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The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin. It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis. W
by cushychicken 5y ago
The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin.
It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis.
Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best.
The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir.
- jjj123 5y agoI also read the dispossessed this year. So, so good. I was shocked at how nuanced the book’s politics were too.
- legobmw99 5y agoHighly recommend Left Hand of Darkness if you haven’t read it yet
- 7thaccount 5y agoOne of those books that if you just told me what it was about, I wouldn't care, but reading it was a very enthralling journey and a positive experience.
- halpert 5y agoI was very excited to read LHoD after hearing so many glowing reviews, but it didn't resonate with me at all. I kind of regret spending the time to read it. Curious what you took away from it?
- valvar 5y agoSame experience here. As far as genre fiction goes, the prose itself is pretty good. But the plot and themes did not resonate with me or strike me as particularly interesting. I do understand its historical context, but I don't really think that elevates it.
- monkeycantype 5y agoGod I loved it, read long ago dimly remembered, I loved that Genly seemed to barely be aware of the complexity of the world he was in and the consequences for others of their interactions with.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nestorD 5y agoI came to say that my favorite book read this year is her "The Birthday of the World and Other Stories". Very nice to read science fiction that is about people rather than things.
- flurie 5y agoI also like Theodore Sturgeon and Cordwainer Smith for people-centered science fiction.
- Johnythree 5y agoI love Cordwainer Smith. I vividly remember reading "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" as a teenager in the 60's. It had a huge effect on me, and I still have that copy of Galaxy magazine.
- willowfine 5y agoI just read that story based on your recommendation - thank you! I might be just a tiny bit better as a person now than I was before reading it. For fellow fans of le Guin, Sturgeon and Smith looking for more authors, I would recommend Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera adventures on the surface, but with subtle depths and insights into human nature. Or for something more recent, Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series; we have solved world hunger, achieved gender equality and invented flying cars, but what are the implications for world politics and human interactions?
- sonofhans 5y agoOh, this been one of my favorite books for decades. I was introduced by Tony Wolk, an old hippie professor of English Lit at Portland State. I took a class from him nearly every term, in part because he was good friends with LeGuin and would have her guest lecture sometimes. She was astonishing, perhaps the best combination of intellect and humanity I’ve encountered. Tony said that first and last sentences in her books were very important to her. To this day I remember that the book begins “There was a wall.” And at the end: “His hands were empty, as they had always been.”
- thundergolfer 5y agoThe ending line was a home run. Fantastic ending to a fantastic book. I read it a month ago, and it would be my favourite fiction of the year if I didn’t also read The Grapes of Wrath this year.
- walleeee 5y ago"The light of his world filled his empty hands" is one of my favorite lines ever
- cushychicken 5y agoLe Guin's prose is incredible. Her writing style exemplifies St. Exupery's quote about perfection being "...when there is nothing left to take away."
- walleeee 5y agoAgreed! Super spare in the best way
- cushychicken 5y agoThat's cool. I'd have loved to have met her.
- monkeycantype 5y agoYeah! Somewhere recently I read someone talking about how in the 20th century male writers were writing grand books, and until johnathon franzen turned up it was only women writers were writing the books that depicted people emotionally honestly. I have no idea if this true, but it certainly true that Le guin and Alice Munro write books that capture human experience in a way that I really love
- say_it_as_it_is 5y agoThe Dispossessed was not enjoyable to read, so I stopped after about 30 pages.
- lotsofcows 5y ago...then you didn't read it. Try again, it's a brilliant reflection of human nature and really digs into the dystopia / utopia thing.
- cushychicken 5y agoYour loss!
- mudil 5y agoI read it whole and also found it to be not enjoyable.
- bawolff 5y agoEveryone has different tastes and not everyone likes the type of book the disposed is, but canyou really say you gave it a fair shot after only 30 pages?
- mind-blight 5y agoI just started reading it a few days ago, and I can't put it down. I can't recommend it enough
- morazow 5y agoI also read it this year. It came very close to me. The society of the book was very similar to the society in which I grew up, Soviet Union in 90s. Some of the lines from the book: ".. the social consience completely dominates the individual conscience, instead of striking a balance with it. We don't cooperate - we obey. We fear being outcast, being called lazy, dysfunctional, egoizing. We fear our neighbor's opinion more than we respect our own freedom of choice." "No matter what their society's like, some of them must be decent. People vary here, don't they? Are we all perfect Odonians? But in a sick organism, even a healthy cell is doomed."