Sign in with FacebookBrad's Reviews > The Dispossessed
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brad's review
bookshelves: faves, sci-fi, mieville50, to-read-again, political, anarchism, revolution, speculative, the-best
Jun 18, 09
bookshelves: faves, sci-fi, mieville50, to-read-again, political, anarchism, revolution, speculative, the-best
Read in June, 2009, read count: 3
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 reserve for Shevek.
Ursula K. LeGuin's Odonian-Anarchist physicist is what I would aspire to be in the deepest places of myself -- flaws and all.
The reason is simple and profound. Shevek constantly strives for change inside and outside himself, for an embracing of true freedom with the knowledge that freedom requires change, that change is dangerous, and that the danger of true freedom trumps safety.
No matter what pressures are brought to bear, Shevek is his own man.
I could go on about him, but I am loathe to diminish the strength of what I have written.
So I will close with this: Shevek is the character I most admire in literature, and The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is very nearly a perfect book.
You must read it.
That I reserve for Shevek.
Ursula K. LeGuin's Odonian-Anarchist physicist is what I would aspire to be in the deepest places of myself -- flaws and all.
The reason is simple and profound. Shevek constantly strives for change inside and outside himself, for an embracing of true freedom with the knowledge that freedom requires change, that change is dangerous, and that the danger of true freedom trumps safety.
No matter what pressures are brought to bear, Shevek is his own man.
I could go on about him, but I am loathe to diminish the strength of what I have written.
So I will close with this: Shevek is the character I most admire in literature, and The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is very nearly a perfect book.
You must read it.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read The Dispossessed.
sign in »
Comments (showing 1-17 of 17) (17 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Jamie
(new)
-
rated it 2 stars
Jun 18, 2009 08:43am
I often wonder what's wrong with me, that I don't like Ursula K. Le Guin. :)
reply
|
flag
*
You don't?! Wow. I don't think there's anything wrong with you (although I am surprised you don't like her); I imagine it's just a matter of taste. I know her prose can be a bit dense at times, so maybe that is a contributing factor.
I tried to find this at the store the other day, but alas, it was out. You and Manny have convinced me that I need to pick this one up.
Bram wrote: "I tried to find this at the store the other day, but alas, it was out. You and Manny have convinced me that I need to pick this one up. "Looking forward to reading your review when you do get to it, Bram. I am confident you will like it, at least.
I reread my review and I feel like there is more I should say about the book, more about freedom, more about anarchy, more about Anneres and Urras, more about Le Guin's beautiful use of Terra and our downfall, more about love, more about oppression, more about the science of the piece, but then I worry that talking about all that in my review will take away from what I had to say about Shevek. You know what...if you want that stuff go here to read Manny's review. He does a pretty fine job with most of the other stuff I want to say.
Like Jamie, I'm not a fan of UKG either, but reading this review makes me want to give her another chance.Maybe when life settles down a bit.
i didn't cotton to her when i was a youngin', but i'll give her another try some day. I just remember thinking that the one book i read by her was kind of dry. But i think i was a tween at the time, so that doesn't mean much.
OK - I love LeGuin, but this book is so over-rated! It's one of her "nothing happens" books where plot is given the kind of back seat usually reserved for a Shakespeare comedy and the discussion of politics offered no insights I hadn't come to on my own by the age of 20.Read The Left Hand of Darkness or the Earthsea books or Voices to learn what LeGuin is really capable of.
I've found LeGuin to be a mixed bag. I loved Left Hand of Darkness and really liked the Lathe of Heaven. I couldn't get into the Earthsea books and I have hated several of her short stories. I generally don't like Utopian novels so I've stayed away from this one. But I think I'll give it a try now.
Never have??? Wow - Earthsea was a childhood staple (along with Narnia and MiddleEarth) for me. I must have re-read this trio an annoying amount of times. I really find Le Guin fascinating as an author because it seems you can have a love/hate relationship with each of her books individually! I loved the Dispossessed but could not get past the first few pages of Lathe of Heaven. Meanwhile, of the Earthsea trilogy (later quad, I think - doesn't Tehanu belong there?) I re-read the Tombs of Atuan the most.
Crazy, isn't it? I have had a copy of The Wizard of Earthsea for fifteen years or more on my to-read pile beside my bed, and I've read the first paragraph a zillion times, but it never grabs me when I need a new book and it just keeps sitting there. I reread Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, but never crack it. I need to do it soon.
