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The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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 Earth and the point of the series is to show that there are many different ways to live with dignity and hope just like there are many different ways to live in misery. LeGuin is definitely a humanist, but she is above agitating for one political system or the other.
On a personal note, I read The Dispossessed right after Atlas Shrugged. (Ha!) I wish I had read Ayn Rand when I was 14. At this point in my life it's just way too simplistic. The Dispossessed, on the other hand, seemed more real then the stuff you read about in the paper.
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 Earth and the point of the series is to show that there are many different ways to live with dignity and hope just like there are many different ways to live in misery. LeGuin is definitely a humanist, but she is above agitating for one political system or the other.
On a personal note, I read The Dispossessed right after Atlas Shrugged. (Ha!) I wish I had read Ayn Rand when I was 14. At this point in my life it's just way too simplistic. The Dispossessed, on the other hand, seemed more real then the stuff you read about in the paper.
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David C.
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rated it 5 stars
Sep 05, 2010 07:14pm
Well said.
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Just read the Word for World is Forest, which i thought was excellent. But not as good as the Dispossessed, which was better still, and also my favorite Le Guin. Coincidently, I also read the Dispossessed shortly after Atlas Shrugged, and they are quite different. The Dispossessed pulling you to help others, Atlas Shrugged teaching you to be yourself and disregard others in the way. I agree with David. You are perceptive.
