Name: The Dispossessed
ISBN: 9780785764038

Ursula K. Le Guin

An astonishing tale of one man's search for Utopia.

An Ambiguous Utopia

The Dispossessed

里森

Edward Steel

Ivar K. 

Da der Mythos des Staates nicht mehr im Weg stand, trat das wahre Wechselverhältnis zwischen der Gesellschaft und dem Individuum deutlich zutage, ihre wahre Gegenseitigkeit. Vom Einzelnen durften Opfer verlangt werden, doch niemals Kompromisse: denn obgleich nur die Gesellschaft in der Lage war, Sicherheit und Stabilität zu geben, besaß nur der einzelne Mensch, das Individuum, die Fähigkeit zur ethischen Entscheidung - die Fähigkeit zur Veränderung, der wesentlichen Funktion des Lebens. Die odonische Gesellschaft war als per- manente Revolution gedacht, und jede Revolution beginnt im denkenden Geist.

A philosophical and political treatise, wrapped in an original and engaging story. With some minor pacing issues.

Frederik De Bosschere

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 'There was a wall. It did not look important - even a child could climb it. But the idea was real. Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on...' Shevek is brilliant scientist who is attempting to find a new theory of time - but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Shevek soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game. With powerful themes of freedom, society and the natural world's influence on competition and co-operation, THE DISPOSSESSED is a true classic of the 20th century.

Well, I loved the book and i can't tell you why really. Is it because i liked our main character Shevek ? Contemplating his thoughts ? The conversations he had with characters he met ? Maybe altogether. This SciFi book is 

the kind of action-packed SF book as we should expect from this author i think. It's about reflecting on our society, politics, governments, women, love, relationships, war, colonisation, the use of technology (good or bad), science and the knowledge it brings when in the wrong hands. 

It was very interesting. I'm glad i read this classic and i might consider re-reading it one day.

Amira BEN

Well, I loved the book and i can't tell you why really. Is it because i liked our main character Shevek ? Contemplating his thoughts ? The conversations he had with characters he met ? Maybe altogether. This SciFi book is not the kind of action-packed SF book as we should expect from this author i think. It's about reflecting on our society, politics, governments, women, love, relationships, war, colonisation, the use of technology (good or bad), science and the knowledge it brings when in the wrong hands. 

It was very interesting. I'm glad i read this classic and i might consider re-reading it one day.

Patrick Book

Le Guin is an unimpeachably fantastic writer. But I think I might hate hard sci-fi world building?

Sarah Sammis

The full title of Ursula K. Le Guin's award winning novel is The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia. It's part of along tradition of ambiguous utopian novels that are thinly dressed critiques of contemporary society. In the case of The Dispossessed the two societies in question are the United States and the Soviet Union.

What makes Le Guin's utopia all the more ambiguous is her refusal to take sides. Both societies are flawed in a number of ways and yet both have supporters and detractors. Like so many of these novels, the story is told from the perspective of a traveler, Shevek, a physicist who has left Anarres (USSR) to continue his research on Urras (USA). It is through a combination of flashbacks to Anarres and his social faux pas that Le Guin reveals the good and bad of both societies.

The Dispossessed exists in the same universe as Left-Hand of Darkness (1969) and the other Hainish cycle books. In terms of the story timeline, it's comes first in the series but was the fifth published. The details linking it to the other Hainish books are sparse and the novel works well as a stand alone.

