicly, proudly, for you are the Anti-Ayn Rand. You do not skullf**k Ayn Rand and make her your bitch, no, too easy. You tak...more

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Apr 03, 2010 jo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spec-fantasy-sf

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. i'm both surprised that so many people hold this book in high esteem and embarrassed that i don't. this novel reminds me of those semi-fictional parables/treatises philosophers used in the past to elucidate a theory, like, say, plato's republic, or leopardi's operette morali, or charlotte perkins gilman's herland.

in other words, this seems to me didactic, and weak in the story-telling and the drama and the adventure and all those elements that make a novel fun and novelistic instead of the expo...more i'm both surprised that so many people hold this book in high esteem and embarrassed that i don't. this novel reminds me of those semi-fictional parables/treatises philosophers used in the past to elucidate a theory, like, say, plato's republic, or leopardi's operette morali, or charlotte perkins gilman's herland.

in other words, this seems to me didactic, and weak in the story-telling and the drama and the adventure and all those elements that make a novel fun and novelistic instead of the exposition of a thesis. the characters are flat, the situations are staged, the language, while sometimes beautiful, also somewhat subservient to the main idea, and the dialogue quite, well, platonic.

but since i'm clearly in the minority i won't harp on this. i will instead address the flaws of the theory. UKLG seems to be arguing in favor of a socialist/anarchist utopian society based on the free sharing of resources (human and natural) without any outside compulsion (government, laws, mandates). the only outside compulsion the anarresti society acknowledges and, to some extent, relies on is that of custom, i.e.: we all do this so if you don't you'll be severely frowned upon and eventually you'll be so uncomfortable that you'll have to leave.

such a society incurs two main problems, which are addressed head on in the book: one, coordinating structures (you need those!) will naturally devolve into power structures and, two, people internalize laws and obligations, so the gentle pressure of custom becomes the much less gentle pressure of internalized prohibitions, with accompanying stifling of those very resources the sharing of which society so profoundly relies on. these two problems are addressed, and solved, in the book, thus: since the anarresti society is in nature and essence a revolutionary society, there will always need to be a revolution in place, a conscious drive on the part of at least some to return to the original conception, and this drive will invariably unsettle the status quo, but since there shouldn't be a status quo in the first place, it's okay.

the heart and soul of the book and the reluctant repository of the purity of the odonian ideal (odo is the philosopher/religious leader who came up with the conception for this society) is shevek, a super smart physicist who has come up with a unifying theory of space and time that may revolutionize, not only the planet anarres, but all the inhabited planets in contact with one another. for one, it will make communication instantaneous, thus greatly increasing the exchange of ideas. at the same time, clearly, such theory can and might well be put to evil uses by dwellers of planets who, instead of believing in universal peace and brotherhood, believe in control and domination.

hence the story.

well, the story doesn't amount to much. shevek, being the leadership figure he is, cannot but share the intellectual vision he was gifted with. what happens in the future no one knows, but shevek does what he needs to do, and the novel ends.

there is something in this whole utopia that i find profoundly annoying, and i suspect it may be precisely what others find inspiring and attractive about the novel. shevek believes with every fiber of his being that if you live up to your potential, are the person you were meant to be, follow your innermost desires and give yourself fully to your calling, you do the rest of us, the whole body politic, a ton of good. in fact, you are a genuine shot in the arm of the body politic. you make yourself and others happy. you keep society healthy.

the "analogic" model for this (they call it analogic in the book) is the cellular model. a healthy cell is a boon to all the other cells. each cell must only focus on keeping itself healthy by doing what it is meant to be doing. if every cell does that, the whole body will tick along like a beautiful, healthy, vibrant instrument. this does not exclude pain: pain is an essential component of human life, personal and social. the cellular entity experiences pain as an exquisitely personal reality, but, also, finds solace in the solidarity and brotherhood of others.

what i find annoying is something i suspect i would find annoying in all utopias that appeal to a harmoniously integrated conception of humankind minus the designer, i.e. all atheistic organic theories of society that rely on spontaneous harmony. it's very hard for me to comprehend that the working of one little part of a social body will magically benefit the whole of such body without someone to orchestrate such miraculous convergence. it sounds to me like wanting to do away with the deity while retaining all the advantages of a theological conception of the world. and this annoys me, because it smacks of childish optimism, of a belief in the order of things that stems from some forcedly ideological cheerfulness that is doomed, it seems to me, to turn into nightmare. it reminds me of when i was in high school; it was the 70s and there were student occupations and demonstrations. we got what we wanted, then didn't know what to do with it. it all degenerated into festivities and lounging around. some kids didn't have a problem with it, but me, i believed in the protests. and then i didn't any more. if you want an anarchic society to be purposeful and ruled by an inner sense of direction, you've got to put god in, or resign yourself to chaos and degeneration. mindless optimism bugs me no end.(less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nataliya by: Mosca

Shelves: hugo-nebula, excellent-reads, 2012-reads, locus-winner, ursula-k-le-guin, location-is-the-true-protagonist

Excellent book, and I've dog-eared about a third of its pages - too many messages, too little brain room left! Review to follow.

