Why I Loved Reading “The Dispossessed” by Ursula Le Guin
I have just finished reading a classic science fiction book: “The Dispossessed” by Ursula Le Guin. It was one of the best fiction books I have ever read in my life and I recommend it very strongly.
Shevek is a physicist from the planet of Anarres, where an anarchist utopian society lives. He goes to Urras, the planet from where his ancestors departed about 200 years ago.
Anarres and Urras are the twin planets of Tau Ceti, which is 11.9 light-years from the Earth.
Anarres is a dry and dusty planet where there is a lot of poverty, but a strong sense of cooperation and community. Everyone has equal rights. There is no money, no government, and no property. Nobody owns anything — everything is shared. Even possessive pronouns do not exist in the language they speak — Pravic.
Urras, on the other hand, is full of water. Most of the planet is covered with oceans. Urras is very rich and money is very powerful on this planet. There is enormous inequality, along with an elaborate policing and prison system. Urras has a rich history, but it is full of inequality and injustice. Everyone is obsessed with power, status, and money in A-Io, the free-market capitalist country on Urras.
Shevek is a genius physicist — quite similar to Einstein. He tries to create a…