Along with The Dispossessed I also recommend:

 * Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726, 1735)
 * The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1895)
 * Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang (1927)
 * Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
 * The Left-Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
 * The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

spectacular! her world-building is unmatched and i have only mad respect for her ability to craft the whole discipline of cetian noble science. it's a given that we'll never see beyond the great filter unless we leap through that. but her creativity, seberapapun bacot dan hipotetis, would make us think that we've arrived there for a flash second. Le Guin's brilliant writing makes a perfect vehicle for yet a better substance, her critics and thoughts on socio-economic system and human nature. she conjured up and clashed two utopian worlds of different extremes. within the discourse, we'll see that what's ideal is not always milk and honey, and paradise for some is hell for others. it's very philosophical. most characters are thinkers. from the beginning to the end, we'll be bombarded by discussions and streams of consciousness. even so, they're not simply spokespersons of Le Guin's words. every single one of them is insufferably human, brimming with life, even the one who was introduced and died within a few pages. the first chapters are kind of hard to read because the distinct civilization form manifested in slightly unfamiliar syntax and lexicon. but after chapter 5, i could hardly put the book down. ah garelo pokonya, definitely a rereading material.

Jay Harris

I enjoyed The Dispossessed's characters, world-building and exploration of planetary politics through Shevek's anarchist perspective.

It's definitely not for everyone: if "slow scifi about political ideas and theoretical physics" doesn't sound like something you'd love, this might not be for you. But I connected with a lot of the ideas in the book and liked it a lot.

Les Dépossédés

Sésame

Après des années à vouloir me lancer dans l'œuvre de Le Guin, je ne suis pas déçu du début du voyage. Les Dépossédés est d'une justesse assez inédite. La part de science fiction est là, assez subtile, et soutien pleinement toute la réflexion politique qui y est développé.

C'est le récit anarchisant le plus juste que j'ai lu jusqu'à là. J'ai toujours eu du mal avec les fictions qui se projetaient dans un contexte post-revolutionnaire, particulièrement chez les libertaires. Toujours un peu trop mielleux et idéaliste, pas assez rugueux. Ici, le récit nous confronte à pleins de situations narratives qui viennent questionner, travailler, tirer jusqu'au bout les frictions et les questions que poseraient une société débarrassée de la propriété et de l'État. Le parallèle permanent avec Urras, planète voisine et régie par le capitalisme, permet de prendre de la hauteur, et de se rappeler que malgré les accrocs, l'égalité et la liberté semblent toujours plus désirables que l'exploitation.

S'ajoute à la fable politique de très beaux passages sur l'amour, la souffrance et la famille.

C'est un livre qu'on aime parfois poser quelques minutes pour réfléchir aux implications politiques et social de tel ou tel passage.

Mini bémol, le début est un peu lent et j'ai mis une bonne centaine de page à vraiment rentrer dans le livre. Mais une fois pris, c'était un délice.

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.

Stephen Campbell

Took a few months to finish but glad I finally committed to it. The Dispossessed has an honesty to it, directly confronting the failures and shortcomings of its anarchist/communist society but without ever losing its radical optimism and faith in human solidarity. This realism makes the depiction of what remains a truly better society feel more attainable and more inspiring. It's the book I needed to read right now.

This book will be 50 next year, the concepts in this book are so far from modern thinking it speaks volumes for how little development of social consciousness there has been in those years. 

The world building is wonderful and inspiring, both the political landscape and the physical landscapes are vivid and easily invisioned when reading the book.

I found The Dispossessed very thought provoking; it shows a different approach to life and society without presenting it as a perfect utopia, but another (admittedly in my opinion better) way of living that still has its own difficulties and struggles. Maybe there is no perfect approach, but the people first (and anti-capitalist) approach on Annares struck a chord with me. 

Liam Richardson

This book will be 50 next year, the concepts in this book are so far from modern thinking it speaks volumes for how little development of social consciousness there has been in those years. 

The world building is wonderful and inspiring, both the political landscape and the physical landscapes are vivid and easily invisioned when reading the book.

I found The Dispossessed very thought provoking; it shows a different approach to life and society without presenting it as a perfect utopia, but another (admittedly in my opinion better) way of living that still has its own difficulties and struggles. Maybe there is no perfect approach, but the people first (and anti-capitalist) approach on Annares struck a chord with me. 

