FIAT HOMO - A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

Canticle for Leibowitz is a CANTICLE OF PURE POETRY IN SLOW MOTION

 "All societies go through three phases.... First there is the struggle to integrate in a hostile environment. Then, after integration, comes an explosive expansion of the culture-conquest....
 Then a withering of the mother culture, and the rebellious rise of young cultures."

OS DEMÓNIOS DO CALOR TORTURAVAM A TERRA AO MEIO-DIA

AS CHAMAS DA SIMPLIFICAÇÃO ANTECEDEM O SIMPLEX DE SÓCRATES

REVERENDO PADRE UM GRUPO DE GUERREIROS DO PAÍS DE UTAH,

MATOU MEIA-DÚZIA DE JARDINEIROS E ATULHOU OS POÇOS DE PEDRAS

A COLHEITA FOI BOA DURANTE ALGUM TEMPO, MAS DEPOIS DA CARNAGEM

NASCEU UMA CIDADE-ESTADO...

AFASTARAM-SE DE TEXARCANA, COMO TODAS AS COISAS VIVAS

ENCHERAM DE NOVO A TERRA MUITAS VEZES COM A SUA ESPÉCIE

ATÉ QUE CHEGOU O ANO 3174 DE NOSSO SENHOR. HAVIA RUMORES DE GUERRA

post-apocalyptic the story spans thousands of years
as civilization rebuilds loss of scientific knowledge or
socio-technological regression and its presumed antithesis, continued technological advance, its preservation through oral transmission, the guardianship of archives by priests, and "that side of [human] behavior which can only be termed religious." These thematic elements, combined with the growing subgenre of the "post-disaster" story

  "Fiat Homo" – the first part of the novel – was published in the April 1955 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF). Although not originally intended as a serialization, the saga continued in "And the Light is Risen", which was published in August 1956 (also in F&SF). That work would later grow into "Fiat Lux".

 . Walker Percy recognized this dimension of the novel, which he compared to a "cipher, a coded message, a book in a strange language."

Cover of a 1997 Spectra paperback edition of A Canticle for Leibowitz.

A Canticle for Leibowitz opens 600 years after 20th century civilization has been destroyed by a global nuclear war, known as the "Flame Deluge".
The text reveals that as a result of the war there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led to the development of nuclear weapons.
During this backlash, called the "Simplification," anyone of learning, and eventually anyone who could even read, was likely to be killed by rampaging mobs, who proudly took on the name of "Simpletons".
Illiteracy became almost universal, and books were destroyed en masse.

Isaac Edward Leibowitz had been a Jewish electrical engineer working for the United States military. Surviving the war, he converted to Roman Catholicism and founded a monastic order, the "Albertian Order of Leibowitz", dedicated to preserving knowledge by hiding books, smuggling them to safety (booklegging), memorizing, and copying them. The Order's abbey is located in the American southwestern desert, near the military base where Leibowitz had worked before the war, on an old road that may have been "a portion of the shortest route from the Great Salt Lake to Old El Paso." Leibowitz was eventually betrayed and martyred. Later beatified by the Roman Catholic

Centuries after his death, the abbey is still preserving the "Memorabilia", the collected writings that have survived the Flame Deluge and the Simplification, in the hope that they will help future generations reclaim forgotten science.

The story is structured in three parts titled: "Fiat Homo", "Fiat Lux", and "Fiat Voluntas Tua". The parts are separated by periods of six centuries each.

"Fiat Homo" (Let There Be Man)

In the 26th century, a 17-year-old novice named Brother Francis Gerard is on a vigil in the desert. While searching for a rock to complete a shelter Brother Francis encounters a Wanderer, apparently looking for the abbey, who inscribes Hebrew on a rock that appears the perfect fit for the shelter. When Brother Francis removes the rock he discovers the entrance to an ancient fallout shelter containing "relics", such as handwritten notes on crumbling memo pads bearing cryptic texts resembling a 20th-century shopping list. He soon realizes that these notes appear to have been written by Leibowitz, his order's founder. The discovery of the ancient documents causes an uproar at the monastery, as the other monks speculate that the relics once belonged to Leibowitz. Brother Francis' account of the wanderer, who ultimately never turned up at the abbey, is also greatly embellished by the other monks amid rumours that he was an apparition of Leibowitz himself; Francis strenuously denies the embellishments, but equally persistently refuses to deny that the encounter occurred, despite the lack of other witnesses. Abbot Arkos, the head of the monastery, worries that the discovery of so many potentially holy relics in such a short period may cause delays in Leibowitz's canonization process. Francis is banished back to the desert to complete his vigil and defuse the sensationalism.
 

