- Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: HarperPaperbacks; Reprint edition (31 Dec 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0061054887
- ISBN-13: 978-0061054884
- Product Dimensions: 17.7 x 11 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,053,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
Unwilling to accept that his anarchist world must be separated from the rest of the civilized universe, Shevek, a brilliant physicist, risks his life by traveling to the utopian mother planet of Urras. Reissue.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant physicist ponders individualism/collectivism,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can a world be based on dispossession?,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Disposessed rocks!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
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