It's always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don't make changes, don't risk disapproval[...] It's always easiest to let yourself be governed.

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Aug 03, 2010 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: sci-fi buffs

Recommended to Tatiana by: 1001

Shelves: 1001, sci-fi, 2010, nebula

Although The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is classified as science fiction, it is hardly a novel about aliens and space travel. Rather, it is a speculative work of fiction that explores the possibility of existence and limitations of a completely anarchist society.

At the center of the novel is the planet Anarres. Annares is populated by a community of anarchists, whose ascendants have left Anarres's sister planet Urras almost 200 years prior to escape its oppressive regimes and to establis...more Although The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is classified as science fiction, it is hardly a novel about aliens and space travel. Rather, it is a speculative work of fiction that explores the possibility of existence and limitations of a completely anarchist society.

At the center of the novel is the planet Anarres. Annares is populated by a community of anarchists, whose ascendants have left Anarres's sister planet Urras almost 200 years prior to escape its oppressive regimes and to establish a new society built on the principles of freedom, brotherhood, and complete anarchy. At this point Annaresti are isolated from and have no contact with Urras.

At first, Anarres does seem like a utopia - no Annaresti is a subject to any law (they simply do not exist). Citizens of Anarres have a total freedom - sexual freedom, freedom of occupation, freedom to pursue their interests anywhere on the planet, freedom to work or not work at all. No one on Anarres owns anything, all property is communal. Even children do not "belong" to their parents, but raised in dormitories by volunteer teachers. There are no prisons or law enforcement on Anarres, because 1) there are no laws to be broken, and 2) if there is no private property, no power struggles, no sexual and physical abuse - there are no reasons to be imprisoned.

As the story unfolds however, we see the other side of this society through the eyes of the novel's protagonist - a genius physicist Shevek. Shevek's is the plight of a person of outstanding abilities in a socialist world. Having a knowledge that could possibly bring together the societies all over the universe, he is unable to explore his theories on a planet where resources (including intellectual resources) are limited. He decides to go against the rest of Anarresti people and seek intellectual companionship on Urras. Can Urras give him what he seeks? Will his opinion of his mother planet change once he finds out what they all are missing out on? It is through Shevek's memories of Anarres do we see the weaknesses and strengths of the planet's chosen ideology.

I have to say, although The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is a fascinating novel, I liked it much less than The Left Hand of Darkness. It is simply too dry and too didactic.

The best part of the book is, of course, Anarresti form of socialist anarchy. Ursula K. Le Guin's ideas of how such society might function are inventive and daring. But did I ever believe that an anarchist society can exist? Not for a minute. I think thousands of years of human history are on my side. I can't believe in a human society that rejects even the basic idea of family, because supposedly to be a dedicated parent to one's child is to be a proprietor, an egoist, a privateer. What can possibly hold people together except an elusive concept of "brotherhood" in a place like Anarres? It is also simply impossible for people to co-exist and cooperate without someone striving for power. It is a part of human nature. IMO in reality Anarres would be able to exist as anarchy for no longer than a generation. Once the staunch idealists are dead, any group of people will eventually settle into one of the more efficient orders - be that a democracy, dictatorship, theocracy, oligarchy - basically any social order with a power structure at its core.

Nevertheless, as a work of speculative fiction The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is an interesting book to wrap one's mind around.(less)

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Jun 18, 2009 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faves, sci-fi, mieville50, to-read-again, political, anarchism, revolution, speculative, the-best

As a semi-retired actor, there are many literary characters I'd love to play, and for all kinds of reasons. Cardinal Richelieu and D'Artagnan spring immediately to mind, but there are countless others: Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin (Perdido Street Station), Oedipus, Holmes or Watson (I'd take either), Captain Jack Aubrey (I'd rather Stephen, but I look like Jack), Heathcliff, Lady Macbeth (yep, I meant her), Manfred, Indiana Jones. But none of them are people who I would actually like to be.

That I r...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just couldn't appreciate this the way so many others do.

The way the story is told in the past, so we learn things as they're revealed rather than as the characters are experiencing them, provides a disconnect. Perhaps it is meant to serve to point out the universality of the themes - but I found that it made me feel distanced, as if none of the story mattered.

I suppose if I were younger and still interested in political ideas and revolutions, if I hadn't read, and lived through, lots of other...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Wow, what a book. Two worlds, roughly the same distance as our moon is to Earth apart (and both see each other as moons in their respective night skies), one a mostly desert planet which has an Anarchist society as its ethos, the other, the blue-green one, has a Capitalist society as its modus operandi. Both do not like each others societies; the Anarchist world, known as Anarres, are a group of settlers coming from the Capitalist world, known as Urras, some one hundred and fifty years previousl...more Wow, what a book. Two worlds, roughly the same distance as our moon is to Earth apart (and both see each other as moons in their respective night skies), one a mostly desert planet which has an Anarchist society as its ethos, the other, the blue-green one, has a Capitalist society as its modus operandi. Both do not like each others societies; the Anarchist world, known as Anarres, are a group of settlers coming from the Capitalist world, known as Urras, some one hundred and fifty years previously because there was some sort of anti-government uprising and so all the libertarians decide (maybe with some coercion) to settle and create their Utopian world, their idealistic Anarchist society. They are left alone to develop their world based around non-authoritarian, non-hierarchical and communal ideology, which they do quite well. Enter Shevek, a gifted physicist that tries to develop a groundbreaking theory of space travel, called the Grand Temporal Theory that his colleagues on Anarres try and thwart so he ends up disobeying his collective conscience and deal with the physicists on Urras (as there was little communication between the two worlds because it was forbidden), and eventually leaves for the Capitalist world.