En route, he is robbed and his illumination taken. Francis completes the journey to New Rome and is granted an audience with the pope. Francis presents the pope with the remaining documents and the pope comforts Francis by giving him gold with which to ransom back the illumination; however, Francis is killed during his return trip by a group of "The Pope's Children" (an affectionate name for the people who have been so severely affected by the genetic mutation caused by radiation that they are subhuman in both intelligence and capacity for reason), receiving an arrow in the face. The Wanderer discovers and buries Francis's body. (The book then focuses on the vultures who were denied their meal; they fly over the Great Plains and find much food near the Red River until a city-state, based in Texarkana, rises).

"Fiat Lux" (Let There Be Light)

North America in 3174, showing Texark territory in yellow. Texark expansion as described in this story and in Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman marked in orange.

In 3174, the Albertian Order of St. Leibowitz is still preserving the half-understood knowledge from before the Flame Deluge and the subsequent Age of Simplification. The new Dark Age is ending, however, and a new Renaissance is beginning. Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott, a highly regarded secular scholar, is sent by his cousin Hannegan, Mayor of Texarkana, to the abbey.

At the abbey, Brother Kornhoer, a talented engineer, has just finished work on a "generator of electrical essences", a treadmill-powered electrical generator that powers an arc lamp.

an alliance with the kingdom of Laredo and the neighboring, relatively civilized city-states against the threat of attack from the nomadic warriors. Hannegan, however, is manipulating the regional politics to effectively neutralize all of his enemies, leaving him in control of the entire region. Monsignor Apollo, the papal nuncio to Hannegan's court, sends word to New Rome that Hannegan intends to attack the empire of Denver next, and that he intends to use the abbey as a base of operations from which to conduct the campaign. For his actions, Apollo is executed, and Hannegan initiates a church schism, declaring loyalty to the Pope to be punishable by deaTH

"Fiat Voluntas Tua" (Let Thy Will Be Done)

It is the year 3781, and mankind has nuclear energy and weapons again, as well as starships and extra-solar colonies. Two world superpowers, the Asian Coalition and the Atlantic Confederacy, have been embroiled in a cold war for 50 years. The Leibowitzan Order's mission of preserving the Memorabilia has expanded to the preservation of all knowledge.

Rumors that both sides are assembling nuclear weapons in space and that a nuclear weapon has been detonated increase public and international tensions. At the abbey, the current abbot, Dom Jethras Zerchi, recommends to New Rome that the Church reactivate the Quo Peregrinatur Grex Pastor Secum ("Whither Wanders the Flock, the Shepherd is with Them") contingency plans involving "certain vehicles" the Church has had since 3756. A "nuclear incident" occurs in the Asian Coalition city of Itu Wan: an underground nuclear explosion has destroyed the city, and the Atlantic Confederacy counters by firing a "warning shot" over the South Pacific.

New Rome tells Zerchi to proceed with Quo Peregrinatur and plan for departure within three days. He appoints Brother Joshua as mission leader, telling him that this is an emergency plan for perpetuating the Church on the colony planets in the event of a nuclear war on Earth. The Order's Memorabilia will also accompany the mission. That night the Atlantic Confederacy launches an assault against Asian Coalition space platforms. The Asian Coalition responds by using a nuclear weapon against the Confederacy capital city of Texarkana. A ten-day cease-fire is issued by the World Court. Brother Joshua and the space-trained monks and priests depart on a secret, chartered flight for New Rome, hoping to leave Earth on the starship before the cease-fire ends.

During the cease-fire, the abbey offers shelter to refugees fleeing the regions affected by fallout, which results in a battle of wills over euthanasia between the abbot and a doctor from a government emergency response camp. The war resumes and a nuclear explosion occurs near the abbey.
 Mrs Grales/Rachel, a bicephalous tomato peddler and mutant

Joshua and the Quo Peregrinatur crew launching as the nuclear explosions begin. Sic transit mundus("Thus passes the world"). As a coda, there is a final vignette depicting the ecological aspects of the war: seabirds and fish succumb to the poisonous fallout, and a shark evades death only through moving to particularly deep water, where, it is noted, the shark was "very hungry that season."

Recurrence and cyclical history

" David N. Samuelson, whose 1969 doctoral dissertation on Canticle is considered the "best overall discussion of the book", calls the "cyclical theme of technological progress and regress ... the foundation-stone on which A Canticle for Leibowitz is built."

 the three parts allegorically represent crucial phases of Western history. The first section, "Fiat Homo", depicts a Church preserving civilization, a counterpart to the "Age of Faith" after the Fall of Rome. The action of the second part, "Fiat Lux", focuses on a renaissance of "secular learning", echoing the "divergences of Church and State and of science and faith". "Fiat Voluntas Tua", the final part, is the analog of contemporary civilization, with its "technological marvels, its obsessions with material, worldly power, and its accelerating neglect of faith and the spirit."

