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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was okay. You absolutely need to have some preconception of physics and philosophy to read this book, otherwise you'd be completely lost. It was interesting in some parts, but I'm just not a science fiction girly. I read books to relax after school, I don't want to contemplate the complexities of time and space and humanity. I can see why people love this book, it was just too much for me to relax and enjoy.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Although I personally prefer 'The Left Hand of Darkness', 'The Dispossessed' was a great novel with it's own merits. They're very differen't takes on the same topic, this one perceiving the world through a sociopolitical lens (while 'The Left Hand of Darkness' tends to lean more on philosophy).
Shevek is a great main character; very easy to sympathize with, but not flawless as a person.
The ending felt quite abrupt.
Shevek is a great main character; very easy to sympathize with, but not flawless as a person.
The ending felt quite abrupt.
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
It took me forever to read this book because I essentially set it down for two months; it started a bit slow and even though I was enjoying it, I was feeling some other, faster-paced books more.
Then I picked it back up, and finished it in a day and a half. Even if this book starts a bit slow, it builds up into something jaw-droppingly good. LeGuin is, of course, a master of both the human condition and the art of prose, and she doesn't drop the ball with either in this book. It's real brain food. Shevek is a truly fantastic character (and when Takver comes into the picture, oh! it just gets even better). The contrast between Anarres and Urras, the barren and the fruitful, mutual aid and mutual aggression -- oh. It's beautiful. This is the kind of book that makes you want to live the Revolution, over and over, day by day.
Then I picked it back up, and finished it in a day and a half. Even if this book starts a bit slow, it builds up into something jaw-droppingly good. LeGuin is, of course, a master of both the human condition and the art of prose, and she doesn't drop the ball with either in this book. It's real brain food. Shevek is a truly fantastic character (and when Takver comes into the picture, oh! it just gets even better). The contrast between Anarres and Urras, the barren and the fruitful, mutual aid and mutual aggression -- oh. It's beautiful. This is the kind of book that makes you want to live the Revolution, over and over, day by day.
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Genuinely great book.
I didn't love this as much as Left Hand of Darkness; by exploring a biologically similar but politically different society, the book becomes more sociological than anthropological. Nevertheless, Leguin explores her anarchic society in a nuanced way, highlighting the drawbacks and imperfections of her supposed utopia to keep it grounded and believable. Shevek's conversation at the end with the Terran ambassador really drives the novel home - to her, the Urrasti civilization Shevek believes is a capitalist hell is practically paradise compared to the unfettered greed of her home planet, a futuristic earth in which we failed to prevent climate disaster. In our times, it's a sobering thought and a call to action.