Hello dear readers, and welcome new ones!

Time flies. Winter is already behind us, and Spring is in full bloom now. I hope your reading goals are going fine. I’m already a bit behind, but there is still enough time to catch up.

During March, I continued reading The Divine Comedy. Together with Dante, I have visited the seven rings of Hell. Ten more cantos to go, and then I will be finished with the first book of the trilogy, Inferno.

Technically, I have not finished a single book in March, however, I will discuss The Dispossessed in this newsletter because I’ve read most of the book during March and finished it on the first of April. Furthermore, I also have an announcement for you! I will start my own read-along of the Bible. More on this below.

Read in March

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) is mostly known for her sci-fiction novels and her Earthsea fantasy universe. However, I have discussed her work on Taoism earlier in another newsletter. Her life’s work has been the translation of Tao Te Ching. Her other (political) philosophical interest was Anarchism.

The Dispossessed is considered to be an anarchistic utopian novel, the seventh part of her Hainish Universe. You don’t need to read the other books, or to read them in order, to understand and enjoy this one. They can all stand on their own. The novel is about Shevek, a well-known physicist on the planet Anarres. He is working on a theory concerning the simultaneity of time. It has the potential to be an all-explaining theory of time with practical implications for space travel and communication. But there is one problem: his society is not interested in this discovery. You see, on Anarres, the moon of Urras, there is an anarchistic society, and they resent everything that is considered to be propertarian (capitalism, money, property, materialism). Living in isolation from the rest of the universe, they do not need faster space travel or communication with other planets. So Shevek does the unthinkable; he travels to Urras to spread his knowledge.

There are many interesting ideas in this novel. First of all, there is Anarres itself, an experimental society based on the philosophy of anarchism. The ancestors of the Anarresti came from Urras, a planet just like our Earth (Terra). They were the low-and-middle class of Urras who had started a revolution, led by Odo, to rebel against the injustice inflicted by the rich and the ones in power. Instead of crushing them down entirely, Urras decided to give them the moon and isolate them there, with the hope of getting rid of the problem and seeing the Odonians (as they call themselves) fail. The moon, having not many resources and valuable land, is a harsh environment to survive in. Yet, the Odonians not only survived, they actually lived respectably. They managed to build a society to be proud of, a life worth living. It is far from a utopia, but at least no one is starving while others eat.

‘’Because there is nothing, nothing on Urras that we Anarresti need! We left with empty hands, a hundred and seventy years ago, and we were right. We took nothing. Because there is nothing here but States and their weapons, the rich and their lies, and the poor and their misery.’’

The language of the Anarresti, Pravic, is also worth mentioning. It is a logically created language that purposely neglects the use of the possessive case. People not only have almost no possessions they also do not think in a possessive way. The act of possessing is, of course, propertarian. There is no word for money or other transactional means. Work has a deeper meaning than just the concept that we are used to. And there are no hierarchical relationships.

The practical implications of such a society mean that no one owns houses, transportation, and other common goods. Since there is no monetary incentive, only necessary work is done, and society decides what is necessary. There are no marriages, and people do not own their spouses or their children. There are no wars, no slavery, and no coercion. Everyone is truly free. Free to leave, free to stay. Free to choose.

However, as I mentioned earlier, it is not a utopian society. Dirty work has still to be done, and Anerras is difficult to survive on. The people of Anerras know hard times, famine, diseases, and other problems. But they deal with it together, and no one is better off. Freedom comes with responsibility.

Shevek’s life on Anerras is just as interesting as his visitation of Urras. Did he make a mistake by leaving his planet and sharing his knowledge? That’s difficult to decide. But Shevek believes that ideas are meant to be shared. Not only his valuable theory but also his anarchistic views.

Le Guin provides a quick glimpse of the Earth (Terra) and what has become of it in a conversation between Shevek and a diplomat from Terra, whom Shevek meets on Urras. The diplomat asks him how Terra should be viewed as she and her society sees a Paradise in Urras while Shevek sees Hell.

