Rating: 
Summary: The Dispossessed: An Unambiguous Masterpiece
Review: Simply put, this is one of the greates science fiction books I have ever read. Beyond Le Guin's compelling storyline, masterful character development, and brilliantly constructed setting (all of which can be found in any of her other books), The Dispossessed is a social commentary the likes of which I had never experienced before.Most people, I am sure, hear the word "anarchy," and it brings to mind images of smelly punk-rock kids throwing rocks and trashing cars (direct action!) However, the layperson generally cannot see beyone the premise of "no government = chaos." Le Guin tears down the philosophical walls and false presuppositions and proposes a world based on true libertarian socialist ideals: Anarchy. These people are not terrorists, but hard working, sincere individuals, possessed with all the faults that we have always had. It adresses the problems that could arise in an anarchist community plagued by extreme scarcity, but its message triumph over tribulation rings true. It is this book which radically changed my political philosophies, and if is powerful and beautiful enough a piece of literature that it can do the same for all who read it.
Rating:
Summary: a thought-provoking classic
Review: my favorite book is "grapes of wrath." number 2 is "the fountainhead." number 3 is "the dispossessed." it's a fascinating story of how life might be lived if there were true equality and no government. the little touches were nice, like how weeks were called "decads" and lasted 10 days and how the words for sex do NOT imply doing something to someone else (screw, nail, do) but rather an equal consensualness (copulate). also, i liked how the children were taught the ancient history of laws, cops and prisons and this prompted them to want to play "jail" with each begging to be the prisoner because they had no locked doors in their lives. The talk of this being a "utopian" world is interesting, because le guin takes great pains to show that the anarchist world is NOT utopian, just better than one where greed and violence are the driving forces. for anyone curious about how anarchy could really work, this is a must. but more so, it's a fun read with lots of action, love and ideas. i still think about shevak, just as i think about tom joad and howard roark.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile Utopian Fiction
Review: There is a planet called Urras. To earthling readers in 1974 it is remarkably familiar, dominated politically by the highly centralized communist state of Thu and the dynamic capitalist state of A-Io. About a century and a half before the story begins however, there was also a troublesome anarchist sect, the so-called Odonians. Eager to be free of this bothersome lot, the Council of World Governments allowed them to settle on Anarres, Urras' moon, there to live in unmolested isolation. Life there is tough. The moon, while habitable, is bleak and life there is grim. But the Odonian Anarresti society has survived and remained true to its anarchistic tenets. There are no laws there and no one is ever compelled to do anything, not in any case by courts and policemen. But it would be quite wrong to say there is no power or that the operation of that power cannot be thoroughly nasty and oppressive. So the brilliant Anarresti physicist Shevek has plenty to be unhappy about when he becomes the first Anarresti since the original settlement to visit Urras. Le Guin's novel tells two parallel stories, the story of the events in Shevek's life in Anarres that lead up to his exile, and the story of what befalls him on Urras. It is a very interesting novel of ideas. It's also various other things, an adventure story, a love story, a story about the growth and development of its central character. At these latter levels it succeeds rather imperfectly. Le Guin's writing is a little too stodgy, very dry and humourless, her characterization a little too lacking in sureness and in many ways the book drags a little. But as a novel of ideas it remains eminently worth reading, especially for the parts set on Anarres, much the most interesting chapters of the novel, with their impressively thoughtful and honestly ambivalent picture both of what might be attractive and of what would might be horrible about the sort of large scale anarchistic experiment in living Le Guin there imagines for us.