What Le Guin has done is to describe both a fictional Utopian world and compare it, via alternating chapters set on each world, to what is essentially the world that we live in today, i.e a Capitalist one. She has made Urras quite an authoritarian society however, one where Women do not study at University - their place being in the home, and there is a very rigid social structure; almost Ann Randian in many respects. The contrast is in the planetary environments; Anarres is a dry, grey, desert world, where people live frugally, and the initial impressions that formed whilst I was reading about their Utopian society was borderline 1984-esque (yes, Dystopian). Communal child-rearing, no marriage or any form of religion, it almost seems as if the very concept of love between people is something that is anti-revolutionary, as free love abounds here, or rather sex. Later on however, it is left to Shevek to start to feel attachment to a Woman he knows,thus breaking down this ethos of non-attachment that their ideology creates. It is like Orwells 1984 in the dreary aspects, but rather than it being a Totalitarian police state, which it is not at all - it is very federalistsyndical and does not have any power structure, it was the communal ideal that gave me this impression, that people dressed the same, ate communally and so on.

The massive contrast, epitomised through Sheveks eyes when he arrives on Urras, is so profound. He is treated as royalty at first when he arrives, but is still seen as an Anarchist and kept away from the 'slums', the places where the poverty lies hidden. However, slowly he begins to see through their façade and with help from his servant, he finds the underground movement (remember he only came to Urras to study his theory and share it with them), who treat him a saviour - protest happens - state clamps down heavily - find an embassy for sanctuary (which is terran i.e our Earth), offers his theory to them instead of it being used for furthering power for Urras and goes back home to Anarres to his family.

It is a good book, more a political comparison of two different ideologies, both of which are shown their good points and their bad, such as the Anarres' Anarchist ideology cannot be a true Utopia because it holds many contradictions, one of those being 'human nature' (now that could be a very contentious issue). The book is much more complex however than my meagre review can do it justice and again, like several other books I have read recently, it needs to be re-read to fully grasp Le Guins point as there is much hidden depth here. What I didn't like though was the books total focus on science and physics - there is no room for any spiritual belief structure (apart from it being briefly mentioned that there is religion on Urras) here - Annarres is a firmly scientific world, organised scientifically and that maybe why I found it quite initially a very bleak world and why I saw it, in some respects, almost Dystopian. (less)

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May 26, 2011 notgettingenough rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to notgettingenough by: Manny

Shelves: science-fiction

Thoughts on The Dispossessed

Of the various layers of content in The Dispossessed, the most obvious is the socio-political: capitalism vs. anarchistic-communism. The claim often made is that, even though her heart is with the latter, she nonetheless treats the two structures impartially. The claim or presumption is to be found in the reviews of fantasy/science fiction devotees, those with a particular interest in anarchism and, I suspect, also those who simply read it with an uncritical eye.

I don...more

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Oct 02, 2007 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Old book blogging...

Ursula K. LeGuin is a fantastic SciFi/Fantasy writer. I've read another one of her books several months ago, that I have forgotten the title of. She writes very sensitively, very strong in the human element. The Dispossessed was a very interesting look at what an anarchist society would be like in "reality". ie. if it were allowed to exist on a separate moon of a capitalist planet after a revolution and to evolve over the course of 150 years. What I liked best about it, thoug...more Old book blogging...

Ursula K. LeGuin is a fantastic SciFi/Fantasy writer. I've read another one of her books several months ago, that I have forgotten the title of. She writes very sensitively, very strong in the human element. The Dispossessed was a very interesting look at what an anarchist society would be like in "reality". ie. if it were allowed to exist on a separate moon of a capitalist planet after a revolution and to evolve over the course of 150 years. What I liked best about it, though, was that it wasn't your typical utopian society kind of book, trying to shock you with all the differences between modern culture and what the future could potentially hold if society evolved differently...The impact of humans and human decisions and emotions on the course of the Odonian society was strong, and made the story extremely believable. Even though it is set thousands of years in the future on a planet light years away, I could still relate to it in the main character's struggle for individuality, without abandoning his strong sense of collective. Also, the book had a lot of semi-advanced temporal physics, which was interesting in it's concepts of time, and how those could progress logically from the Theory of Relativity...if an alien race took that theory and ran with it in order to understand the simultaneity of time. I got lost in parts, not being a temporal physicist, but the rest of the story was strong enough for it not to matter if you got a little bogged down in the science.

