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Old 18th June 2005, 11:20 PM   #9 (permalink)
Thadlerian
Rattus Norvegicus
 
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Norway
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Re: Mieville Recommends...

Quote:
Ursula K. Le Guin—The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (1974)

The most overtly political of this anarchist writer’s excellent works. An examination of the relations between a rich, exploitive capitalist world and a poor, nearly barren (though high-tech) communist one.
Not quite. Anarres is an anarchist world (not very high-tech either). The state of anarchy is the goal of communism, but only as a product of a revolution and a dictatorship of the proletariat. There was no revolution on Anarres, the Odonians just moved there.
To be really nitpicking, Urras isn't really a capitalist world either, it's a mix of several systems. Thu is a Soviet-like communist state.

Quote:
Mervyn Peake—The Gormenghast Novels (1946–59)

An austere depiction of dead ritualism and necessary transformation. Don’t believe those who say that the third book is disappointing.
On the other hand, he's damn right about that last point!
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