Church versus state 

a kind of post-human lunar landscape of disASTER

A GRANDE AVENTURA (SCENAS DA GUERRA) POR ANTÓNIO GRANJO - O HERÓI ASSIS OU ASSAD...MAL PASSADO

PARTI DE CHAVES COM O 1º BATALHÃO DE INFANTARIA 19

NA NOITE DE 20 PARA 21 DE MAIO

DIZ O HERÓI DO REGIMENTO DE CARNE PARA CANHÃO 19 QUE PARTE EM CRUZADA

A 27 DO MESMO MEZ EMBARQUEI EM LISBOA

ANTÓNIO TEIXEIRA ALFERES MILICIANO REPELIU DUAS COMPANHIAS ALEMÃS

SENDO PROMOVIDO POR DISTINÇÃO A TENENTE AOS 18 ANOS

DESDE QUE SAHIMOS DE LISBOA QUE NÃO COMEMOS SENÃO BATATAS.

A CARNE É PÔDRE O BACALHAU INTRAGÁVEL

O VINHO UMA MIXÓRDIA IGNÓBIL

INSUBORDINAÇÃO É PRECISO ATIRAR COM ALGUNS PARA OS PORÕES

Ó MEU ALFERES, ISTO PR'AQUI É QUE SÃO TERRAS....

UMA MULHER CASADA QUE FOSSE VISTA A BEIJAR UM HOMEM QUE NÃO FOSSE SEU

IRMÃO EM PORTUGAL ESTAVA PERDIDA...

AQUI O MARIDO ESTÁ AO PÉ E NÃO FAZ NADA...

E ASSI SE FAZ UM LIVRO QUE FICA ENCAPSULADO NUM TEMPO

QUE VOLTARÁ EM BREVE

SE FOSSEMOS SÍRIOS JÁ LÁ ESTÁVAMOS

OU SUDANESES

MAS COMO NÃO SOMO DINKAS AINDA DEMORA MAIS UM POUCOCHINHO...

SURVIVOR - AN APOCALYPTUS S.F. TELL TALE WITH ZERO HERÓIS AND ZERO ZERO SEVEN - LEVEL SEVEN BY MORDECAI MORDE CAI ROSHWALD ...WALD...

O HERÓI É PROMOVIDO A MAJOR PARA IR PARA O FUNDO

A 1200 METROS DE PROFUNDIDADE NUM BOMB SHELTER

1881 U.S oF A...eleven permanent gun-platforms and breast-height walls, bonnets on the traverses, a portion of the masonry and all the earth covering of the bomb-proof shelter, the postern gallery, a part of the earth covering of the magazines, and an earthen cover face on the channel front.

The shortening of this phrase to the conventional "bomb shelter"

appears in print at least as early as 1895

O GAJO LEVA ORDENS PARA NÃO LEVAR NADA

DEIXANDO PARA TRÁS OS PERTENCES E A ESCOVA DE DENTES

MOSTRA ( SABE-SE LÁ A QUEM) QUE A SUA PARTIDA É CASUAL

E NADA TEVE A VER COM ORDENS MILITARES

POIS SE ASSIM FOSSE TERIA LEVADO OS OBJECTOS DE HIGIENE PESSOAL...

(SEM SOBRESSELENTES NESTA AMÉRICA DE ESCASSEZ....) O HERÓI SAI DO ELEVADOR E PASSA POR PORTA GIRATÓRIA UNIDIRECCIONAL????

A SAÍDA É BLOQUEADA...MAS CONTINUA A GIRAR APARENTEMENTE....

E ESCADAS ROLANTES QUE SÓ ANDAM PARA BAIXO ATÉ UMA MESA ONDE SERVEM

178 REFEIÇÕES ALIMENTO VERMELHO E 3 COMPRIMIDOS
ENGOLIDOS COM MEIO LITRO DE LÍQUIDO AMARELO...

SÃO PSICOLOGICAMENTE INDEPENDENTES, O BEM ESTAR NÃO DEPENDE DA PRESENÇA DE MAIS ALGUÉM...LOGO PSICOPATAS EREMITÕES SERVEM BEM...

SÃO TRATADOS POR NÚMEROS POIS OS NOMES TERIAM ASSOCIAÇÕES NOSTÁLGICAS COM A VIDA NA SUPERFÍCIE

O PLANO MAIS SEGURO PARA O POVO EM GERAL É DESTINADO AOS ELEMENTOS DUVIDOSOS E SUBVERSIVOS : VENDILHÕES DA PAZ, EXTREMISTAS DA OPOSIÇÃO, CRÍTICOS DA SOCIEDADE E OUTROS MANÍACOS....

DANDO-LHES O PLANO 2 A 30 METROS DE PROFUNDIDADE
E PROVISÕES PARA 4 MESES

O PLANO ZERO DA AUSTERIDADE NUCLEAR É À SUPERFÍCIE

NA CRISE O DIREITO A ENTERRAR-SE É FICAR PROTEGIDO DOS SEUS EFEITOS

HÁ UM PARALELISMO COM A ACTUAL CRISE

RECEBEM PLACAS E O DIREITO DE SEREM ENTERRADOS EM VIDA....

