The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin

[Suliman]

This is this month's poll. Vote! We‘re making two rounds of voting so in this round we vote on every candidate we like. There will be a second round if there‘s a tie.

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We'll discuss the book below or something, I don't know.

[Suliman]

Lemme just converse with myself here and say that this book is so fucking good omg. Only two (or three?) chapters left and I'm about to cry for how satisfying the storytelling is. There are so many genius literary devices (dunno if this is the right word here) used in addition to nifty easter eggs. I need more books like this. I just need.

[Kami]

I've finally finished the first three chapters just now, and so far it's honestly been kind of a drag. I do hope it gets better, and I can see a decent story behind all the purple prose, but god is it exhausting to read. It's been the kind of experience where i check the chapter progress bar every couple of minutes to see how close i am to finishing the thing.

I don't even necessarily think the story is bad on a technical level. So far it's had some interesting things to say, and i do appreciate the worldbuilding, and how a lot of more subtle details aren't directly spelled out to you but can be gleamed from the way certain characters talk about things, but i don't know. I think this is just very much not for me.

I like the writing on a technical level, but it is genuinely straining to read, and while i think the exploration on how an anarchist society could work is interesting, i don't think it makes for an interesting story so far. I don't really like any of the characters and can't really relate to them, and while we do get a lot of insight into the thought process of shevek, for example, i don't think i really got to know the guy as a person, only the values he represents.

I'm hoping it gets better, and that theres stuff for me to like here later on, but for now I'm genuinely kind of struggling to make it through the book. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe I'm just not at "the good part" yet, or maybe this just isn't really for me. We'll see, i suppose.

[Kami]

6 Chapters in now, and I'm starting to come around on it. Still not my favorite book in the world, and if it weren't for this book club i wouldn't keep reading, but it's entertaining enough. I quite like Desars character.

[Suliman]

I totally get it. I didn't like it that much until the second third. I was, like you, impressed by the writing on a technical level until the plot got heated and in the end, I was blown away by everything. I think what really made it my favorite book of all time was the second read, but it's probably just not your type of jam. So excited for your post. I hope people focus a bit less on Anarres and more on Urras' absurdity.