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cookedw 's review for:
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
This book was amazing, and I cannot believe I have never read anything by Ursula Le Guin previously. I am very much looking forward to reading the Left Hand of Darkness now.
The book takes place on two neighboring planets (that call each other "the moon"). Urras is reminiscent of a slightly more extreme version of Earth in its inequality; Anarres is fairly barren but ore-rich and colonized by refugees from Urras who form their own anarchist society. The cultures have remained separate for over a hundred years, but one man travels to Urras from Anarres, and the contrast this creates exposes both the flaws in the Utopian society and our own.
It's a fascinating read, alternating between two timelines for Shevek, the traveler. It features a lot of discussion on inherent value and morality and social structure as well as the concept of time and interconnectedness. There is also some insight into both American and Soviet political structures and their pitfalls and even a little Vietnam War parallel.
I really appreciated what the book had to say - the story itself is just a device to tell a much bigger picture on human behavior, as most Utopian novels do, but it definitely compelled me to move forward and felt very real and genuine instead of just a stilted explanation of why the things are by some silly observer.
The book takes place on two neighboring planets (that call each other "the moon"). Urras is reminiscent of a slightly more extreme version of Earth in its inequality; Anarres is fairly barren but ore-rich and colonized by refugees from Urras who form their own anarchist society. The cultures have remained separate for over a hundred years, but one man travels to Urras from Anarres, and the contrast this creates exposes both the flaws in the Utopian society and our own.
It's a fascinating read, alternating between two timelines for Shevek, the traveler. It features a lot of discussion on inherent value and morality and social structure as well as the concept of time and interconnectedness. There is also some insight into both American and Soviet political structures and their pitfalls and even a little Vietnam War parallel.
I really appreciated what the book had to say - the story itself is just a device to tell a much bigger picture on human behavior, as most Utopian novels do, but it definitely compelled me to move forward and felt very real and genuine instead of just a stilted explanation of why the things are by some silly observer.