Audiobook
English language
Published Sept. 14, 2010 by HarperAudio.
A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.
To visit Urras—to learn, to teach, to share—will require great sacrifice and risks, which Shevek willingly accepts. But the ambitious scientist's gift is soon seen as a threat, and in the profound conflict that ensues, he must reexamine his beliefs even as he ignites the fires of change.
Overall, a good book because I enjoy SF and I was mentally stimulated by some of the ideas about social structures. The reason why I give it 3 stars and not 4 is that it seemed to me that the author was trying too hard to describe the philosophy at the cost of the SF aspect.
I found this hard work, I'm not sure why. The self-sacrifice rings true but the isolated research doesn't. My least favourite of the Hainish cycle so far.
Test test (:
Le Guin explores why and how an anarchist society can work, undaunted by complexity and in vivid detail. At the same time a reflection on individuality, sense of purpose, and the nature of abstraction. Probably one of the best books I've ever read.
Le Guin was put the light on the despicable society whom is ours by describing through the eyes of an anarchist.
L'autrice met la lumière sur la méprisable société qui est la notre en décrivant à travers les yeux d'un anarchiste.
I've heard this book called “a bundle of ideas disguised as a book,“ but honestly, I don't think that's fair. It's a pretty good balance between world-building and character— better than a good chunk of SF, at least. What can I say? It's a good book that gives insight into anarchist ideals, the compatibility between freedom and human nature, and human relationships. Also gives you some cool words to throw around. “Egoizing,” “propertarian,” what a goddamn masterpiece. I think Le Guin has a quote that fits, actually (that I'm paraphrasing from memory): “A mark of a good book is feeling that you've learnt something, even if you can't put your finger on what it is.”
It's a comparison of capitalism and social anarchism in a science fiction setting. I had a lot of sticky bookmarks in it when I had finished, for paragraphs to go back and think about. Unusual for fiction for me.
The main character is a physicist but the physics is imaginary - no science background needed.
One of Ursula le Guin's better novels, I think.
Two planets orbiting the same sun act as moons to each other, and the inhabitants have split because of political and cultural differences. Anarres is dry and austere, and its inhabitants are libertarian and socialist. Urras is lush and green, and its inhabitants are authoritarian and capitalist, or propertarian, as the Anarresti like to call them.
Shevek, a physicist on Anarres , feels that his research and discoveries are unappreciated at home, and makes a journey to Urras to meet physicists there, but finds that the Urrasti want to use his discoveries to increase their own power.
The people of both Anarres and Urras have adopted a kind of apartheid, and want to keep their cultures and political systems separate, so that neither will be contaminated by the views and principles of the other. . The culture of Urras is closer …
One of Ursula le Guin's better novels, I think.
Two planets orbiting the same sun act as moons to each other, and the inhabitants have split because of political and cultural differences. Anarres is dry and austere, and its inhabitants are libertarian and socialist. Urras is lush and green, and its inhabitants are authoritarian and capitalist, or propertarian, as the Anarresti like to call them.
Shevek, a physicist on Anarres , feels that his research and discoveries are unappreciated at home, and makes a journey to Urras to meet physicists there, but finds that the Urrasti want to use his discoveries to increase their own power.
The people of both Anarres and Urras have adopted a kind of apartheid, and want to keep their cultures and political systems separate, so that neither will be contaminated by the views and principles of the other. . The culture of Urras is closer to that of the world we live in and so is easier to depict; the culture of Anarres has no real life model, though certain aspects of it have been advocated by some anarcho-syndicalists, thus it is harder to depict in a convincing way. But authoritarianism manages to creep in there, under the guise of protection of liberty. For the most part Ursula le Guin does a fairly convincing job of showing how such diverse cultures might interact with each other.
Apart from space travel, le Guin does not envisage much technological development in society, and most of the technology -- transport, communications, computers, and the like, are much as they were in the mid-20th century on earth. Anarres has abandoned the week, and based its time measurement on units called decads, presumably of 10 days. But they also speak of "years" when referring to the age of people, and though it seems that these years must be fairly similar to earth years, it is nowhere stated that they are, or how it relates to the orbits of Anarres and Urras.
En otroligt fängslande historia, såväl karaktärs- som samhällsbeskrivningarna. Inklusive spänning. Arbete, vardag, relationer människor emellan och individualitet som utspelar sig såväl på en anarkistisk som en kapitalistisk planet. Två grannplaneter och deras förhållanden sinsemellan, människor och deras förhållanden sinsemellan. Le Guin är en av de verkligt stora och att läsa hennes böcker, inte bara denna, är en fröjd.
3.5/5
Better than last time I tried it. Heavy on world building, light on plot. A vehicle for speculation.
I mean, everybody has read it already over here, right? The only thing I would "criticise" are some outdated and not very inclusive ideas/concepts. However, this is only pushing me to find more queer and contemporary fiction. Or, worst case scenario, write it myself. :P
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.
I first read this book 20 years ago in a German translation and liked it a lot, but I didn't get a lot of it. Now, reading the English original and having had more of a political education, at first I was: "Is this book as good as I remember it?", but then, I enjoyed it even more.
I love that it's not an unbroken utopia and the ending leaves some things open. I also liked how it shows how power-laden relationships and positions can inadvertently creep back into a society that's not supposed to have them.
Really cool, right up my alley in the sense of "here's how people would be different if brought up under these circumstances". And while I'm trying to figure out why I'm not so hyped as I was over [b:Embassytown|9265453|Embassytown|China Miéville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320470326l/9265453.SY75.jpg|14146240] or [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014197l/25499718.SY75.jpg|45276208] I realise that my most favourite alley is "what if our brains were different". Because even an "anarchist society" becomes recognizably human. And, I guess, that's not a fantasy I want to get lost in. Still, much prefer this to a lot of anything else.
You don't need to read this but I stronly recommend it. It outlines, how a egalitarian society could look like.
