Dave Emmerson
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This month CM Lowry is talking to author Juliet Kemp, about The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin in ‘This Book I Read…’
Topics covered include:
- Ursula K. Le Guin’s hero status amongst fans of Speculative Fiction and Sci-fi
- The mind blowing impact it has had upon Juliet’s life
- The two planets of Anarres & Urras and the contrasts between them – both in terms of flora & fauna but also in terms of political and social systems.
- Sometimes subtitled ‘An Ambiguous Utopia’, The Dispossessed explores themes of late Capitalism, Anarchy & Time. It’s a very political story.
- The idea that revolution is a continual process, and something that we as individuals must embody and encapsulate
- The concern that structures, even within anarchist societies, can be calcified and rigid, not allowing for the transmission of new ideas – so it’s everyone’s jobs to continue to be alert and continue to advance the revolution.
- The way that Le Guin uses two story lines that start out disconnected but end up converging
- Juliet’s favourite things about the book, including the beauty of Le Guin’s writing and the detailed working out of what an Anarchist society might look like in practice.
- Juliet’s challenges with The Dispossessed, such as the dryness of Le Guin’s writing at times and the heavy going philosophical content. There are also issue surrounding Le Guin’s gender portrayals, which can in part be explained by the times it was written in (1970s), and the fact that this book fails the Bechdel Test.
- You should read The Dispossessed because it’s politically fascinating, a great read, and one of the most important book in the genre.
Links to things we discussed:
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Zen & The Art of Motorbike Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
- The Bechdel Test
- Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia by Samuel R Delaney (written as a rebuttal of and dialogue with The Dispossessed
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
- Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
- A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
- Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
More about Juliet Kemp
- Twitter – @julietk
- Website – julietkemp.com
- The City Revealed
More about us
- CM Lowry on Twitter – @cmlowryauthor
- CM Lowry’s website – All About Chris
- Website – beyondcataclysm.co.uk
- Patreon – Patreon.com/beyondcataclysm
Music by CM Lowry. Editing by Dave Emmerson
