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A review by odin45mp
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.0
I am rounding this up to 5 stars as that is what I believe this book will deserve once I have properly digested it. I read this via audiobook (hoopla) and feel like I missed or didn't fully reflect on some scenes and themes, as I am generally listening to podcasts or audiobooks while making my coffee and having breakfast in the morning, or during commutes (back when driving to the office was a thing). So I feel like I need to go back and reread some passages, because Le Guin swings hard for the fences and hits a home run in exploring a fairly functional utopia, discussions of a very liberal and free view of sexuality and family units, and communal service and property. Her worldbuilding was rich and detailed and I wanted to just soak it all up - maybe I should have taken some notes.
The overall plot of the book I think I dropped a few times during my reading, and feel almost irrelevant to me. It felt almost a travelogue of the main character's journey to this planet and his life there learning about its people and culture, so not something that would normally engage me, but the ideas made this a keeper for me. Her ideas read like a not-creepy Heinlein. The technology was there to service the worldbuilding, not just to look cool. I will be reading others in this cycle, as Le Guin has yet to disappoint me.
The overall plot of the book I think I dropped a few times during my reading, and feel almost irrelevant to me. It felt almost a travelogue of the main character's journey to this planet and his life there learning about its people and culture, so not something that would normally engage me, but the ideas made this a keeper for me. Her ideas read like a not-creepy Heinlein. The technology was there to service the worldbuilding, not just to look cool. I will be reading others in this cycle, as Le Guin has yet to disappoint me.