O HERÓI COMEÇA A QUESTIONAR-SE

PARA QUÊ..ser submetido a uma instrução tão intensa, só para carregar em botões

um computador ou um macaco condicionado fariam o mesmo...

The tale is told from the first person perspective (diary) of a modern soldier X-127 living in the underground military complex Level 7, where he is expected to reside permanently, fulfilling the role of commanding his nation’s nuclear weapons with more five hundred people a 1200 metros de profundidade

como evacuar o calor produzido pelo reactor nuclear e pelo grau geotérmico ou  geotermalismo que atingiria

uns 40º C.....a resposta é refrigerar tudo né...

o nível 7 tem comida para 300 anos

os do plano 5 só têm para 200 anos coitados...

compota de con's Plot summary

During his forced residence in a deep underground offensive-warfare complex, X-127 is ordered to push the bomb buttons to begin World War III (which lasts a total of 2 hours and 58 minutes...FROM NINE OF JUNE 9.12m TO 11HOURS AND 20 MINUTES...BOLAS SÓ DURA 2 HORAS E 8 MINUTOS ESTES GAJOS TAMÉM NUM SABEM FAZER CONTAS...)..but refuses to push buttons A 4 B4 C4 OS DAS BATERIAS DE BOMBAS RADIOACTIVAS QUE CONTAMINARÃO A TERRA POR GERAÇÕES ...POIS NÃO PODE MATAR A MÃE QUE POR ESSA ALTURA SÓ LEVOU COM UMAS GIGATONES EM CIMA...A NARRATIVA É RIDÍCULA PIOR QUE A DE SÓCRATES....

A ÚLTIMA SALVA DE MÍSSEIS É ÀS 11H20 MINUTOS MAS SÓ EXPLODEM ÀS 12H10 MINUTES LOGO DÁ 2 HORAS E 58...MAS POR ESSE CRITÉRIO A PRIMEIRA SALVA DO ALERTA DAS 9 E 12 AINDA NÃO TINHA EXPLODIDO E FORA LANÇADA ANTES MAS ENFIM...

FOI O INIMIGO INOMINÁVEL E NÃO NOMEADO A lançar por erro 12 ogivas

as populações matam-se para entrar nos aBRIGOS COMO SE SABE ISTO?

SABE-SE POIS OS COMENTADORES REPORTARAM ATÉ AO FIM MORRENDO DE MICROFONE NA MÃO

A ÚLTIMA BOMBA EXPLODIU ÀS 12 E 10 E A INIMIGA ÀS 11 E 45 MINUTES

INÚTIL SERÁ DIZÊ-LO SOMOS OS VENCEDORES

O INIMIGO ACUSOU-NOS MAS A ORDEM FOI DADA POR UM ATOMFONE

QUE REGISTROU AS EXPLOSÕES E ORDENOU O ATAQUE

A RETALIAÇÃO FOI IMEDIATA E AUTOMÁTICA

2000 OGIVAS PARA DAR UM AVISO

NÃO SE PODIA CONFIAR NOS POLÍTICOS....

TROCARAM AMABILIDADES REACCIONÁRIOS BESTAS DESUMANAS BÁRBAROS

DE 3 MIL MILHÕES SOBREVIVERAM 20 OU 15 MILHÕES

QUE MORREM OBVIAMENTE TODOS

DE MODO IDIÓTICO POIS APARENTEMENTE

OS ABRIGOS NÃO ESTÃO CONSTRUÍDOS EM ZONAS IMPERMEÁVEIS

From that point, humanity’s few civilian survivors move from the surface of the earth to a collection of underground shelter complexes on Levels 1, 2 , level 3 a 150 metros de profundidade 25 unidades com 25,000 people each....food and energy for 25 years....  through 5 a 450 metros 20,000 people altos cidadãos, administradores, generais políticos, while military personnel already occupy the deepest and safest Levels 6 the military elite 2,000 people and 7......

It later emerges that the orders given have been wholly automatic due to a launch on warning strategy, and the war has taken place as a series of electronic responses to an initial accident.

X-127 and his fellow shelter inhabitants belatedly learn the criteria that had determined admission to the shelters: Civilians were granted only an illusion of protection, while government officials and military personnel were granted significantly more security. Those who were assigned to launch the nuclear missiles, and their support staff, were selected for their ability to behave like machines, yet are counted upon to preserve the human spirit and rebuild the human race. X-127 and his colleagues attempt to carry on human life, but discover that institutions such as marriage and preparations for child-rearing have been hollowed out by conditions and attitudes in the antiseptic underground.

Toward the end of the novel, the inhabitants of the surviving shelters gradually find their deaths, as radioactive surface contamination makes its way down past air filters and into ground water sources. As the Level 7′s safety falls into question, its inhabitants confront their isolation, overconfidence in technology, loneliness below a dead world, and the sanity of a society whose momentum toward annihilation exceeded its collective will to live.

