Rating: 
Summary: The Disposessed rocks!
Review: The Disposessed is one of the best books that I have ever read. The plot, setting, and characters stand alone as an excellent novel, but LeGuin goes further, weaving in a full political dialogue about anarchism, capitalism, and the meaning of freedom. I would recommend this book for anyone who likes to think.
Rating:
Summary: The best writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century
Review: Both The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness are modern masterpieces. Mrs. LeGuin's writing is thought-provoking, complex, mythical, and, I believe, more fantasy than sci-fi. Her lineage can be traced more to Tolkien than to Asimov. The Dispossessed displays a deep understanding of culture and human sociology, just as The Left Hand of Darkness displays a real exploration of myth-making and religion. If you want your characters cut out along dotted lines and a book's ideas to not make you think too hard, then these books are not for you. If, however, you expect the books you read to be interactive, offering a dialogue rather than a monologue, than I highly suggest you give these books a try. For those people that rate these books below a 5, stick to Grisham and Crichton.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books ever written
Review: Do books really change people's lives? I've read this book many times over the last decade or so, and it never stops speaking to something deep inside me (and my wife, who I knew I had to marry when she said this was her favorite book). Ursula LeGuin isn't for everyone--you have to be willing to think, and care, and not just space out and be "entertained." But for those who want that, who are desperate for that, and like a great story on top of it, well there's no one like Ursula. And there's no Ursula book like The Dispossesed. If you haven't read it by the year 2001, you kind of missed the boat on 20th century literature. Oh, by the way, the book is about anarchy and love and stuff like that. It's about the REAL Utopia, the one that will never happen.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite sci-fi novel
Review: This is a fabulously well-conceived book. I wouldn't call it a utopia, because it is more realistic than that, but it's not a dystopia either. Le Guin has carefully thought through the consequences of anarchism and idealism, while vividly portraying a living world in which her ideas evolve. The attention to detail has made this book stick in my mind years after reading it. If you like sci-fi with more than guns and battleships, this is an intellectual treat.
Rating:
Summary: An fascinating book.
Review: This is my favorite Le Guin book. As much a political science book as science fiction.Also one one of the feew utopias written after WW2. The title refers to an anarchist society that lives on the moon who do not have possesion. Far from one sided this book shows the problems of both societies through the eyes of Shevek,an Anarres Physicst. Shevek has problems with both his society because the descendents have lost their political idealism and with Urras' because the greed and corruption of it's captialism . A complex work of thought with no easy to find solutions. And a good introduction to the theories of Anarchism.
Rating:
Summary: A Literary Science Fiction Classic
Review: I read this book about 10 years ago and it still echoes in my mind as far and away the best science fiction novel I have ever read simply because it avoids problems found in most SF--poor characterization and over-reliance on techno-babble. It amazes me that this classic has not been made into a movie yet, but it would lend itself much better to the screen than, say, "Dune." This book squarely faces the central dilemma of a materialistic society--that by its very nature encourages possessive (hence the title) desires, both sexual and otherwise, that lead inevitably to spiritual dissolution and unhappiness. And as far as LeGuin's prose goes, there are sentences here that I will never forget. The last line is surely one of the most memorable in American literature.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent use of your free time
Review: This was required reading in my Science Fiction class at Penn State (in 1983), and for good reason. The Dispossessed is not great science fiction, it is great fiction that happens to be science fiction. Ms LeGuin has written a masterful book that could be set in any era, anywhere. I, as other reviewers have mentioned, have given this book as a gift -- to non sci-fi readers who have been extremely pleased with it. Do not miss the opportunity to step into The Dispossessed. I have no need to buy this book from Amazon as I still have my copy from 1983, but have gone out of my way to review it here anyhow, fourteen years later. That is the kind of impact this novel had on me.
The Dispossessed is in my top five of all time, and by far the best science fiction book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth rereading!
Review: I originally purchased this book in 1978 during a trip through Australia. The landscape of Anterres and that of Australia melded very well. It was easy to escape into the story of a man battling with the need to express himself and his ideas against the needs of the community--as well as the idea of ownership and communal property.
Since the original reading I have returned to reread the story about every five years. Each time I find a new nuisance. This year I was amazed by the small physics description of how when you throw an object, theoretically, it could never hit another object as it is always between two points in the arc--the length of space between always having a halfway point.
Read the book.
Think about the fact you may never reach the end of your travel because you'll always be a the half-way point!
Rating:
Summary: The best SF ever written and read in the whole universe.
Review: The Dispossessed is the best book I have read so far and I think Le Guin is the best writer of the ages. When I was at the last quarter of the book; I didn't want to read it any more. Do you know, why? Because, I was afraid that it would finish. So far I bought the book 5 times; each as a gift to my most-loved friends. The book, I have read was also a gift from one of my good friends. I am sure most of you read this book before; but can you think any better present for your friends??? By the way I have 2 "The Dispossessed" in my personal library for the time-being since one of the persons I gave the book as a gift is now my WIFE
Rating:
Summary: a work of philosophy
Review: The daughter of a husband-wife team of anthropologists, the Kroebers (spelling uncertain), Le Guin writes from a complete understanding of anthropology. This book is like Gulliver's Travels or Utopia in that it draws a detailed picture of another society to criticize our own. In The Dispossessed, there are two societies, one rich and capitalist, the other poor and communist. The book is careful to explore the strengths of an ideal version of each. If you enjoy philosophy, this is one of the best, and one that is not well known
|