As someone interested in anarchism, I absolutely loved this book. Le Guin does not exaggerate the benefits of anarchism and shows the various downsides of such a way of living. Isolation from others has the potential risk of ignorance. People who cannot function or achieve their goals in such a society find themselves all alone. Shevek is one of those who do not entirely belong. He is a true follower of Odo, but he feels that his society is becoming too rigid. Anarchism is supposed to be a continuous revolution, a revolution for the sake of revolution. And Shevek wants to remind his fellow brothers and sisters of this concept.

The novel can also be read as an anti-war book. Shevek is very outspoken about his contempt for war, needless violence, and the coercion of humans to participate in such degrading practices. Anerras and the Hainish civilization (an altruistic society, more on them in other books) are probably the only ones in the entire universe who do not have wars. But when you really think about it, how absurd is it to kill strangers, humans just like you, for abstract ideas or arbitrary and despotic governments?

After The Dispossessed, I became very interested in reading more of the Hainish Universe novels. I think my next book will be The Left Hand of Darkness. Both books have won literary prizes (The Nebula Award and the Hugo Award for Best Novel) and have been recommended by fans and critics.

Harold Bloom, an influential literary critic, has expressed his admiration for both The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness. He mentioned that it was difficult to choose the best novel between the two, however, the character of Shevek was the one who really stood out from all the others. And I agree, Shevek is a character who one does not easily forget.

The Bible Read-Along: Introduction

More than a year ago, I decided to read the entire Bible. But I failed to even get through the introduction of the book. The problem is that the book is too long, and I easily lose focus without a solid plan. I think that reading complex and long works requires a plan or a sort of schedule. I experienced this lately while following a read-along of The Divine Comedy and noticing that it was more realistic to divide such a work into smaller parts and take the time to read it.

After creating a schedule for myself, I thought, why not share it with others and host a read-along? So here we are.

Note! This read-along focuses on reading the Bible for purposes of understanding literature better and thus not in the context of faith.

Furthermore, the read-along will be for at least two years, and in the first year, we will be reading the Old Testament.

Why read the Bible, and why now?

Well, since I’m reading The Divine Comedy, it made sense to pick up the Bible again. Dante was an avid reader of many classical works, but he was most inspired by the Christian religion and, of course, the Bible. His entire work is focused on the journey through Hell, Purgatory, and eventually Paradise. I felt like I needed to be familiar with the book to understand his work better, and my current knowledge was not enough.

But even if you’re not reading Dante’s masterpiece right now, you are probably reading or have read other works that were inspired by the Bible. The book has had great influence on many writers, philosophers, and their works. To name a few, think of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and various works of Dostoyevsky.

The Bible is a collection of many texts (sacred scrolls in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek) that are seen as separate books. It depends on the religion what is included in the biblical canon. The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testament. Additional texts outside of the biblical canon are called Apocrypha. The word ”Bible” itself means ‘’the book’’ and originates from the Latin word biblia. Since the book originally consisted of a collection of scrolls, the order of the scrolls/books was created and changed over the years. Thus, how many and which books are included and in what order can vary and have a deeper meaning. One major division of the texts divides the book into the Hebrew and the Christian Bible. The Hebrew Bible is older, and some even argue that the Bible could be seen as a book about the history and mythology of Jews and Judaism and that Christianity is a sect or subreligion of Judaism. Many theological and political debates have been fought on this subject and about the Bible in general. That is not the focus of this read-along, but it is interesting to keep in mind while reading the texts.

I will be reading the Authorized King James Bible (AV). Originally published in 1611 as the third English translation of the Bible. The edition that I own is from Oxford Press, specially designed for literature students. The King James Bible follows the Protestant tradition. The canon includes 39 Old Testament books, 14 apocryphal books, and 27 books in the New Testament. It would be easy to use the same edition, but you can choose the edition you want to read. The schedule provides the book titles that I will be reading per month, so there should be no difficulty in participating and finding the right edition for you.

See here the schedule and additional information for the read-along. If you want to participate in the read-along, just pick up the book and subscribe to this newsletter. We will start out with the first book, Genesis, in April. Every month, I will analyze the text and reflect on it. You can leave comments and start a discussion. The aim is to get through the book together.

• Youtube
• Instagram
• Tumblr
• Twitter
• Medium