At last, the inhabitants of “Level 7″ are exterminated through a malfunction in their nuclear power pile.
Structure[edit]

The book is apparently written in such a way to discourage the reader from determining which side is which. References to democracy are structured as to be just as applicable to Soviet democracy as to British or American democracy. The book contains no geographical references or individual names, but does use non-metric measurements. It is left to the individual reader to determine if this indeed identifies a Western setting or merely reflects the author’s background. In any case, specific national identities are arguably irrelevant to the book’s themes of dehumanization, the abstraction of nuclear warfare, and the danger that this leads to when combined with the destructive potential of the weapons involved. The novel thus acts as a warning against the nuclear arms race, as the original (but removed) postscript makes clear:

This book is neutral – in the sense that it does not defend either the East or the West. It is not neutral in the sense that it accuses both. It is submitted for the benefit of the West and the East, as well as anybody caught in between.

The Diary of Push-Button Officer X-127 is intended as a preventative anti-radioactive medicine, good for consumption in any place in the world. It is especially offered to button-pushers, rocket constructors, nuclear physicists, megaton bomb manufacturers, “small” atomic bomb producers, and last but not least, statesmen and politicians. It is ‘not’ (!) effective against buttons, robots, rockets, and the bombs themselves.

Originally, the manuscript contained a preface by Martian archaeologists, who discover the diary amongst the ruins of a destroyed Earth. However, this was removed in editions earlier than 2003, because it was felt that it spoiled the ending of the book.

Level 7 was adapted by J. B. Priestley for a 1966 episode of the BBC2 television science-fiction drama programme Out of the Unknown.

^ Roshwald, Mordecai (1959). Level 7.....

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A ÁRVORE DOS EURROS - UM RIMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS UND SEVERAL COLONIES IN SPACE AND TIME - BY LUO GUANZHONG CIRCA 14TH CENTURY FOX - A HISTORICAL NOVEL INTEMPORAL AND AMORAL BUT NOT IMMORAL ERGO IMMORTAL

O EURRO DE DESCARTES , is a historical novel set amidst the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 AD.

The story (part historical, part legend, and part myth) romanticises and dramatises the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han OR GERM-HAN Dynasty or restore it.

 

While the novel actually follows literally hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han Dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. ....OR COCA-COLA STATES, MITTELEUROPA AND DAI NIPPON....IN THE XXI VERSION

 

The novel deals with the plots, personal and army battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years. This novel also gives readers a sense of how the Chinese view their history through a cyclical lens. The famous opening lines of the novel (as added by Mao Lun and his son Mao Zonggang) summarise this view: It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide (話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分).

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China.

Overview

Myths from the Three Kingdoms era existed as oral traditions before written compilations. With their focus on the history of Han Chinese, the stories grew in popularity during the reign of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. During the succeeding Ming Dynasty, an interest in plays and novels resulted in further expansions and retelling of the stories.

The earliest attempt to combine these stories into a written work was a pinghua, Sanguozhi Pinghua (simplified Chinese: 三国志评话; traditional Chinese: 三國志平話; pinyin: Sānguózhì Pínghuà; literally “Story of Records of the Three Kingdoms”), published sometime between 1321 and 1323. This version combined themes of legend, magic, and morality to appeal to the peasant class. Elements of reincarnation and karma were woven into this version of the story.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong, who lived sometime between 1330 and 1400 (late Yuan to early Ming period). This theory is extensively developed in Andrew Plaks’ Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel. It was written in partly vernacular and partly Classical Chinese and was considered the standard text for 300 years. The author made use of available historical records, including the Records of the Three Kingdoms compiled by Chen Shou, which covered events from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to the unification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in 280. The novel also includes material from Tang Dynasty poetic works, Yuan Dynasty operas and his own personal interpretation of elements such as virtue and legitimacy. The author combined this historical knowledge with a gift for storytelling to create a rich tapestry of personalities, and initially published it in 24 volumes. It was copied by hand in manuscripts until first printed in 1522 as Sanguozhi Tongsu Yanyi.

In the 1660s, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Mao Lun (simplified Chinese: 毛纶; traditional Chinese: 毛綸; pinyin: Máo Lún) and his son Mao Zonggang (simplified Chinese: 毛宗岗; traditional Chinese: 毛宗崗; pinyin: Máo Zōnggāng) significantly edited the text, fitting it into 120 chapters, and abbreviating the title to Sanguozhi Yanyi. The text was reduced from 900,000 to 750,000 characters; significant editing was done for narrative flow; use of third party poems was reduced and shifted from conventional verse to finer pieces; and most passages praising Cao Cao’s advisers and generals were removed. Scholars have long debated whether the Maos’ viewpoint was anti-Qing (identifying Southern Ming remnants with Shu-Han) or pro-Qing.