Bo Jeanes

I'm a big fan of this book, and not just because the protagonist is a not-like-other-girls physicist. 

is a very thoughtful story in which the social manifestations of political ideologies are the focus. The book takes place across two opposed societies, one anarchic and the other a capitalist totalitarian state, and explores how these environments form the relationships one has with others. Le Guin looks for the root of fascism in the contrast between the two, while also capturing the challenges of forming solidarity to resist it. 

In 2014, Le Guin accepted an award form the National Book Foundation. In doing so, she gave a short speech in which she said: "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings."

I see this quote passed around a lot, and this book expands nicely on the themes presented in that speech. I strongly recommend a read!

Alex 

I'm a big fan of this book, and not just because the protagonist is a not-like-other-girls physicist. The Dispossessed is a very thoughtful story in which the social manifestations of political ideologies are the focus. The book takes place across two opposed societies, one anarchic and the other a capitalist totalitarian state, and explores how these environments form the relationships one has with others. Le Guin looks for the root of fascism in the contrast between the two, while also capturing the challenges of forming solidarity to resist it. 

In 2014, Le Guin accepted an award form the National Book Foundation. In doing so, she gave a short speech in which she said: "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings." I see this quote passed around a lot, and this book expands nicely on the themes presented in that speech. I strongly recommend a read!

Michael Springer

It's really weird to me that, even though I'm totally drunk, I can still type just a s well as usual. I might not be able to make it down the hall without running into walls, but I can still compose a review without a problem. Anyway, I'm here today to talk about The Dispossessed. It is a book by Ursula K Le Guin, who is badass. If it hadn't taken me like four mouths to read this book, I would've probably given it five stars. Unfortunately, it took me almost a complete semester to read the damned thing because I've been very busy. I'll be back, I have to pee.

Okay, I'm back. Don't you hate how sometimes you pee but you've had so much to drink that you still kinda feel like you have to pee? I hate that. 

So, this book is the second one I've read by Le Guin, and I would've probably given it five stars if it hadn't taken me so long to read it. But, as it is, I have to just give it four. This is a story about a man who was born on an anarchist planet who goes to the capitalistic planet that his people originally broke off from, and he's trying to do his physics there because he wasn't able to communicate it with other planets form the anarchist planet he was from. His planet, other than anarchy, is pretty lame. It's a barren wasteland, kind of like Arizona. Except Arizona has cacti, whereas I don't think that Urras does. If it does, they aren't mentioned. Joel was expecting a lot of Urras jokes, but I don't have any. Sorry to disappoint you, Joel. 

I'm going to refill my wine glass. Be right back.

The Left Hand of Darkness dealt with some fascinating themes about gender, and kind of blew my mind. I mean, it really brought to my attention how much gender factors into how I think about people. Before I ask myself, "Is this person an old person or not?" I ask myself, "Is this a man or a woman?" Before anything else, we think about gender. This book does something entirely different from that, but equally interesting. The major theme here is whether a society can be successful if it's anarchy. But, it's more than just that. 

Through what we see of Urras, we realize that anarchy isn't necessarily going to save the day. Even in this world where money is not a factor and where people aren't motivated by materialistic ideals, you still find people who are motivated by power and prestige. These can become the same kind of selfish force as money and materialism. So, the book seems to be saying that even Anarchy is only an improvement over a capitalistic society where people are suffering and prejudicial. 

I'm honestly at a loss. I mean, plenty of philosophies have terrific ideals, but you still have people with selfish, private motives, no matter what the political system is. It's an instinctual part of what it means to be human. It's the reptilian part of the brain, so whatever political system we establish, we're going to be struggling against our own instincts. Some of us will be able to rise above our baser instincts, and others among us, like Caris, who is a douche, won't be able to. It's unfortunate, but that is the reality of the human condition.

I don't know if I'm talking about the book anymore. I should be drinking more water if I don't want to have a hangover tomorrow. 

