The Dispossessed

I am a total noob, only dipping my toes into sci-fi. I am 100% sure that my intelligence and knowledge is not equipped enough to give this book the analysis it deserves. I am only here to mention a few thoughts I had whike reading the book. I have nothing to compare it to. I haven't seriously read about capitalism, socialism or anarchy anywhere else before.

For those who haven't read the book, it takes place in a fictional world where of 4 planets. Urras, Anarres, Terra, Hain. Of these Urras and Anarres are twin planets, earths and moons of each other. On Anarres is a newly formed civilization by the Anarchists of Urras, who mass migrated generations back.
In Anarres, there is no hierarchy or property. People don't own, they share. Consider the consequences.

I have always associated anarchy with chaos and violence. The anarchists in this book are peaceful people, whose survival depends on their solidarity. There is no chaos, there is order.

This book does not deny that, the functioning of it's society is dependent on the limited population and adequate resources, that it will not survive a tipping of scales. It is utopia. A perfectly functioning society, given certain prerequisites are followed.
People who have a better grasp of sociology, might appreciate this better. Nevertheless the concept is thought provoking.

Personally I found it difficult to find a connection with the characters. The are cold and distant. That is the whole point within the story too. There is some sort of delineation happening between love and relationships, that I didn't quite understand. What kind of love is it, in a world where one can't say “You are mine.”?
It's not “your smile is beautiful”, it's “the smile is beautiful”, because possessive word don't exist/are not used.

I haven't read a utopian novel before, and have always wondered how it would be. This one I found is only a prettily dressed dystopian. It makes you realize thay the negative elements in our society exists for certain unavoidable reasons.

The book is easy enough to understand. Appropriate as a foray into sci-fi.