This novel reflects Confucian OR CONFUSE OR CON FUSION values that were prominent at the time it was written.

According to Confucian moral standards, loyalty to one’s family, friends, and superiors are important measures for distinguishing good and bad people.....ISTO LEMBRA-ME UMA COUSA QUALQUER Ó GENTES DE BONS COSTUMES...

Story

One of the greatest achievements of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the extreme complexity of its stories and characters. The novel contains numerous secondary stories. The following consists of a summary of the central plot, and well-known highlights in the story.

Three Heroes of Three Kingdoms, silk painting by Sekkan Sakurai (1715–1790), depicting Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. This painting is sometimes hung in the offices of businessmen to show that they are trustworthy, just as these brothers were to each other.
Yellow Turban Rebellion[edit]
In the final years of the Han Dynasty, treacherous eunuchs and incompetent officials deceive the emperor and persecute good ministers, and the government becomes extremely corrupt on all levels, leading to widespread deterioration of the empire. During the reign of the penultimate Han sovereign, Emperor Ling, the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out under the leadership of Zhang Jue (also called Zhang Jiao).

The rebellion is barely suppressed by troops under the command of He Jin, General-in-Chief of the imperial armies. Fearing his growing power, the eunuch faction, under Zhang Rang’s leadership, lure He Jin into the palace and murder him. He Jin’s stunned guards, led by Yuan Shao, respond by charging into the palace to kill all eunuchs for revenge, which turns into indiscriminate slaughter. In the ensuing chaos, the child Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu disappear from the palace.

Dong Zhuo’s reign of terror[edit]
The missing emperor and the prince are found by soldiers of the warlord Dong Zhuo, who proceeds to seize control of the imperial capital Luoyang under the pretext of protecting the emperor. Dong later deposes Emperor Shao and replaces him with the Prince of Chenliu, who becomes known as Emperor Xian. Dong usurps state power and starts a reign of terror in which innocents are persecuted and the common people suffer. There are two attempts on Dong’s life: one is by the general Wu Fu, who fails and dies a gruesome death; the second is by Cao Cao, who nearly succeeds.

Cao Cao manages to escape and he issues an imperial edict in the emperor’s name to all regional warlords and governors, calling them to rise up against Dong Zhuo. Under Yuan Shao’s leadership, eighteen warlords form a coalition force in a campaign against Dong Zhuo, but undermined by poor leadership and conflict of interest, they only manage to drive Dong from Luoyang to Chang’an. Dong Zhuo is eventually betrayed and killed by his foster son Lü Bu in a dispute over the beautiful maiden Diaochan.

Conflict among the various warlords and nobles[edit]
In the meantime, the empire is already disintegrating into civil war. Sun Jian finds the Imperial Seal and keeps it secretly for himself, further weakening imperial authority. Without a strong central government, warlords begin to rise and fight each other for land, plunging China into a state of anarchy. In the north, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are at war, and in the south, Sun Jian and Liu Biao. Many others, even those without title or land, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, are also starting to build up power.

Cao Cao rescues Emperor Xian from Dong Zhuo’s followers and establishes the new imperial court in Xuchang. Cao Cao proceeds to defeat his rivals such as Lü Bu, Yuan Shu and Zhang Xiu before scoring a tactical victory over Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu despite being vastly outnumbered. Through his conquests, Cao unites the Central Plains and northern China under his rule, and the lands he controlled would serve as the foundation for the state of Cao Wei in the future.

Sun Ce builds a dynasty in Jiangdong[edit]
Meanwhile, an ambush had violently concluded Sun Jian’s life in a war with Liu Biao, fulfilling Sun’s own rash oath to heaven. His eldest son Sun Ce delivers the Imperial Seal as a tribute to the rising pretender to the throne, Yuan Shu of Huainan, in exchange for reinforcements. Sun secures himself a state in the rich riverlands of Jiangdong, on which the state of Eastern Wu will eventually be founded. Tragically, Sun Ce also dies at the pinnacle of his career from illness under stress of his terrifying encounter with the ghost of Yu Ji, a venerable magician whom he had falsely accused of heresy and executed in jealousy. However, his younger brother Sun Quan, who succeeds him, proves to be a capable and charismatic ruler. Sun, assisted by skilled advisers Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, inspires hidden talents such as Lu Su to join his service, and builds up a strong military force.

Liu Bei’s ambition[edit]

Liu Bei recruiting Zhuge Liang, from Visiting the Thatched Hut Three Times, a Ming Dynasty painting by Dai Jin (1388-1462).
Liu Bei, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, swear allegiance to the Han Dynasty in the famous Oath of the Peach Garden and pledge to do their best for the country. However, their goals and ambitions are not realised until the later part of the novel. Liu is not recognised for his efforts in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion and is merely appointed as a junior magistrate. They join Gongsun Zan and participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Liu Bei becomes the governor of Xu Province after Tao Qian passes on the post to him. Liu loses the province when Lü Bu seizes control of it with the help of a defector, but he joins Cao Cao later in defeating Lü at the Battle of Xiapi. While Cao Cao subtly reveals his intention to usurp state power, Liu Bei is officially recognised by Emperor Xian as an “Imperial Uncle” and is seen as a saviour to help the emperor deal with Cao Cao.

