Dispossessed (Sf Masterworks 16) [Paperback]

Ursula K Le Guin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sf Masterworks 16 | Publication Date: August 12, 1999

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

SALES POINTS * #16 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written * Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards *'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power. She sets up enormous challenges and meets them fully; she invites, as Tolkien does, total belief' Observer * 'To be read again and again' -- The Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Millennium Paperbacks (August 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857988825
• ISBN-13: 978-1857988826
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repossess the future, March 6, 2002

By 

Edward Bosnar - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dispossessed (Mass Market Paperback)

"To break a promise is to deny the reality of the past; therefore it is to deny the hope of a real future." -- one of the more pertinent observations made in this outstanding book, one I found myself thinking about more than any other after reading it. Otherwise "The Dispossessed" is, among other things, an exploration of utopias, political systems and the politics of utopias. As usual Le Guin wraps all of these otherwise tiresome sounding political/philosophical themes into a very engaging SF story, with outstanding characters and a generally plausible storyline. It also falls among Le Guin's many books that subtly dissect humankind's rather high opinion of itself. . .

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Le Guin's best, April 2, 2011

By 

Sasha Berkman "Sasha" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dispossessed (Sf Masterworks 16) (Paperback)

Despite being less well-known than her Earthsea books or The Left Hand of Darkness, Dispossessed is one of Le Guin's best, a fine political allegory in SF form. The story revolves around the cultural clash of a member of an anarchist world encountering a society much like ours.

(Side note: if you think anarchism means throwing bricks through Starbucks windows, you need to watch less TV. Anarchism is a political "ism" with as long a history as Marxism. The easiest way to convey it to an American is as a "libertarian socialist".)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No bosses, no bankers, no owners, no wars..., August 5, 2006

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: THE DISPOSSESSED (Paperback)

There is no better work of fiction that describes what a society based on true anarchy might be like. You soon see that it certainly would not be chaos. That is because a society without leaders and laws is not a society without order- it is just that the order comes from within. That is true order. People work and sacrifice because they recognize that it is in everybody's best interest. Society should be brotherhood of equals, a big family. In a sense, the world of Anarres reminded me of one great farm where family members realize from an early age that they are needed for work that must be done. Either that, or I would describe it as an old-style kibbutz on a planetary scale. It isn't a perfect system. Vigilance is needed to make sure that unofficial tyranny from peer pressure and individual corruption do not set in, but it comes across as workable and believable.

As for her sister world, Urras, it is a place of both the plutocratic-oligarchic state, as well as, the centralized communist dictatorship, locked in perpetual struggle. It is a world where men are forced and coerced to obey their leaders. It is our world. Urras is archism, Anarres is anarchism. You are forced to examine first hand the fundamental differences. It is the difference between a society of true individuals and a society of slaves.

The hero, Shevek, is both a physicist and a philosopher. His was a mind capable of reconciling not only the seeming incompatibility of the simultaneous and sequential nature of time, but also of the conflicting drives of human nature. Both required the freedom of mind of a true revolutionary.

I first read this novel over 25 years ago. It came as a shock to me to realize how much I must have internalized the character of Shevek.