The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

One of my favorite all-time books, and each subsequent reading has been at a different part of my life and lead me to (slightly) different conclusions. It was only this most recent re-read that I realized how unreliable Shevek is when it comes to his evaluations of the Anarres system. Comparing his complaints about the suppression of his and his friends work on the anarchist planet, and the brutal mass murder in response to a labor march on the capitalist planet in the very next chapter, really helped highlight Shevek's distorted view of his own planet's system.

I'll always think of this book as the seminal layout of how an anarchist society might function. It certainly had flaws, and I appreciated Le Guin's depiction of those as it made the world seem more real and honest.

There was however, as in far too many books, an unnecessary almost-rape scene that I felt did not add anything to the narrative or the development of any characters. That, as well as some of the musings on romantic relationships, betrayed its 70's era publishing date