Mattia reviewed I reietti dell'altro pianeta by Ursula K. Le Guin
Fondamentale
5 stars
Uno dei libri più belli che abbia mai letto. Un capolavoro che parla di come una volta fatta la rivoluzione bisogna continuare a farla.
Hardcover, 387 pages
English language
Published Aug. 15, 1991 by Harper Paperbacks.
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.
Uno dei libri più belli che abbia mai letto. Un capolavoro che parla di come una volta fatta la rivoluzione bisogna continuare a farla.
that cuts close to your heart without leaving a scar? How many star deserves a book, that feels not like a story, more a dream that you once you've used to have? It may not be the best book, the best story, the best prose, but this story is personal. I've grown to the amenities that Urras may provide the elite, I've forgotten what freedom can mean. However, Le Guin does not describe a fairy utopia, rather it is about the clash between human values and the human psyche. It is in a very good way both, utopian and realistic. "Is it justice to divide the dust?". The plot is masterful crafted with a lot of plot traps you will fall in. It's not a book which should be lightly recommend. This book will stir up discussions.
More plot than most of her books, it still turns back into a person on a journey. Shevek is on a journey from his anarchic home to a capitalist world. What propels him from a simple world of shared struggles? Why leave? When he arrives can he accomplish his goals? Is there something he can do that the people there couldn’t do for themselves? Will he be trapped and neutralized by the soft prison of luxury?
And how can he return home? What awaits an anarchist who is seen to turn his back on the revolution?
I love the deep thinking about language and the practice of mutual aid in a land with few resources. I love the true struggle to stay good when the droughts hit. And the challenge that centralization and coordination always brings. Everything is dealt with in indirect ways that paint larger pictures just out of …
More plot than most of her books, it still turns back into a person on a journey. Shevek is on a journey from his anarchic home to a capitalist world. What propels him from a simple world of shared struggles? Why leave? When he arrives can he accomplish his goals? Is there something he can do that the people there couldn’t do for themselves? Will he be trapped and neutralized by the soft prison of luxury?
And how can he return home? What awaits an anarchist who is seen to turn his back on the revolution?
I love the deep thinking about language and the practice of mutual aid in a land with few resources. I love the true struggle to stay good when the droughts hit. And the challenge that centralization and coordination always brings. Everything is dealt with in indirect ways that paint larger pictures just out of sight, beyond the edge of the book.
Highly recommend.
I wouldn't have described myself as an anarchist before this book; I would now. This book presents a form of society that has gripped me, and brought me hope. Truly excellent sci-fi.
Neben der packenden Story ist The Dispossessed wohl eine der am weitesten gedachten Darstellungen einer anarchistischen bzw. anarcho-kommunistischen Gesellschaft in der fiktiven Literatur.
Dabei wird hier kein blühendes Utopia beschrieben, sondern eine Gesellschaft mit all ihren Freuden und Unzulänglichkeiten
Lo increíble que escribe esta mujer... Qué gigantesco ejercicio de imaginación, de luz, de humanidad. Me ha parecido precioso y real. Se ve perfectamente toda la complejidad que no se narra pero que la autora ha imaginado y considerado, y toda la voluntad de perseguir un mundo mejor.
The cover blurb for The Dispossessed makes it sound like a thrilling exciting narrative, filled with tension and action:
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.
But that's not what it is, and it's certainly not Le Guin's focus. This is clear in the way she avoids what might be the more dramatic elements of the story, or distances us from them in how they are portrayed. The story is bookended by two examples of that. The opening …
The cover blurb for The Dispossessed makes it sound like a thrilling exciting narrative, filled with tension and action:
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.
But that's not what it is, and it's certainly not Le Guin's focus. This is clear in the way she avoids what might be the more dramatic elements of the story, or distances us from them in how they are portrayed. The story is bookended by two examples of that. The opening sees Shevek - although we don't know it's him at this stage - leaving his homeworld and causing quite a bit of upset, seen from the viewpoint of a minor character who never reappears. And the book ends abruptly with no certainty of an outcome.
The capitalist society on the planet Urras that Shevek travels to felt too much like 1950s America rather than some far flung society thousands of years in the future. Other elements of the novel such as Shevek's unfortunate sexual dalliance, the possibility of defecting from the capitalist society to a nearby communist society, and getting caught up in a riot really don't amount to much and the plot as a whole is quite thin.
What I did like about the book was Le Guin's vivid portrayal of a functioning anarchist society on Shevek's homeworld Anarres. And Shevek himself was a likeable character.
The book is more concerned with the question of whether a truly anarchist society can survive, given the generally acquisitive nature of humanity, and during the story there is an indication that even this utopia will fall foul of the general tendency for all systems of government to move towards a hierarchy of control. Shevek struggles against this tendency: "We’ve been saying, more and more often, you must work with the others, you must accept the rule of the majority. But any rule is tyranny. The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive."
We never know if Shevek achieves what the cover blurb says. There's not much indication that the capitalist society will change because of him, though the anarchist society may survive if they take the example of his life to heart. But with no certainty about how the story ends, all we are left with is a political thought experiment.
Una obra que vuelve a usar la ciencia ficción como entrada pero que es un análisis y una reflexión sobre la sociedad, desde la luna Anarres, donde la sociedad se organiza en un modo anarquista/socialissta al planeta Urras, donde tras un conflicto estos últimos fueron expulsados y donde el planeta se organiza en base a oligopolios y un capitalismo salvaje. Como nexo entre ambos mundos el protagonista intenta establecer un diálogo, intentando propiciar el desarrollo de ambas sociedades con la colaboración científica. Un libro que no deja de ser una reflexión y un golpe sobre la mesa sobre la política, la sociedad y el papel de la ciencia y los científicos.
very deep personal relationship with this book