I feel as if I'm doing this book a terrible injustice, because I am already forgetting it. It wasn't very fast-paced, and mainly revolved around the life story of Shevek, the physicist, who is the first man from the anarchist society on the moon to return to their home planet despite strong opposition. The society on the home planet was much like the capitalist american society and was rather shocking and painful to see through the eyes of a character who had only known sharing and never owned anything in his life. I liked it best because it took me out of the modern "owning" mindset and let my imagination run with the thoughts of what it would be like to be free of "stuff", and the power struggles, and the desire to always have more than we need. And yet, it wasn't written like a lesson or a diatribe against capitalism. It was more like an exploration into the "what if" ideas for which I appreciate science fiction so much. (less)

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May 17, 2007 Themba rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not just a goodread, positively an amazing read. o.k, i still have fifty pages to go but what the hell. talk about "sinewy grace" in prose, this is the definition of it, sparse and organic what more could you ask for. Also, the world-building, the logical clarity in composing and thinking through the cultural encounter of two utterly alien civilization is quite, well, otherworldly. in case you want to know what life in an anarchist society might look like, this is probably the best place to begi...more

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Dec 16, 2007 Sven Calhoun rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: can you process things like "ideas" and "big words"?

Ok, first off: if you identify as an anarchist you should definitely read this goddamn book. As my friend, Big Tim, put it, "if you're an anarchist, parts of it will just make you be like 'yea!'." Seriously, that's what he said. And he was right. But also, if you're not, mainly if you've just never really thought about it, but also if you just don't really give a fuck, check it out. The bit about coming home being an integral part of exploring v. merely adventuring is right on and the bit about...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Leila rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sciencefiction, dystopia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I feel like sometimes, like any relationship, a book hits you at the wrong time. I have to think that is the case with this book. The story centers around a colony of people who left (earth?) two centuries ago in protest of the power hungry few at the top. The colony formed with with nobody in charge and no rules. The idea being that nobody has power over anybody else. There are no belongings to be jealous of and no personal gain to be had. Everybody works towards the good of the community.

The...more I feel like sometimes, like any relationship, a book hits you at the wrong time. I have to think that is the case with this book. The story centers around a colony of people who left (earth?) two centuries ago in protest of the power hungry few at the top. The colony formed with with nobody in charge and no rules. The idea being that nobody has power over anybody else. There are no belongings to be jealous of and no personal gain to be had. Everybody works towards the good of the community.

The main character is a physicist working on temporal physics. This is key to the plot as it is this work which enables his trip to the "earth" planet. One of the things that bothered me was that it seemed the author didn't really know what to do with this key piece. Obviously, the physics in the book is far advanced from where we are in reality. I don't have a problem with the author including ideas that do not yet exist (it is science fiction after all). My issue is with the way it was written. At times I felt she spend whole pages discussing the details of the main characters work. It became overwhelming. I wasn't sure if she thought the reader was too stupid to carry the first description though or if she just liked to talk about it. For me, it was heavy and distracted from the main point of the book.

The structure of the book is interesting. There are two timelines and each chapter switches back so that one story progresses from the beginning of the main characters life to the start of his journey and the other from the start of his journey to the end of his journey. This is where I feel like I would have loved this book if I had read it in a different time. Normally, you would expect a book to take you to a conclusion. This one builds as if that is going to happen as well. I even thought I new was the conclusion would be. In the end, you are left feeling very despondent. It is a true dystopia and, while I love a good dystopia, I was not in the right mindset for that kind of book. The result is that I couldn't wait to be done with it.

There were still some loose ends that I think need to be cleaned up and so I don't think it would ever be a 5-star book for me. It has the feel of a book that was 200-pages longer and got edited down. There is an excellent juxtaposition of the role of women in the two societies that just fell completely flat at the end of the book. I kept expecting more from that line of thought, especially from a female author, and just didn't find it. There is also an interesting look at the role of family and children vs communities that is also not expanded upon. In fact, there is very little discussion of children on the "earth" planet at all while on the colony everybody is a brother or sister and the community is the family. Children are usually raised in a nursery since adults do not own anything, not even children.

Finally, there is the turn at the end of the book. On the "earth" side it just happens so quickly, completely rushed. It seems to be what the book had been building too for ages then it's just over. I also felt the turning point that was building on the colony was just left lingering. There was no climax, no revelation from the people, nothing.

I do hope to read it again someday and update this review. I think it's a book I could really enjoy in a different mindset and a different point in my life. (less)

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Apr 10, 2009 Jamie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apocalyptic-dystopia

I'm going to very guiltily give two stars to this award-winning science fiction classic. It's just not my cup of tea. I'm glad I read it, and it's certainly not a bad book, but it just didn't appeal to me, neither the prose nor the type of story.

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Nov 30, 2012 Daniel Roy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, wwe-gmrc, sf-masterworks

Calling this book "perfect" would do it an injustice. Its brilliance is not so much in meeting SF standards, but in exceeding them and leaving them far behind.

The Dispossessed is a complex novel. It's not complex in terms of structure or themes; it's not a hard book to read. Quite the opposite. But it manages to touch on so many aspects of the human experience at once that it's hard to sum up what makes it so fascinating.

At the heart of it all is Shevek. Shevek, so complex and delightful to read...more Calling this book "perfect" would do it an injustice. Its brilliance is not so much in meeting SF standards, but in exceeding them and leaving them far behind.

