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A review by toreadistovoyage
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
2.5
This is a tough book to review. I realllllly struggled. Honestly, the only reason I finished was because it was selected for book club.
Some things I thought were done well:
1. World building. Maybe too much time spent on this honestly. But the worlds were built. Both of them.
2. Thought-provoking. The idea that one planet was anarchistic and another capitalist allowed for an interesting comparison. Clearly neither are "perfect", but it does lend to the reader's thinking about what is "perfect".
3. Egalitarianism.
4. Alternating timelines that slowly reveal more and more about Shevek.
Some things that didn't work for me:
1. Pacing. This book was slow. Some parts felt so bogged down by the science that it was hard to maintain focus.
2. Lack of connection. I could not have cared less about Shevek. Or anyone else. Other characters were underdeveloped or felt like they were only there to expound on the philosophical concepts than be realized characters.
3. Not much happened. This was a book of ideas, not actions. I usually like books like this, but I just couldn't get into this one.
4. The world building. Yes, I am contradicting myself, but...hear me out...while the worlds were built, they didn't feel "realistic". They felt like they were only there to serve the purpose of reflecting the philosophy.
Some things I thought were done well:
1. World building. Maybe too much time spent on this honestly. But the worlds were built. Both of them.
2. Thought-provoking. The idea that one planet was anarchistic and another capitalist allowed for an interesting comparison. Clearly neither are "perfect", but it does lend to the reader's thinking about what is "perfect".
3. Egalitarianism.
4. Alternating timelines that slowly reveal more and more about Shevek.
Some things that didn't work for me:
1. Pacing. This book was slow. Some parts felt so bogged down by the science that it was hard to maintain focus.
2. Lack of connection. I could not have cared less about Shevek. Or anyone else. Other characters were underdeveloped or felt like they were only there to expound on the philosophical concepts than be realized characters.
3. Not much happened. This was a book of ideas, not actions. I usually like books like this, but I just couldn't get into this one.
4. The world building. Yes, I am contradicting myself, but...hear me out...while the worlds were built, they didn't feel "realistic". They felt like they were only there to serve the purpose of reflecting the philosophy.