Item: The Dispossessed
Rating: 5.00
Author: lovelybookshelf

by Ursula K. Le Guin

One of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle

'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES

'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin' Roddy Doyle

'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVER

The Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough which will revolutionize interstellar civilization by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist world of Anarres.

But Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more liberty and tolerance there. But he soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.

This was my first Le Guin (I now have a new favorite author). The Dispossessed is like all those great Star Trek episodes where societies with different cultures and political hierarchies meet and try to understand each other. It's all about nuance: Even though the author is anarchist, the anarchist society in this novel is NOT perfect. It portrays an unflinchingly honest (and more interesting) "utopia," rather than [singing] "everything is awesome."

I listened to the audiobook, but I think I'll reach for print when I read it next. It jumps back and forth in time/location (odd/even chapters) and that was a bit hard to keep track of when listening.

The Dispossessed (Hainish Cycle)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Reviewed by lovelybookshelf on Apr 5, 2017

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