The Dispossessed [50th Anniversary Edition]: A Novel Paperback – November 19, 2024

Like Shevek himself, this book has a quiet, intelligent stoicism about it, and yet burns with the hot, subversive passion of revolution at its core. This is a book of ideas, and the "action" of this novel revolves around the creation and development of these ideas, rather than around specific "events" per se. Indeed, moments of "action", such as the military firing into a massive, unarmed insurrectionary crowd, barely seems to raise Shevek's (and by extension, as the lens through which we see this world, our) pulse rate. Instead, it is the subtler moments of dispossession, possession, being outcast, returning home where the emotion and the passion swell. The narrative structure is quite fascinating and effective, as chapters in Shevek's "real time" alternate with Shevek's past; however, true to the ideas of time in the book, these distinct pieces combine to form an inseparable whole. More broadly, they serve to show the seductive promise of the worlds of Urras and Anarres, and then the deep flaws of each, ending on a ambiguous note that is ultimately satisfying, for this is a book that asks more questions than it answers. What makes these two worlds, and indeed this whole story, timeless is the fact that although this book was written during the Cold War, it would be more fair to say that Urras and Anarres represent stylized manifestations of capitalism and communism, respectively rather than more straight-forward metaphors for the U.S. and Soviet Union (which would've made this story feel somewhat dated). Indeed, despite the end of the Cold War, reading this book at a time when the frailty of both capitalism and democracy in the developed world are on display makes for an interesting and contemplative experience.It is important to note, however, that this story is much more complex than a simple ideological battle between two worldviews. For, while Le Guin seems to favor the Odonian vision of Anarres over the nations of Urras, both societies are critically flawed. Urras is seen as a hell by Shevek, who abhors the greed, exploitation, dishonesty, and selfish ambition he sees there. Yet, Anarres in many ways, is just as or more flawed; pressures to conform to societal norms and expectations, informal bureaucracies just as autocratic as authoritarian states, and a xenophobic fear and rejection of Other create a repression of the mind and of creativity almost as stifling as the more overtly oppressive states on Urras. Some see the introduction of Terran and Hainish actors toward the end as a bit of a deus ex machina, and it is to some degree from the perspective of the *action* in the plot; but from the all-important perspective of the *ideas* of the novel, they provide an interesting and important counterbalance to Shevek's perspective on the two worlds, and importantly provide the possibility at the end of a way forward, and a new, more wide-spread revolution and evolution of ideas.This is a complicated, subtle novel; but the beauty of it is that its essence is captured entirely in the first two paragraphs. This is a novel about a wall and all it implies. Insider versus outcast. Belonging versus exclusion. Laughably trivial and yet the most important thing in the universe. Humanly-devised, given meaning only through the social constructions of the collective. Viewed, in our case, from the dispossessed traveler who journeys forth but always returns. A joy to read, and even more so to contemplate; a timeless classic of science fiction as powerful today as when it was first written.

Recently, I've read a number of books written by Ursula LeGuin. This after having somehow avoided her for the last forty years, largely as a result of her Earthsea cycle. I've come to enjoy her science fiction with an anthropological slant, best represetned by The Left Hand of Darkness and her Hainish tales. This novel takes it a liitle further, adding a very philosophical political commentary to the sociological layer of the story.Our backdrop is the Tau Ceti system, and more particularly the inhabited planets of Anvarres and Urras. Urras is the cradle of Cetian civilization and is composed of several different nation states, the two most prominent being A-Io and Thu; the former, a free market capitalist state (think United States) and the latter an authoritarian Communist state (think U.S.S.R.). It would seem that 200 years in the past, the underclass of A-Io revolted under the leadership of an anarchist/libertarian by the name of Odo. The Odoists were gathered up and settled on the stark, barely survivable moon, Anvarres. There, they built their ideal anarchist society, with no concept of ownership or personal entitlement. Pronouns such as "my" and "mine" were not even part of their language. The worst insult from an Anvarren would be to term someone an "egoist" or "profiteer". Their motto: "No one starves while others eat." Though plenty starved. The two planets are almost completely isolated from one another.Our protagonist is an Anvarren physisist, Shevek. Shevek cannot fully explore his ground breaking theories (involving instantaeous space travel, Simulaneity) on Anvarres and is invited to study and publish in A-Io, an unprecedented turn of events. It is Shevek's journey to A-Io, his observations and the interactions between the several competing political systems that make up this novel. There is a second thread which describes the lead up to Shevek's journey, in which we learn more of the Anvarren, anarcho-socialist civilization, and its far from ideal operation.This novel becomes somewhat weighted with political discourse and even theoretical physics, sometimes to the detriment of the underlying story. However, by and large, it is a fair treatment of the various political systems, their strengths and weaknesses. We see two alien races interacting with the Cetians, the Terrans and the Hainish. For those familiar with the Hainish tales of LeGuin, we discover the source of the ansible, a communications device allowing instantaneous communication throughout space. The story is similar in style to Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress in its socio-political overtones, but not as dense as some of Philip Dick's or Frank Herbert's work. Bottom line: A worthwhile and enjoyable read.