‘One of the literary greats of the twentieth century’ Margaret Atwood
‘A work of extraordinary imagination and compassion’ Atlantic
‘The book I wish I had written’ Roddy Doyle
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, was raised on Anarres, a barren moon with no government, army, laws, or police that has long been isolated from other worlds because of its rigid dedication to radical equality.
Shevek’s work promises a breakthrough that could alter the course of human civilisation, but to realise it, he must journey to Urras: a planet dazzling in its beauty and advancement yet fractured by hierarchy.
Though initially welcomed by this unfamiliar civilisation, Shevek soon finds himself caught between competing visions of freedom, a bridge – and a threat – to both. In the conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs, even as he ignites the fires of change.
From the inimitable Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed is a true classic of the twentieth century, a moving story about what it means to return home and a must-read science fiction masterpiece.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM RODDY DOYLE
‘A work of extraordinary imagination and compassion’ Atlantic
‘The book I wish I had written’ Roddy Doyle
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, was raised on Anarres, a barren moon with no government, army, laws, or police that has long been isolated from other worlds because of its rigid dedication to radical equality.
Shevek’s work promises a breakthrough that could alter the course of human civilisation, but to realise it, he must journey to Urras: a planet dazzling in its beauty and advancement yet fractured by hierarchy.
Though initially welcomed by this unfamiliar civilisation, Shevek soon finds himself caught between competing visions of freedom, a bridge – and a threat – to both. In the conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs, even as he ignites the fires of change.
From the inimitable Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed is a true classic of the twentieth century, a moving story about what it means to return home and a must-read science fiction masterpiece.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM RODDY DOYLE
Reviews
A seamless creation: everything is made up, nothing seems arbitrary
An extraordinary work ... [Le Guin] created a working society in exquisite detail ... a fully realised hypothetical culture [as well as] living breathing characters who are inevitable products of that culture
The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin
Dystopia and utopia are entwined in Le Guin's story of hierarchy-bound Urras and its anarchist neighbour planet Anarres. With stylish prose and intellectual rigour, Le Guin charts the journey of young physicist Shevek, whose theories cause upheaval on both planets, as he struggles to survive, falls in love and contemplates human society
A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again
Le Guin's most philosophical novel ... a study of character, ideology and the constant of change
[Le Guin had] the heart of a poet who knew all too well the difference between miracle and eureka, revelation and revolution
A deeply imagined work of art
Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power
The Dispossessed paints a hopeful; and complex portrait of a society rooted in collectivism
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS and THE DISPOSSESSED challenged me to reimagine what human culture might look like - challenged me to imagine how we might throw off the death grip of capitalism, and its attendant values of patriarchy and racism. In each of them, I was transported by Le Guin's prose - lyrical and rich and deliberate in its rhythms. And in each one of them, I found, there was a scene I stopped to reread, sometimes more than once - a scene so powerful it actually moved me to tears
I would be hard pressed to think of another novel that made as strong an impression on me
Le Guin's book ... is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive Utopias for at least 10 years
One of the great American political novels . . . Full of intrigue and drama
One of the most important science fiction novels of the last several years
This remains a challenging and urgent book
Le Guin's characters, especially Shevek and his family, are complex and haunting, and her writing is remarkable for its sinewy grace
Le Guin's storytelling is sharp, magisterial, funny, thought-provoking and exciting, exhibiting all that science fiction can be
A work of extraordinary imagination and compassion
I think that everyone on earth, and everyone who cares about being alive, should read THE DISPOSSESSED
Written with thought, care - even love
One of our finest projectionists of brave old and other worlds
The Dispossessed is still one of Sci-Fi's' smartest books . . . Remains a thoughtful exploration of politics and economics nearly 50 years later