Liu Bei leaves Cao Cao eventually and seizes Xu Province from Cao Cao’s newly appointed governor Che Zhou. In retaliation, Cao Cao attacks Xu Province and defeats Liu, forcing Liu to seek refuge under Yuan Shao for a brief period of time. Liu finds a new base in Runan after leaving Yuan but is defeated by Cao Cao’s forces once again. He retreats to Jing Province to join Liu Biao and is placed in charge of Xinye. At Xinye, Liu recruits Zhuge Liang personally and builds up his forces.

Battle of Red Cliffs[edit]
Main article: Battle of Red Cliffs
Cao Cao declares himself chancellor (or prime minister) and leads his troops to attack southern China after uniting the north. He is defeated twice at Xinye by Liu Bei’s forces but Liu loses the city as well. Liu leads his men and the civilians of Xinye on an exodus southwards and they arrive at Jiangxia (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei) where Liu establishes a foothold against Cao Cao.

To resist Cao Cao, Liu Bei sends Zhuge Liang to persuade Sun Quan to form an alliance. Zhuge succeeds in his diplomatic mission and remains in Jiangdong as a temporary adviser to Sun Quan. Sun places Zhou Yu in command of the armies of Jiangdong (Eastern Wu) in preparation for an upcoming war with Cao Cao. Zhou feels that Zhuge will become a future threat to Eastern Wu and he tries to kill Zhuge on a few occasions but he fails and decides to cooperate with Zhuge for the time being. Cao Cao is defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei and is forced to retreat north.

Traditional site of the Red Cliff
Sun Quan and Liu Bei begin vying for control of Jing Province after their victory and Liu seizes the province from Cao Cao after following Zhuge Liang’s strategy. Sun Quan is unhappy and sends emissaries to ask Liu Bei for Jing Province, but Liu dismisses the envoys each time with different excuses. Sun uses some strategies proposed by Zhou Yu to take the land, of which the most famous is the “Beauty Scheme”. Sun intends to lure Liu Bei to Jiangdong to marry his sister Lady Sun and hold Liu hostage to exchange his freedom for Jing Province, but the plot fails and the newlywed couple return home safely. Zhou Yu tries to take Jing Province repeatedly but his plans are foiled three times by Zhuge Liang.

Liu Bei’s takeover of Yi Province[edit]
After Zhou Yu’s death, relations between Liu Bei and Sun Quan gradually deteriorate but not to the point of open conflict. In accordance with Zhuge Liang’s Longzhong Plan, Liu Bei leads his troops into Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) in the west and takes over the land from the incompetent noble Liu Zhang. By then, Liu Bei rules a vast area of land from Jing Province to Yi Province in the west, which will serve as the foundation for the future state of Shu Han. He proclaims himself “King of Hanzhong” after his victory over Cao Cao in the Hanzhong Campaign.

At the same time, Cao is granted the title of a vassal king – “King of Wei” – by the emperor while Sun Quan becomes known as the “Duke of Wu”. In the east, Sun Quan and Cao Cao’s forces clash at the Battle of Ruxukou and Battle of Xiaoyao Ford with victories and defeats for both sides. The situation among the three major powers reaches a stalemate after this until Cao Cao’s death.

Death of Guan Yu[edit]
Meanwhile, Sun Quan plots to take Jing Province after tiring of Liu Bei’s repeated refusals to hand over the land. He makes peace with Cao Cao and becomes a vassal under Cao, and receives the title of “King of Wu”. Guan Yu, who is in charge of Jing Province, leads his troops to attack Cao Ren in the Battle of Fancheng. Sun Quan sends Lü Meng to lead his troops to seize Jing Province while Guan is away, as part of his secret agreement with Cao Cao. Guan is caught off guard and loses Jing Province before he realises it. He retreats to Maicheng, where he is heavily surrounded by Sun Quan’s forces, while his army gradually shrinks in size as many of his troops either desert or surrender to the enemy. In desperation, Guan attempts to break out of the siege but fails and is captured in an ambush. He is executed on Sun Quan’s order after refusing to renounce his loyalty to Liu Bei.

Shortly after Guan Yu’s death, Cao Cao dies of a brain tumour and his son Cao Pi usurps the Han throne, effectively ending the Han Dynasty and Cao renames his new dynasty “Cao Wei”. In response, Liu Bei proclaims himself emperor, to carry on the bloodline of the Han Dynasty. While Liu Bei is planning to avenge Guan Yu, his other sworn brother Zhang Fei is assassinated in his sleep by his subordinates, who have defected to Sun Quan.

