From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia

Ursula K. Le Guin

Start date: September 1, 2017

Finish date: September 25, 2017

Discussion: Current Nominations

Discussion leader: Ernest

Why we're reading this: Group Classic SF novel discussion September 2017
Hugo Award Winner 1974
Nebula Award Winner 1974
#78 on NPR'…more
[close] Group Classic SF novel discussion September 2017
Hugo Award Winner 1974
Nebula Award Winner 1974
#78 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#16 on Locus Magazines Best Fantasy novels of the 20th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

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Group Discussions About This Book

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Current Nominations

* SF/F Book to Discuss in January 2020 selected
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last updated Dec 30, 2019 04:34PM

I Skipped August... and September.... and October.... and November.... and December
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last updated Jun 19, 2019 10:49AM

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What Members Thought

Feb 05, 2016 Tor.com Publishing added it

This book blew my mind, & while reading it it catapulted into my top five favorites. The Dispossessed is about utopia, revolution & math. Le Guin's science-fiction is precisely what I like; for some reason, I think she & Gene Wolfe share an important trait, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's just that they are among my most favorites. --MK ...more

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Jun 23, 2018 GONZA rated it it was ok

Shelves: re-read, gdl-sci-fi, otherland, posseduto

Rereading: I didn't like it better than last time, I just thought about it a little more in terms of utopian and dystopian future (as Thomas Moore would say). I will keep on reading about it thanks to Delaney's essay on the language of Sci-fi ( The Jewel-Hinged Jaw: Notes on the Language of Science Fiction).

I am probably one of the few people who appreciate Ursula K. Le Guin more for her fantasy story than for the sci-fi one. I found the idea of this book really good and brilliant, but the plot ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 02, 2019 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-top-100, hugo, nebula, locus

A SF tale with all the grandeur and power that you would expect from Ursula Le Guin. Powerful ideas about how to live our lives, and how we goven ourselves, captured in the story of a man travelling to another world.

The book starts well, and slows down somewhat in the middle, before building to a thoughtful and fascinating finale. Every character in the novel has depth, and makes the reader think about their own journey and choices.

Not easy to read at times, but a powerful and timeless classic.

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