The Dispossessed is a complex novel. It's not complex in terms of structure or themes; it's not a hard book to read. Quite the opposite. But it manages to touch on so many aspects of the human experience at once that it's hard to sum up what makes it so fascinating.

At the heart of it all is Shevek. Shevek, so complex and delightful to read. Shevek's a hero, an outcast, a brilliant physicist, an idealist, an alien, a father, a lover, and perhaps even a revolutionary. He's so many things at once that the only word to describe him is real. He anchors the whole story, brings it to life, fills it with emotion and thought. Through Shevek, Le Guin explores a plethora of themes: anarchism, politics, science, inspiration, love, responsibility, injustice, freedom. He's the most realistic and inspirational fictional scientist I have ever read, and yet there is still time for him, in a mere 300 pages, to be a caring father and a poignant lover. Shevek's awesome.

Some readers see in this book a plea for anarchism. I like the political theory, especially Noam Chomsky's take on it, which he calls social libertarianism. By tackling anarchism, Ursula Le Guin is doing what SF should aspire to do every time: she explores a Great Idea, playing with it to see if it's possible. In that sense, yes, she gives anarchism center stage, and gives it the space to make its plea. But I don't think she set out to write a straight-up inspirational Utopia. Anarres doesn't sound like such a great place to live.

The utopia of The Dispossessed is Shevek, not Anarres. Anarres' brand of anarchism is broken, bogged down by the usual power struggles and human pettiness. Anarres forgot that a revolution must continue, lest it becomes the new order. The real anarchist revolution of this story is Shevek. He is a stranger in his own home, and he exiles himself to another world to find it again. In so doing, he touches both worlds in unexpected ways--and far beyond.

I can already see that this first read of The Dispossessed won't be my last. This is SF of the first order, one that enriches my own world by its mere existence as a thought experiment. And besides, I have a feeling I'll miss Shevek if we spend too much time apart.(less)

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May 04, 2012 Carlo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-literature, sci-fi, to-be-read-again

A truly great book.

What is Freedom? Ursula K. Le Guin gave what I believe to be the best answer to this question. She shouts about how Freedom is by no means synonymous to a risk-free life. It will absolutely entail hardship, heavy labor and insecurity. I remember once reading an interview with Chomsky where he was asked about Anarchism and how the Anarchist society might be. He answered that there are no ready-made answers to this question. He stressed that "we have to try and see". I found hi...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Betty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 2012, re-read, recs-for-my-sister

This is everything I love about science fiction/speculative fiction. So the premise is that there's this world, Urras, and the main country is basically an exaggerated version of the US- a capitalist democracy. A couple hundred years ago, there was a rebellion that was eventually settled by the revolutionaries moving to the planet's moon, Anarres, and setting up a socialist anarchic society. The main character is this brilliant physicist/philosopher who, seeing the problems in his own society an...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Whisper19 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mini-book-club, 1001

I have been almost scared of writing a review for this book, there is so much that this book has made me feel that I am scared to feel it again.
I read this book with my reading buddy. We actually had to take breaks over weekends in reading this book because at moments it was too much for us. This book, the plot and the characters, became so real for us that I felt like I was sharing consciousness with the main character.
I vividly remember reading one part of this book over my morning coffee in...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Erik rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: has-good-review, scififantasy

Once upon a time the greatest novels of the day were about ideas. These books were not meant to entertain, but illuminate.

Those days are no more. Now, we're all plot junkies. We want thrill and suspense and, above all, break-neck pacing. We've no time for a laborious or lengthy journey into our own minds, and for some of us, our own mind is a place of horrors anyway.

I don't lament the necessary shift in style because it would be fruitless to do so and because I personally believe that a truly sk...more Once upon a time the greatest novels of the day were about ideas. These books were not meant to entertain, but illuminate.

Those days are no more. Now, we're all plot junkies. We want thrill and suspense and, above all, break-neck pacing. We've no time for a laborious or lengthy journey into our own minds, and for some of us, our own mind is a place of horrors anyway.

I don't lament the necessary shift in style because it would be fruitless to do so and because I personally believe that a truly skilled author should be able to do BOTH! But perhaps there I am only legitimizing my own preference for a good yarn.

I preface my review with this dichotomy of ideas and plots because that IS my review: The Dispossessed is a story about ideas. It's a story about socialism vs. capitalism. It's a story about love and relationships. It's a story about anarchy vs. government. It's a story about nonconformity. It's a story about freedom.

Some negative reviewers didn't seem to get that. Or did but wanted their cake and to eat it too. I myself started the same and kept waiting for the story to take off, so to speak. And then I realized my error. The Dispossessed comes from this earlier era, when novels were about ideas. And, understanding that, I was able to read it how it was meant to be read - as a conversation piece, as a catalyst for thoughts.

And my thoughts go a little like this:

Is socialism(communism) or capitalism preferable? The answer is neither. Though Ursula's socialistic Annaresti society and her capitalistic Urrasti society are very pure forms of each - they are not meant to be realistically considered. They are caricatures, magnified grotesquely in order to highlight the glories - and pitfalls - of each. Any society should have both. The real question is should a society lean toward socialism or capitalism?