Rating:
Summary: Politics and corruption on two contrasting worlds
Review: "The Dispossessed" is a utopian/dystopian novel along the lines of "Brave New World" or "The Handmaid's Tale." Although Le Guin creates an atmosphere of tension, there's not a lot of action (at least for the first three quarters of the book)--so readers expecting more "traditional" science fiction or surprising plot twists will certainly be dissatisfied. This unashamedly political novel portrays one character torn between two worlds with disparate political and economic systems, and it focuses on the highlights and the inadequacies of both those worlds. Shevak, an unappreciated scientist from Anarres, travels to Urras, whose inhabitants seem to value better his discoveries in physics. Annares, the home of the "Dispossessed," is a 175-year-old rebel outpost of anarchists who have established "an experiment in nonauthoritarian communism" that emphasizes community and cooperation and who must make the most of the limited resources on their desert planet to avert the constant threat of starvation. Anarres's mother planet, Urras, boasts a triumvirate of strong and repressive governments, the most important of which is the capitalist government of A-Io with its impressive wealth, cultural accomplishments, and scientific achievements. But all is not what it seems on either world. Le Guin alternates chapters detailing Shevak's early years of disenchantment on his lawless but peaceful native planet with chapters describing his growing realization that Urras has a significant "dispossessed" population as well. The novel is, of course, deeply informed by the Cold War--it was published in 1974--and each world features its own "ambiguous utopia" (the book's subtitle). The anarchists of Anarres have diluted their revolutionary vision with mindless and dogmatic conformism, discouragement of artistic pursuits and dissenting ideas, and an entrenched and uncaring bureaucracy that acts like a government in all but name. The capitalists of Urras, meanwhile, have traded libertarianism and meritocracy for a repressive oligarchy and the armed reinforcement of widespread economic disparities. As the novel progresses, Shevak appreciates that there is much to be learned from both (or rather, all) worlds. Some readers and critics have suggested that Le Guin is "promoting" anarchism/communism; this is too simplistic, since the book is far too subtle and tentative to work as propaganda. Instead, she posits an attractive and idealistic society, contrasts it with a world with an appealing facade and an unattractive underclass, and shows how human nature tends to corrupt even the most well-meaning of civilizations. A book of ideas rather than of advocacy, "The Dispossessed" challenges readers to envision humankind's limitless possibilities.
Rating:
Summary: Ursula's Utopia
Review: I read this book years ago and have re-read it many times. It and Left Hand of Darkness are my favorite novels by LeGuin. Both books start with a what-if premise. In Lefthand of Darkness the premise is what if there is no separation of the sexes. In The Disposessed the premise is what if there were a truly communistic society. What would it be like? How would it compare or hold up to a capitalist society? What impact would it have on the people that live in that society? She explores these questions through the life of the main character, Shevak. Shevak is a brillant physicist (akin to Einstein) who grows up on the communistic moon of Annares and later travels to the capitalistic parent world of Urras. Although LeGuin obviously favors the commmunistic world of Annares, she does not hesitate to fully explore its weaknesses. She also shows how difficult it is for a truly visionary human such as Shevak to live comfortably in either world. I found The Dispossessed to not only be a thoughtful examination of a philosophical premise but to also be a beautifully written novel and a pleasure to read.
Rating:
Summary: Eternal Revolution?
Review: Shevek is a physicist from a world of anarchists who finds the only way to spread his revolutionary ideas of temporal physics is to visit the world who exiled his culture nearly 200 years ago. In this act and in those leading to and from it, he brings a reexamination of the revolutionary anarchy of the desolate moon Anarres as well as casts a gaze on the stratified capitalist world of Urras. Set in the same universe of LeGuin's other space stories, _The_Dispossessed_ critiques the capitalism of late 20th century Western culture, with its proxy wars and gender inequities, the failings of idealized communist societies which succumb to human drives for power through buereacracy, as well as the drive in both to maintain a status quo. In addition, Shevek's struggle to unify linear and circular views of temporal physics parallels Einstein's (or Ainsetain's (sic))and modern physics struggles to unify general relativity with quantum mechanics. This, along with insights into the perils of dual career families and academic politics round out the tale. Shevek, is perhaps the only fully realized character and he serves as the readers eyes onto the two Cetian societies and thus the aforementioned critique of our own. So, while I did identify and feel empathy for Shevek, it was the social descriptions and plot which kept me from putting the book down more than once to sleep, over the course of 24 hours. Are you possessed by your possessions? by your ideas?