It's really cool to see the way Ursula portrays her conception of an anarchist society, because it's really hard to visualize. My nose is kind of numb. I definitely need to reread this one when I have time to read a book without dragging out the process for months, because, even if I were sober, I'd have a hard time reviewing this shit. It's a shame you don't know ahead of time, and you can't decide to read mediocre books when you're not going to have enough time, and save the really good books for long weekends or times when you're ready for them. 

Why did I decide to review THIS book drunk? This book is philosophical as fuck, and I can't talk about politics and philosophy when I can barely find the f key. Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that the edition I have of this book SUCKED hardcore. Typos like you wouldn't believe. The cover looked like it was sharted out of an automatic sci-fi cover machine, and the blurb on the back cover actually got details about the book WRONG. Thank you, Harper Collins, for sucking butt. This didn't do much to detract from the book's excellence, however. Anyway, I may add to this when I'm sober enough to figure out what I've left out.

I always try to finish on a strong note, and I can't think of anything else to say about this book, so I just want to tell all of you that I love this website. You make this website amazing, and I can't tell you how cool it is that we all have a place to talk about books with each other, other than real life. My nose is gaining its sensation back, and I'm trying to drink more water, so I hopefully won't be hung over. I hope this review isn't as inarticulate as I suspect it is.

Gavin

Pompous. Lots of tragic ellipsis. A rare misstep of style, even though the world and its issues are still great, and the progress of a great mind burgeoning amongst strict collectivism is done well. It reads like a debut novel or a draft - good but rough. I suppose I will hail her versatility anyway.

Her characteristic ambiguity and fairness are still here though. The sexist, rankist, capitalist ("propertarian") Urrasites are still inventive, tasteful, and ambitious; the anarchist, egalitarian, promiscuous Odonians are still given to egotism, tribalism and petty brutality. They can be relied on, like all of us to tolerate anything except the outgroup:

 'You can only crush [ideas] by ignoring them. By refusing to think — refusing to change. And that's precisely what our society is doing! Sabul uses you where he can, and where he can't, he prevents you from publishing, from teaching, even from working. Right? In other words he has power over you. Where does he get it from?

 Not from vested authority, there isn't any. Not from intellectual excellence, he hasn't any. He gets it from the innate cowardice of the average human mind. Public opinion! That's the power structure he's part of, and knows how to use. The unadmitted, inadmissible government that rules Odonian society by stifling the individual mind.'

 Shevek leaned his hands on the window sill, looking through the dim reflections on the pane into the darkness outside. He said at last 'Crazy talk, Dap.'

 'No, brother, I’m sane. What drives people crazy is trying to live outside reality. Reality is terrible. It can kill you. Given time, it certainly will kill you. But it’s the lies that make you want to kill yourself.'

 Shevek turned around to face him. 'But you can’t seriously talk of a government, here!'

 'Tomar’s Definition: ‘Government: the legal use of power to maintain and extend power.’ Replace ‘legal’ with ‘customary’... Shev, did you ever think that what the analogic mode calls ‘disease,’ social disaffection, discontent, alienation, that this might analogically also be called pain – what you meant when you talked about pain, suffering? And that, like pain, it serves a function in the organism?... I speak of spiritual suffering! Of people seeing their talent, their work, their lives wasted. Of good minds submitting to stupid ones. Of strength and courage strangled by envy, greed for power, fear of change. Change is freedom, change is life – is anything more basic to Odonian thought than that? But nothing changes any more! ... On Urras they have government by the minority. Here we have government by the majority. But it is government!' 


I don't think her Anarres economy would work even as well as it is depicted as doing, but she has at least thought about it (admits that there would need to be a centralised computer, admits all kinds of shortages). This is not polemic, then; it just doesn't manage her usual grace when dealing with huge dilemmas. A great book by anyone else.