In my opinion, the answer is socialism. A capitalistic society will never be a utopia. A socialistic society might. Let us ignore that, however, as overly idealistic (though I ponder: without idealism, without dreams, without hope, then what can we be except exactly as Ursula depicted us: wage-rats viciously struggling to the top). Let me then make what I know will be a highly controversial statement: too pure of a capitalistic society does not work in the long-run. An overly pure capitalistic society promotes deception, extreme wealth disparity, and a short-sightedness that prioritizes immediate profit over long-term growth. Capitalism proposes to harness the unavoidable greed and self-interest for good, but it goes too far, opening wide the flood-gates, lauding and even lionizing greed.

Is it any great surprise that China, a heavily socialistic country making controlled forays into capitalism, is experiencing extreme economic growth while Western countries are in steady turmoil? Today the top 6 GDPs are USA, Japan, China, UK, France, and Germany. By 2050 Goldman Sachs predicts the top 6 will be USA, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and Russia.

So goes my thoughts. Do you wish to argue with me? Do you wish to add your thoughts? Then you understand what The Dispossessed is all about.(less)

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Nov 19, 2010 Architeuthis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-that-speculates

It's really weird to me that, even though I'm totally drunk, I can still type just a s well as usual. I might not be able to make it down the hall without running into walls, but I can still compose a review without a problem. Anyway, I'm here today to talk about The Dispossessed. It is a book by Ursula K Le Guin, who is badass. If it hadn't taken me like four mouths to read this book, I would've probably given it five stars. Unfortunately, it took me almost a complete semester to read the damne...more It's really weird to me that, even though I'm totally drunk, I can still type just a s well as usual. I might not be able to make it down the hall without running into walls, but I can still compose a review without a problem. Anyway, I'm here today to talk about The Dispossessed. It is a book by Ursula K Le Guin, who is badass. If it hadn't taken me like four mouths to read this book, I would've probably given it five stars. Unfortunately, it took me almost a complete semester to read the damned thing because I've been very busy. I'll be back, I have to pee.

Okay, I'm back. Don't you hate how sometimes you pee but you've had so much to drink that you still kinda feel like you have to pee? I hate that.

So, this book is the second one I've read by Le Guin, and I would've probably given it five stars if it hadn't taken me so long to read it. But, as it is, I have to just give it four. This is a story about a man who was born on an anarchist planet who goes to the capitalistic planet that his people originally broke off from, and he's trying to do his physics there because he wasn't able to communicate it with other planets form the anarchist planet he was from. His planet, other than anarchy, is pretty lame. It's a barren wasteland, kind of like Arizona. Except Arizona has cacti, whereas I don't think that Urras does. If it does, they aren't mentioned. Joel was expecting a lot of Urras jokes, but I don't have any. Sorry to disappoint you, Joel.

I'm going to refill my wine glass. Be right back.

The Left Hand of Darkness dealt with some fascinating themes about gender, and kind of blew my mind. I mean, it really brought to my attention how much gender factors into how I think about people. Before I ask myself, "Is this person an old person or not?" I ask myself, "Is this a man or a woman?" Before anything else, we think about gender. This book does something entirely different from that, but equally interesting. The major theme here is whether a society can be successful if it's anarchy. But, it's more than just that.

Through what we see of Urras, we realize that anarchy isn't necessarily going to save the day. Even in this world where money is not a factor and where people aren't motivated by materialistic ideals, you still find people who are motivated by power and prestige. These can become the same kind of selfish force as money and materialism. So, the book seems to be saying that even Anarchy is only an improvement over a capitalistic society where people are suffering and prejudicial.

I'm honestly at a loss. I mean, plenty of philosophies have terrific ideals, but you still have people with selfish, private motives, no matter what the political system is. It's an instinctual part of what it means to be human. It's the reptilian part of the brain, so whatever political system we establish, we're going to be struggling against our own instincts. Some of us will be able to rise above our baser instincts, and others among us, like Caris, who is a douche, won't be able to. It's unfortunate, but that is the reality of the human condition.

I don't know if I'm talking about the book anymore. I should be drinking more water if I don't want to have a hangover tomorrow.

It's really cool to see the way Ursula portrays her conception of an anarchist society, because it's really hard to visualize. My nose is kind of numb. I definitely need to reread this one when I have time to read a book without dragging out the process for months, because, even if I were sober, I'd have a hard time reviewing this shit. It's a shame you don't know ahead of time, and you can't decide to read mediocre books when you're not going to have enough time, and save the really good books for long weekends or times when you're ready for them.

Why did I decide to review THIS book drunk? This book is philosophical as fuck, and I can't talk about politics and philosophy when I can barely find the f key. Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that the edition I have of this book SUCKED hardcore. Typos like you wouldn't believe. The cover looked like it was sharted out of an automatic sci-fi cover machine, and the blurb on the back cover actually got details about the book WRONG. Thank you, Harper Collins, for sucking butt. This didn't do much to detract from the book's excellence, however. Anyway, I may add to this when I'm sober enough to figure out what I've left out.

