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Summary: Don't look at the Cover
Review: For those stupid Sci-Fi painted covers bore me to death and this one makes the book seem just another vaguely interesting Sci-Fi novel. Believe me, it is not really Sci-Fi at all - the story doesn't happen on earth, but that is the only Sci-Fi thing about this book. Sorry I won't go into detail. The weird thing is that I am always more than suspicious when people say that books changed their lives...this one didn't change my life, but left me deeply impressed and deeply thinking about different realities within countries and -generally- larger groups of human beings. Anyways-if you don't find it generally stupid to think a bit from time to time on how else life could be get this book. It is very smart and very fascinating.
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Summary: Damn good book
Review: This is one of my all time favorites.Reading over the other reviews, I hope people don't get the wrong idea. Sure, this is a very smart book that explores the possibilities of anarchy in a serious, philosophical way. But even though those things interest me, didactic science fiction with a MESSAGE is usually incredibly boring. This is not that kind of a sci-fi book. LeGuin writes a story with intelligent, real, flawed characters, and I find myself drawn in every time I go back to the book. Buy it for the story; the philosophy is a bonus if you like that kind of thing. (Of course, if you like zap, blam sci-fi, don't get this book.)
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Summary: A favorite
Review: It's one of my favorites. As others've said, it's a book you can return to again and again. It's the best -- most literate -- utopian novel ever written. Most utopian novels try to blend a good enough story with the ideas they want to tell. The Dispossessed is unique for having both story and ideas, without making either suffer. It's also great for trying to realisticly describe what it might be like to live in a utopian society -- good for making the point that even in a utopian society, there's still the pain of being human, of suffering for love and loneliness, of finding one's purpose in life and society, etc. Also that even a utopian society is an ambiguous one and that it's going to have its problems with corruption and rigidity, of idealists being criticized by society, etc. Interesting note: saw a recent paperback edition of The Dispossessed whose back cover blurb described the book as something like "From the anarchist moon of Anarres Shevek travels to the utopian world of Urras to try to dispel the bonds of hate and ignorance that keep the 2 worlds apart." Interesting how which world as being the most utopian has changed -- publisher's mistake, or the publisher deliberately trying to appeal to more '90s tastes?
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Summary: truly changed the way i see the world
Review: The disposessed is quite an incredible novel. I recommend it not only to science fiction fans but also to people interested in socialism, anarchism, and libertarian socialism. After reading this novel, I felt I had a clearer understanding of the concept of "anarchist socialism" than from any Bakunin, Chomsky, Kropotkin, etc. I'd ever read. It is no fairy tale version of "anarchy" either; there are many things to dislike about LeGuin's "ambiguous utopia." I truly recommend this book.
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Summary: Best Utopian Novel in English
Review: This is a wonderful book, the best utopian novel written in English. The only comparable book is Zamyatin's We. The quality of writing is splendid. Set in a planetary system with 2 competing societies, a conventional capitalistic society on one planet and an anarchist utopia on its companion moon. The hero is a visionary scientist, a scientific revolutionary committed deeply to the ideals of his anarchist society. This book is one of the few that deals well with the issue of social obligations of scientists. It is a shrewd and often moving analysis of the necessity and costs of pursuing noble ideals and the obstinacy of human nature in the face of ideology. This is one of those genre works whose quality trascends its genre.
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Summary: Why isn't this more popular than Left Hand?
Review: Ditto to all the five-star comments. I read this book after reading Left Hand for a class assignment and flipped-out over it (better than Left Hand - is that possible?) Le Guin has a way of getting under your skin - her characters are memorable with their thought-provoking dialogue. Le Guin is a very talented author - don't miss out!
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Summary: one of the best books ever written.
Review: i regard this as one of my favourites ever. a thoughtful and enjoyable plot filled with conflicts between the reflective scientist shevek, and the social functions of surroundings. the *fantastic* social analysis on top of that makes it deserve more than five stars, imo. this book really opened up my eyes for the ideas of anarchism and syndicalism, and ultimately led to the point at which i engaged myself in this movement.
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Summary: Can a world be based on dispossession?
Review: This novel won the 1974 Nebula Award and the 1975 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year as well as the 1975 Jupiter Award. It is centered about a complex society that is founded upon anarchism: an ordered society without laws. The "dispossessed" in the novel are the millions of the inhabitants of Anarres, an arid moon of the lush planet of Urras. Two centuries earlier, the followers of an anarchist philosopher had fled Urras to forge a new society, a society that has done away with the concept of "possession." There is no property on Anarres, no money, no marriage (I hope that Le Guin is not meaning to suggest that marriage is a possession by one or other of the participants), no government, no laws, no prisons. Even the language reflects this attitude. Possessive pronouns are even avoided. Instead of saying "My hand hurts," one would say "The hand hurts me." A mathematical genius of Anarres, who has made a conceptual breakthrough that allows for the development of the ansible (an instantaneous communication device that other science fiction authors will begin to use), travels to Urras. He had been having difficulties with the philosophical ideas of his home world but the social structure of Urras baffles him. The cultures of both world cause problems for the protagonist Shevik. This is one of the best science fiction novels of all time. However, I'm surprised at some of the comments by earlier reviewers. It appears that some reviewers are really offended at more cerebral type of novels. I gave this book five stars. And, I also gave "A Princess of Mars" five stars. Both books have their place within the genre. Perhaps we should be not so narrow in our tastes so that we exclude valuable works. Both of these novels should be read by any serious student of science fiction literature.
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Summary: Brilliant physicist ponders individualism/collectivism
Review: Quite conceivably the best SF novel ever written - if that phrase means anything at all. There are two different achievements in this novel. Firstly, it is a superb portrayal of the mind of a scientist, showing the slow conceptual struggle towards a new idea (instantaneous communication). Worth reading just for that. The second achievement is that UlG explores the balance between the individualistic and collectivist strains in all societies. The device that she uses for this is a world (Urras) much like earth which contains mixed economies and socialist states around which orbits a moon (Annarres) containing an exiled colony of anarchists. The protagonist, Shevek, is a physicist on Annarres who becomes aware of the constraints of the anarchistic society and journeys to Urras. Here he sees the limitations of state power, whether capitalist or socialist. The superb, and vitally important, narrative structure that is used is Shevek's concept of simultanaeity: the novel intertwines two narratives (Shevek leaves Annares, and Shevek leaves Urras) which allows UlG to raise the problems with both types of system simultaneously. This is not a political rant (or Rand, perhaps) but a story about an enquiring mind. And yes, it does have characters. It does what SF is supposed to do: it frees us from the tyranny of present fashion.
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Summary: Fascinating Comparison Of Socialism With Capitalism
Review: This book shows both the social and personal effects of both types of government organization. It also tells the tale of a naive and brainy rocket scientist named Shevek whose genius is stifled by being stuck on a barely habitable moon. This book is great as pure fiction, the social commentary just makes it even better. Definitely the best "utopian" novel I've ever read.
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