Frequently reissued with the same ISBN, but with slightly differing bibliographical details.

i understand why many people call this their favorite book 

ryan page

Kelsey Lynn

I'd give this 4.5 if I could. I enjoyed her earlier written but subsequent chronologically book 'The Left Hand of Darkness' and while I enjoyed it and recognized the importance, I didn't vibe with it or it's characters. Complete opposite with this one.

I lived this book, and I connected with the characters deeply, even though I'm not sure why. Passages upon passages made me think, and question and then think some more. I found that I interpreted her writing to not support nor condemn either life, Urras' capitalism and life of money, earning, deserving, owning, power, or Annares' 'freedom' in as true of a goverment free communist society. It seemed to me that she was making a point that no one had it right yet. Though the book, Shevek and his story wooed me pretty hard to the Annares side. I had moments with this book, where I felt helpless and overwhelmed, realizing just how much money affects everything, the way we interact, the way we live, it's not just simply a method of payment. It affects everything, just as we learned in 'Left Hand of Darkness' that gender plays a huge role in our society. 

It was deep, it was beautiful, and Shevek and his love of his people, his family, and his belief in hioe and sharing knowledge was truly inspiring and heartwarming for me.

I am thoroughly enchanted by Le Guin, she is truly an amazing author.

Ri Liu

Struggled with her writing in parts as I found some of the interactions between characters a bit flat, the moments of insight well made up for that though.

Adam

Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the biggest names in science fiction that I've never read anything by -- until now. The Dispossessed exists in Le Guin's "Hainish Cycle" world, although there is no required order for the the series as each book is self contained. The world The Dispossessed includes a pair of worlds -- a planet and moon. The planet is like Earth in the 70s, with major power in a communist and a capitalist power. The moon, however, is a communist utopia where there is no violence, need, or want and everyone pursues what they want. When a scientist from the moon is brought to the planet, the superpowers battle over scientific control while struggling to change.

Sheaves is attempting to find a new theory of time — but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Sheaves soon finds himself begin used as a pawing a deadly political game.

i think it takes a writer of the skill of le guin to truly bring a book like this together. it delves into ideas and concepts - of politics, of society, of the individual - and makes them the main focus of the novel over linear traditional plot.

before this and fairly recently i read 'the left hand of darkness'. forgive me for speaking about a different book but in the introduction of 'the left hand...', le guin states the following on science fiction:

"Science fiction is often described, and even defined, as extrapolative. The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future. "If this goes on, this is what will happen." A prediction is made. (...)

This book is not extrapolative. If you like you can read it, and a lot of other science fiction, as a thought-experiment. (...)

The purpose of a thought-experiment, as the term was used by Schrodinger and other physicists, is not to predict the future—indeed Schrodinger's most famous thought-experiment goes to show that the ‘future,’ on the quantum level, cannot be predicted—but to describe reality, the present world.

Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive."

this introduction, i could not stop thinking about while reading 'the dispossessed' as i felt that it, too, illustrates the principles behind le guin's science fiction work. it is a thought-experiment that holds up a mirror to us and our societies and asks us to examine them.

le guin is intelligent enough to be able to represent two opposing societies without exalting one over the other (per se). rather she inquires the complexities of the applications of different political ideologies and prompts the reader to question and explore them alongside her and drawn their own conclusions (though, i do believe her preference is quite clear).

it is the kind of book, i think, that could truly truly reshape a person's world view.

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. he will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

vins

4.5 stars. I'M SORRY I CAN'T MAKE THIS SHORT.

I enjoyed this book very much. You know the saying that's like "my brain is expanding", that's me with this book... since it kinda forces you to think and consider a lot of stuff. It isn't without fault though, but they're faults that I'm willing to overlook for the most part. 

