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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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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Apr 28, 2012 Aleix Dorca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favourites, would-read-again, classics, dystopia

I just wish I had read this book when I was younger. It would have caused a greater impact. The political and social part of it, the main part, is great. The rest of the story is only circumstancial and helps set the tone for a 'what's the best system' dilemma. The whole story could be set on Earth on different countries, of course. In view of this, would you say 'The Dispossessed' is really science fiction?

Totally reccomended. One of the genre classics.

5 stars, no doubt. ...more

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