The Dispossessed

Hardcover, USA, 1st edition.

The Dispossessed, later titled The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, is a science fiction utopian novel by Ursula K. Le Guin published in May, 1974. It is the sixth book in the Hainish Cycle.

200 years ago, a group of anarchists were sent to live on a planet's harsh Earth-like moon so that they would stop threatening the capitalist patriarch majority with revolution. After many generations of separation, the anarchists have built a utopian society for themselves, which, although life is difficult and austere, has completely eliminated poverty and crime, and everyone is free to pursue their own desires. Shevek, a genius physicist, comes to realize that the freedoms they claim to have are actually limited in a systemic way which is causing their world to stagnate, so he travels to the unholy world of the profiteers with the attempt at bringing the two worlds back together again.

Personal

Eager to expand my knowledge of female authors, especially in the science fiction genre, I tried reading some of Le Guin's work. I loved her novelette, Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, so I tried one of her most popular novels, Left Hand of Darkness, but I couldn't get into it. I next tried The Lathe of Heaven, which I finished, but didn't much care for. Not wanting to give up on her, I found that her most awarded book was this, and, not knowing that it was part of a series, started reading it. Finding it rather enjoyable, I kept at it and finished it on 2022-08-03.

I don't own this book, but I've listened to the audio book read by Tim Treloar. I've also listened to the audio drama by the Vanishing Point.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• I like how Le Guin created two diametrically opposed worlds where each believes they're the height of civilization, and is largely blind to all their own flaws. The description of the plutocratic nightmare that is Urras is shockingly similar to the USA, but her depiction of the "utopian" Anarres is just as off-putting with parent's who never develop a bond with their children, and, despite the lack of a government, gifted people are stifled by the organization's refusal to strive for betterment and people worship Odo like a prophet. I like that neither extreme is very enjoyable. However, all the problems of Anarres exist in Urras tenfold despite their best efforts to sweep them under the rug, and most of the problems of Anarres are due to the environment not the society.
• I like how, having full control over reproduction and disease, the Anarresti don't shy away from sexual experimentation at a young age, even homosexual sex, and often use it as a means of solidifying friendships.
• The scene where the boys try to emulate a prison and realize within only a couple days just how terrifying they are is pretty powerful.
• I like how Vea explains that, while the men think they run the patriarchal world of Urras, it is really the women who make up their minds for them. And, throughout the book, her clever and subtle ways make it clear she's right.

Bad

• I typically don't like it when authors jump around in time in their books, and The Dispossessed does so between every chapter, and occasionally within a chapter. While this does help add to the contrast between Anarres and Urras, I still found it confusing.
• The ending is a bit of a cop out.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

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  Hardcover - USA - 1st edition. Not sure what's going on here, but it doesn't depict anyone or anything from the book.

Adaptations

• An audio dramatization was made by the Vanishing Point and broadcast on 1987-07-17.

Links