First of all, this book is driven more by the exploration of ideas than plot. Not necessarily a bad thing: Le Guin managed to still make it an entertaining read. The story takes place in two settings: Urras, a lurid lavish planet and its capitalist societies; and Annares, Urras' arid moon, to where centuries ago the anarchist revolutionaries fled and built their own society. Le Guin then smartly structured this book to contrast the two politics and thoroughly explore them through the eyes of our protagonist, Shevek, a brilliant anarchist physicist whose intelligence is considered an aberrance in Annares, but manipulated and exploited in Urras. The structure also mirrors the McGuffin object on which the whole plot of this book hinges... her fucking mind, I know Le Guin giggled when she decided on this structure. 

Anyway, the book never presents either world as a problem-free utopia, but Le Guin's moral leaning is clear and loud. She never strays too far into righteousness, but it can definitely be overbearing to some people. Her clever worldbuilding and well thought-out themes (of freedom, of ideals and human tendencies, of the people and the State, and so many others) always inform her narrative choices and drive the character and story forward. Even when things felt a tad nebulous in the beginning, everything will click into place by the end. Unfortunately her outdated 70s politics still sometimes seep through, namely the gender essentialist ideas and this peculiar fascination in fidelity and complete monogamy? It's weird but they aren't really that disruptive, and I can overlook that. 

The book definitely isn't for everyone, esp the ones who dive in expecting a conventional scifi narrative. It doesn't concern itself with character arcs beyond Shevek; there is no proper conclusion to the characters' journeys as much as it was an open question to the readers, and Le Guin's staunch belief in what she considers true freedom. And the latter is something I cannot refute.

Azrael Montana

Could have used a more detailed and fleshed out world and more climax. Otherwise a good and highly subversive piece of science-fiction.

Nicholas Hanemann

Incredibly interesting book; i'd love to read it again sometime soon.

Pat G.

A little confusing at times with the jumping back and forth in time, but overall this is a massive work of art. Ideas of socialism, anarchy go against the world of capitalism (and even a touch of communism). Oh and the not-so-subtle displays of feminism/equality (can you still call it if it never didn't exist on Annares though?). And all this woven into a wise character’s quest for self/societal development. 

Alexia Cambaling

The Dispossessed is an incredibly thought-provoking book. I don't remember ever thinking as deeply about a book than I did with The Dispossessed. The way the themes are presented was done with incredible skill painting the world believably as though one could see it happening one day. That it was written in the 70s and still resonate today speaks to the level of thought and talent that went into it.

I love how complex the world of The Dispossessed is. There's a lot to unpack and I'm pretty sure there may be parts which I misinterpret and have to go back to. Still, the way the world of Anarres is presented is pretty good. You have an anarchist society and yet they have a bureaucracy of sorts. Wouldn't that be a government by any other name? It's not perfect, but for the people living there, it's home. I'm not going to comment on the politics further (but I might make an analysis) but whether I agree or not, it was presented very well with regards to the things the society does right as well as its flaws. The homeworld of Urras is similarly well done. To many people, it would be a Utopia, but to the Anarresti, it's hell. As the Terran ambassador noted wryly, their paradise is hell to the Anarresti. What would the Terran homeworld be then?

The characters are similarly complex. They all have differing agendas and they are never black and white characters. When Shevek points out things he has against the culture in Urras, his hosts have a ready answer. There are debates in this book regarding culture and politics- two things that I as a debater would love to see more in books. Shevek's beliefs are challenged at every turn in Urras and yet he clung to it steadfastly as only a true believer could. It's incredibly fascinating to see how he can still believe in something despite experiencing firsthand the flaws in his society.

There are many things in this book I still want to talk about but won't because of spoilers. The writing here is beautiful, the prose is some of the best I've seen in literature, and at one point, I highlighted practically an entire page simply because of the sheer beauty Ursula K. Le Guin paints with words. I'm amazed at how few words could create such an impact. She conveys her themes and ideas so concisely and yet, so effectively. Anything else I might say at this point will only say: this book is beautiful. Go ahead and read it.

This review is also on my blog:  The Bookworm Daydreamer

The Dispossessed An Ambiguous Utopia