I always try to finish on a strong note, and I can't think of anything else to say about this book, so I just want to tell all of you that I love this website. You make this website amazing, and I can't tell you how cool it is that we all have a place to talk about books with each other, other than real life. My nose is gaining its sensation back, and I'm trying to drink more water, so I hopefully won't be hung over. I hope this review isn't as inarticulate as I suspect it is. (less)

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Sep 08, 2008 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Karen by: Cait

Shevek is more real and relatable than most of the Ursula K. LeGuin characters I'd encountered before. I anticipated meeting him back at the book in the same way I knew I would meet friends in the cafeteria when I was in college, a simple and satisfying kind of taking-for-granted of those who populate your life. I think the metaphor makes sense considering the particular set-up of the Annaresti society, with such emphasis on the commons. That said, I loved to re-discover with him the basic joys...more

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Apr 11, 2008 Karina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my favorite book. I like all the books by Ursula LeGuin I've read so far (yes, even The Word For World is Forest), but this one is definitely the best.

Some readers think The Dispossessed is intended to promote anarchism, but that would be too simple. The book is a part of the Hainish Cycle series. Each book in the series is set in a different solar system and is basically a comparison of two cultures. But while it is set in space, the series is really a set of alternative histories for...more

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Dec 26, 2007 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I came across this book working on an idea for a "History Seen Through Science-Fiction" class, and as an example of Social Science-Fiction it works remarkably well.

The utopia/dystopia setting, with anarchist-oriented Anarres founded by revolutionaries from capitalist and nationalist Urras provides a wonderful means of examining issues such as freedom and the meaning of the idea of the "state." Le Guin creates a fully realized "anarchist" society on Anarres, complete with one of the more intrigui...more I came across this book working on an idea for a "History Seen Through Science-Fiction" class, and as an example of Social Science-Fiction it works remarkably well.

The utopia/dystopia setting, with anarchist-oriented Anarres founded by revolutionaries from capitalist and nationalist Urras provides a wonderful means of examining issues such as freedom and the meaning of the idea of the "state." Le Guin creates a fully realized "anarchist" society on Anarres, complete with one of the more intriguing look at the role of language in informing societal thinking. The Odonian society on Anarres seems a functional society--complete with the onset of ossification and the re-introduction of "possessiveness" of its related power relations.

Unfortunately, Le Guin's depiction of the societies of Urras--from capitalist A-Io to socialist Thu and the "police-action" decimated Benbili--is rather sparse, apparently with the idea that its society would be readily recognizable to readers. What the reader is left with, however, is more a stereotype than functioning parallel to the well-developed Odonians.

The novel has attracted considerable attention for its political views, especially the seeming "superiority" of the Odonian society on Anarres. Some of the aspects of the story seemed forced. The clearest example, that shows the society of Anarres at its best, are the periodic famines that call forth the best in people. In the novel, the famines are the result of the inability of Anarres to support the society while undergoing a basic form of terraforming; the famines are a natural phenomenon. They are intended, however, to be parallels to the famines so common in our historical experience, especially those that hit the Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, communist China. The difference is that the historical famines had far less to do with "natural" causes than the political situations of the societies in which they occurred. Le Guin manages here to sidestep a major issue that would seem to be central to her theme.

That said, I think Le Guin's subtitle, "An Ambiguous Utopia," gives a greater clue as to her theme. Odonian society is not a utopia, and probably never was. A group dedicated to promoting "customary" behavior is no less interested in maintaining its own power and reproducibility than a group promoting "legal" behavior that we (and Le Guin, apparently) term a "state." And there lies the ambiguity: is it institutions such as laws, governments, and even languages that cause tensions and inequality in societies, or the fact of the people in those societies themselves? I would argue that Le Guin comes down on the latter side.

All in all, a good read.(less)

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Apr 09, 2008 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

My ex had me read this, as it was her favorite book. It didn't really click with me at first, but I've been thinking of it ever since, and I think it has actually become one of my favorites.

In the afternoon, when he cautiously looked outside, he saw an armored car stationed across the street and two others slewed across the street at the crossing. That explained the shouts he had been hearing: it would be soldiers giving orders to each other.

Atro had once explained to him how this was managed, h...more My ex had me read this, as it was her favorite book. It didn't really click with me at first, but I've been thinking of it ever since, and I think it has actually become one of my favorites.

In the afternoon, when he cautiously looked outside, he saw an armored car stationed across the street and two others slewed across the street at the crossing. That explained the shouts he had been hearing: it would be soldiers giving orders to each other.

Atro had once explained to him how this was managed, how the sergeants could give the privates orders, how the lieutenants could give the privates and the sergeants orders, how the captains... and so on and so on up to the generals, who could give everyone else orders and need take them from none, except the commander in chief. Shevek had listened with incredulous disgust. “You call that organization?” he had inquired. “You even call it discipline? But it is neither. It is a coercive mechanism of extraordinary inefficiency — a kind of seventh-millennium steam engine! With such a rigid and fragile structure what could be done that was worth doing?” This had given Atro a chance to argue the worth of warfare as the breeder of courage and manliness and weeder-out of the unfit, but the very line of his argument had forced him to concede the effectiveness of guerrillas, organized from below, self-disciplined. “But that only works when the people think they're fighting for something of their own — you know, their homes, or some notion or other,” the old man had said. Shevek had dropped the argument. He now continued it, in the darkening basement among the stacked crates of unlabeled chemicals. He explained to Atro that he now understood why the Army was organized as it was. It was indeed quite necessary. No rational form of organization would serve the purpose. He simply had not understood that the purpose was to enable men with machine guns to kill unarmed men and women easily and in great quantities when told to do so. Only he still could not see where courage, or manliness, or fitness entered in.