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't quite add up
Review: Le Guin's "The Dispossessed" deserves the accolades it has received. It is a tremendous example of soft sci-fi, with little high-tech wizardry (though this book does contain the oldest reference to an instantaneous-communication ansible I have encountered), but deep character developement and social commentary. Unfortunately, I just could not find either of her hypothetical societies believable. The capitalistic Urras seemed to be a mix of 21st century technology and 18th century ethics. Though at face value, Urras appears to be a scathing condemnation of capitalism, a deeper look shows the problems on Urras result less from its free markets than from its totalitarian government and rampant "isms". Likewise, the anarchistic, communist utopia on the moon Anarres also did not ring true. Le Guin simply did not convince me that the inherent conflicts of anarchy and communism could be resolved. People on Anarres did not shirk duties or commit crimes, even though they did not have self-interest (ala capitalism) or the threat of force (ala totalitarianism) to bring them in to line. Le Guin seems to explain this by proper education, social pressure, and child-rearing, which I couldn't swallow. I did enjoy her pointed commentary on the tyranny of the majority (even absent the rule of law), and of the oppression of the individual by social pressure for conformity. Overall, this rates as a sci-fi classic - even though it barely qualifies as sci-fi at all. Le Guin's best work.
Rating:
Summary: a thought-provoking classic
Review: my favorite book is "grapes of wrath." number 2 is "the fountainhead." number 3 is "the dispossessed." it's a fascinating story of how life might be lived if there were true equality and no government. the little touches were nice, like how weeks were called "decads" and lasted 10 days and how the words for sex do NOT imply doing something to someone else (screw, nail, do) but rather an equal consensualness (copulate). also, i liked how the children were taught the ancient history of laws, cops and prisons and this prompted them to want to play "jail" with each begging to be the prisoner because they had no locked doors in their lives. The talk of this being a "utopian" world is interesting, because le guin takes great pains to show that the anarchist world is NOT utopian, just better than one where greed and violence are the driving forces. for anyone curious about how anarchy could really work, this is a must. but more so, it's a fun read with lots of action, love and ideas. i still think about shevak, just as i think about tom joad and howard roark.
Rating: 
Summary: Move Over Ayn Rand
Review: LeGuin does for anarchosyndicalism what Ayn Rand attempts to do for capitalism. The difference? LeGuin succeeds. -The Dispossessed- occupies a place of high honor on my bookshelf right next to -The Left Hand of Darkness-, -The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- (Heinlein).
Rating:
Summary: Illuminating, Inspiring, Beautiful
Review: Whether or not THE DISPOSSESED passes as good sci-fi, I know not. I am not very knowledgeable of what SF fans look for in a book. As a novel, and as a philosophical exploration of authoritarianism, anarchism, capitalism, communism, revolution and utopianism -- this book is first-rate. The questions Le Guin grapples with here are by no means simple. Even great philosophers, like Marx and Bakunin, had difficultly imagining what an ACTUAL society would look like without bosses and owners. But through the gripping tale of an anarchist caught between two fundamentally different worlds, Le Guin seeks answers to many of the questions these philosophers left untouched. How would an anarchist society function? What would it take as its fundamental principles? What problems would that society have? What would a "propertarian" capitalist society appear from the perspective of an anarchist? Without offering any quick or final answers, Le Guin sheds light on these issues and beckons the reader to imagine the possibility of another world. After all, the evolution of culture here on planet earth was why Le Guin wrote this book in the first place. Inspiring, moving and transformative, this book was a pleasure. Thank you, Ursula. You have successfully removed another brick from the wall. Note: The Perrenial Classics edition of this book (not this edition) is much more sturdy and readable, if a little more pricy.
|
