The Dispossessed

Ursula K. Le Guin

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One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels

"One of the greats. . . . Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon." --Stephen King

"Engrossing . . . Ursula Le Guin is more than just a writer of adult fantasy and science fiction . . . she is a philosopher; an explorer in the landscapes of the mind." -- Cincinnati Enquirer

Ursula K. Le Guin's Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award-winning classic, a profound and thoughtful tale of anarchism and capitalism, individualism and collectivism, and one ambitious man's quest to bridge the ideological chasm separating two worlds.

The Dispossessed is the spellbinding story of anarchist Shevek, the "galactically famous scientist," who single-handedly attempts to reunite two planets cut off from each other by centuries of distrust.

Anarres, Shevek's homeland, is a bleak moon settled by an anarchic utopian civilization, where there is no government, and everyone, at least nominally, is a revolutionary. It has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras--defined by warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to unify the two civilizations. In the face of great hostility, outright threats, and the pain of separation from his family, he makes an unprecedented trip to Urras. Greater than any concern for his own wellbeing is the belief that the walls of hatred, distrust, and philosophic division between his planet and the rest of the civilized universe must be torn down. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and explore differences in customs and cultures, determined to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.

To visit Urras--to learn, to teach, to share--will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. Almost immediately upon his arrival, he finds not the egotistical philistines he expected, but an intelligent, complex people who warmly welcome him. But soon the ambitious scientist and his gift is seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.

Book Details

Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publish Date: Aug 19th, 2003
Pages: 400
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.16in - 5.34in - 0.88in - 0.64lb
EAN: 9780060512750
Categories: • Science Fiction - Space Exploration• Literary• Visionary & Metaphysical

About the Author

Fowler, Karen Joy: - KAREN JOY FOWLER is the author of six novels and four short story collections, including We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Black Glass. She is the winner of the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, and has won numerous Nebula and World Fantasy Awards.

Le Guin, Ursula K.: -

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was a celebrated author whose body of work includes twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children's books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA's Grand Master, along with a PEN/Malamud Award and many others. In 2014, she was awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016, she joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.

Praise for this book

"Written with thought, care--even love." -- Times Literary Supplement (London)

"Le Guin's characters, sepecially Shevek and his family, are complex and haunting, and her writing is remarkable for its sinewy grace." -- Time magazine

"Engrossing . . . Ursula Le Guin is more than just a writer of adult fantasy and science fiction . . . she is a philosopher; an explorer in the landscapes of the mind." -- Cincinnati Enquirer

"A seamless creation: every thing is made up, nothing seems arbitrary...Le Guin's book [is] written in her solid, no-nonsense prose." -- New York Times Book Review

"Brilliantly conceived and stunningly executed . . . The setting is science fiction, but the tradition is humanistic, reducing life to its essentials and examining human beings in a real world." -- Chicago Daily News

"The Dispossessed is still one of Sci-Fi's' smartest books." -- Wired

"The novel flashes back and forth . . . and delicately develops both the strengths and weaknesses of the two social systems, the contrasting textures of the two kinds of social experience . . . All through, this impresses with small but incalculably right choices which add up solidly and confirm Ms. Le Guin as one of our finest projectionists of brave old and other worlds." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Excellent characterization and meaningful ideas make this one of the most important [science fiction] novels of the last several years." -- Library Journal

"The combination of intelligence and imagination sends ideas dancing endlessly around the brain." -- Christian Science Monitor

"I would be hard pressed to think of another novel that made as strong an impression on me." -- Anthony Ha, author of Love Songs for Monsters

"[Ursula Le Guin] . . . is science fiction's best ambassador to the rest of the world, ever. She has done more to show people why this is an important genre--and maybe the mode of literature we need to navigate our way into a very uncertain future--than anyone else ever will." -- Lisa Yaszek, Professor of Science Fiction Studies in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech

"This remains a challenging and urgent book." -- The Guardian

"Deeply worthwhile reading -- subtle, challenging, exquisitely crafted." -- sfsite.com

"The Dispossessed paints a hopeful and complex portrait of a society rooted in collectivism."

-- Naomi Klein, The Week