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A review by sushita
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.0
I picked this up after Parable of the Sower because 1) it was available from my library immediately and 2) this book had been floated as another option for our poliEd bookclub fiction pick. We’ve mostly read non-fiction, so many of us thought it was time to tap into our imaginations a little more. While we did ultimately choose Parable of the Sower for our bookclub, I do hope we do read it together one day!
The style of the writing at first was hard to get into but once I fell into step with Shevek’s life I was pretty hooked. First, I want to mention how I really loved the rhythm of the book, moving from present to past, from Urras and Anarres, from capitalist society to anarchist society. I loved to see such an overt rendering of an anarchist society, with contemplations on mutual aid, how to balance collectivism and individualism and how utopia must be created and discerned daily. This is my first time reading Le Guin and I found her writing strangely poetic. I guess there is an intellectualism to it but still quite emotional. Overall, this book struck a really beautiful balance of sharing an interesting and engaging story of a man’s life as he grows up as well as exploring anarchism in an imaginary world with scarce resources. I think Le Guin really succeeded in reminding me the beauty of anarchism and why I am so drawn to mutual aid work and trying to build a society where humans work together for our collective good. Really needed to read and be inspired in a time like this! Recommend to folks interested in exploring imaginary futures with mutual aid as an intrinsic value of society.
Also, want to mention that I found the exploration of prison early on in the book so haunting and gripping at the same time. Le Guin really paints a picture of the sheer horror it is to imprison another in so few pages. Masterful storytelling from my perspective.
The style of the writing at first was hard to get into but once I fell into step with Shevek’s life I was pretty hooked. First, I want to mention how I really loved the rhythm of the book, moving from present to past, from Urras and Anarres, from capitalist society to anarchist society. I loved to see such an overt rendering of an anarchist society, with contemplations on mutual aid, how to balance collectivism and individualism and how utopia must be created and discerned daily. This is my first time reading Le Guin and I found her writing strangely poetic. I guess there is an intellectualism to it but still quite emotional. Overall, this book struck a really beautiful balance of sharing an interesting and engaging story of a man’s life as he grows up as well as exploring anarchism in an imaginary world with scarce resources. I think Le Guin really succeeded in reminding me the beauty of anarchism and why I am so drawn to mutual aid work and trying to build a society where humans work together for our collective good. Really needed to read and be inspired in a time like this! Recommend to folks interested in exploring imaginary futures with mutual aid as an intrinsic value of society.
Also, want to mention that I found the exploration of prison early on in the book so haunting and gripping at the same time. Le Guin really paints a picture of the sheer horror it is to imprison another in so few pages. Masterful storytelling from my perspective.