The Dispossessed [50th Anniversary Edition]: A Novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, Karen Joy Fowler

by Ursula K. Le Guin, Unknown Author

Celebrating its golden jubilee, Ursula K. Le Guin's Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award-winning masterpiece, 'The Dispossessed', explores themes of anarchism, capitalism, individualism, and collectivism. This commemorative edition features a new foreword by Karen Joy Fowler. The story follows Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the anarchic utopia of Anarres, who embarks on a perilous journey to Urras, a planet of stark contrasts, to bridge the chasm between the two worlds. Despite facing hostility and personal sacrifice, Shevek is determined to challenge societal norms, question the unquestionable, and foster understanding between the planets. Upon arrival, he finds a complex society that both welcomes and threatens him, ultimately forcing him to reevaluate his beliefs and ignite change.

Unknown Binding

Published November 19, 2024

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.