(less)

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Jul 19, 2007 Seabury rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

I just gave an enthusiastic review to brave new world, and now, I want to give an even more enthusiastic review to this book. This may be the best book I have ever read in the utopia/distopia genre. It is about two societies and one misfit. There is a libertarian socialist society, and then there is a state capitalist society. The libertarian socialist society is a very intresting society, where there is no property, no government, no structure, absolute freedom. Wonderful how it sounds, as the...more

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Apr 14, 2009 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Luis and other Marxist diehards who think they hate science fiction

Recommended to Matthew by: Feather Crawford Freed

Shelves: scientastic

Beautifully written and thoughtful science fiction. I still have my doubts about whether this Odonian anarchist society would really work as it is written. Still, I love that the protagonist is a man who feels sufficiently discontent with "utopia" to leave, and that you see both his society and the ultra-capitalist society that they separated from through the eyes of a profoundly alienated individual. I also love that the imagined physics of the far future has brilliant parallels to human societ...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Neil rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There's a lot to think about in this tale of a physicist from an anarchist world who returns (the first to do so) to the world the anarchists came from 200 years after they left. The home planet is a mix of capitalist and communist societies.

I enjoyed the first three Earthsea tales, particularly the middle book, The Tombs of Atuan, but this is probably the Le Guin book that I've enjoyed the most so far. She does a fantastic job here of mixing the personal with the political in a story that conti...more

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About Ursula K. Le Guin

As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming...more As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming in 2012, Finding My Elegy, New and Selected Poems. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

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Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν (Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, Berkeley California, 21 Οκτωβρίου 1929 - ) Πολυγραφότατη, πολυδιάστατη και πολυβραβευμένη Αμερικανίδα ποιήτρια και συγγραφέας του χώρου της «Επιστημονικής Φαντασίας» αλλά και των παιδικών διηγημάτων.

ΠΡΩΤΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ
Γεννήθηκε στο Μπέρκλεϋ της Καλιφόρνιας από τον ανθρωπολόγο Άλφρεντ Κρέμπερ (Alfred L. Kroeber) και την συγγραφέα Θεοδώρα Κρέμπερ (Theodora Covel BrownKracaw Kroeber), σπούδασε στο «Radcliffe College» και εν συνεχεία Φιλολογία (γαλλική και ιταλική αναγεννησιακή λογοτεχνία) στο «Πανεπιστήμιο Columbia». Το 1953 παντρεύτηκε στην Γαλλία τον ιστορικό Σαρλ Λε Γκεν (Charles A. Le Guin), που έγινε καθηγητής Γαλλικής Ιστορίας στο «Portland State College» του Όρεγκον και απέκτησε μαζί του 3 παιδιά.

«ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΟΝΙΚΗ» ΚΑΙ «ΜΕΣΑΙΩΝΙΚΗ» ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑ
Από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1960 συνέγραψε περισσότερα από 100 διηγήματα (που εκδόθηκαν σε 8 τόμους), 3 συλλογές δοκιμίων, 5 ποιητικές συλλογές, 19 νουβέλες και 13 παιδικά βιβλία, αλλά είναι περισσότερο αναγνωρισμένη για τα έργα της στον τομέα της «Επιστημονικής» και «Μεσαιωνικής» Φαντασίας, όπου συγκαταλέγεται ανάμεσα στους σημαντικότερους σύγχρονους δημιουργούς (πιο γνωστά στην Ελλάδα είναι τα βιβλία της «Ο Αναρχικός των Δύο Κόσμων», Αθήνα, 1992 και «Το Αριστερό Χέρι του Σκοταδιού», Αθήνα, 1990, 1994). Το 1990 αιφνιδίασε το αναγνωστικό κοινό της όταν πρόσθεσε δίχως προειδοποίηση στην έως τότε τριλογία του «μαγικού» «κύκλου της Γαιοθάλασσας» («A Wizard of Earthsea», «The Tombs of Atuan» και «The FarthestShore», 1968 - 1972) το σκληρό «Τεχανού», για το οποίο έλαβε το Βραβείο Nebula.(less)

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A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)

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Quotes from The Dispossessed

“It is our suffering that brings us together. It is not love. Love does not obey the mind, and turns to hate when forced. The bond that binds us is beyond choice. We are brothers. We are brothers in what we share. In pain, which each of us must suffer alone, in hunger, in poverty, in hope, we know our brotherhood. We know it, because we have had to learn it. We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is. You have nothing. You possess nothing. You own nothing. You are free. All you have is what you are, and what you give.” — 85 people liked it

“For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.” — 66 people liked it

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The Dispossessed (Hainish Cycle)

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