Battle of Xiaoting[edit]
As Liu Bei leads a large army to attack Sun Quan to avenge Guan Yu, Sun attempts to appease Liu by offering him the return of Jing Province. Liu’s advisers, including Zhuge Liang, urge him to accept Sun’s tokens of peace, but Liu persists in vengeance. After initial victories, a series of strategic mistakes due to the impetuosity of Liu leads to the cataclysmic defeat of Shu Han in the Battle of Xiaoting. Lu Xun, the commander of Sun Quan’s forces, refrains from pursuing the retreating Shu forces after encountering Zhuge Liang’s Stone Sentinel Maze.

An artist’s impression of Zhuge Liang.
Liu Bei dies in Baidicheng from illness shortly after his defeat. In a final conversation between Liu on his deathbed and Zhuge Liang, Liu grants Zhuge the authority to take the throne if his successor Liu Shan proves to be an inept ruler. Zhuge refuses and swears that he will remain faithful to the trust Liu Bei had placed in him.

Zhuge Liang’s campaigns[edit]
After Liu Bei’s death, as advised by Sima Yi, Cao Pi induces several forces, including Sun Quan, turncoat Shu general Meng Da, Meng Huo of the Nanman and the Qiang tribes, to attack Shu Han, in coordination with a Cao Wei army. Zhuge Liang manages to send the five armies retreating without any bloodshed. An envoy from Shu Han named Deng Zhi subsequently persuades Sun Quan to renew the former alliance with Shu Han. Zhuge Liang personally leads a southern campaign against the Nanman barbarian king Meng Huo. Meng is defeated and captured seven times, but Zhuge releases him each time and allows him to come back for another battle, in order to win Meng over. The seventh time, Meng refuses to leave and decides to swear allegiance to Shu Han forever.

After pacifying the south, Zhuge Liang leads the Shu Han army on five military expeditions to attack Cao Wei in order to restore the Han Dynasty. However, Zhuge’s days are numbered as he had been suffering from chronic tuberculosis all along, and his condition worsens under stress from the campaigns. His last significant victory over Cao Wei is probably the defection of Jiang Wei, a promising young general who is well-versed in military strategy. Zhuge Liang dies of illness at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains while leading a stalemate battle against his nemesis, the Cao Wei commander Sima Yi. Before his death, Zhuge orders his trusted generals to build a statue of himself and use it to scare away the enemy in order to buy time for the Shu Han army to retreat safely.

End of the Three Kingdoms[edit]
The long years of battle between Shu Han and Cao Wei sees many changes in the ruling Cao family in Cao Wei. The influence of the Caos weakens after the death of Cao Rui and the state power of Cao Wei eventually falls into the hands of the Sima clan, headed by Sima Yi’s sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao.

In Shu Han, Jiang Wei inherits Zhuge Liang’s legacy and continues to lead another nine campaigns against Cao Wei for a bitter three decades, but he fails to achieve any significant success. Moreover, the ruler of Shu Han, Liu Shan, is incompetent and places faith in treacherous officials, further leading to the decline of Shu. Shu Han is eventually conquered by Cao Wei. Jiang Wei attempts to restore Shu Han with the help of Zhong Hui but their plans are exposed and both of them are killed by Sima Zhao’s troops. After the fall of Shu Han in 263, Sima Zhao’s son Sima Yan forces the last Wei ruler, Cao Huan, to abdicate his throne in 265, officially ending the Cao Wei dynasty. Sima Yan, having already been proclaimed “Prince of Jin” in the previous year, then formally establishes the Jin Dynasty with him as its first emperor.

In Eastern Wu, there has been internal conflict among the nobles ever since the death of Sun Quan, with Zhuge Ke and Sun Lin making attempts to usurp state power. Although stability is restored temporarily, the last Wu ruler Sun Hao appears to be a tyrant who does not make any efforts to strengthen his kingdom. Eastern Wu, the last of the Three Kingdoms, is finally conquered by Jin after a long period of struggle in the year 280, thus marking the end of the near century-long era of civil strife known as the Three Kingdoms period.

Historical accuracy[edit]

See also: List of fictitious stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The novel draws from historical sources, including Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms. Other major influences include Liu Yiqing’s Shishuo Xinyu or A New Account of Tales of the World, published in 430, and the Sanguozhi Pinghua, a chronological collection of eighty fictional sketches starting with the peach garden oath and ending with Zhuge Liang’s death.

Some fifty or sixty Yuan and early Ming plays about the Three Kingdoms are known to have existed, and their material is almost entirely fictional, based on thin threads of actual history. The novel is thus a return to greater emphasis on history, compared to these dramas. The novel also shifted towards better acknowledgement of the Southland’s historical importance, while still portraying some prejudice against them. The Qing Dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng famously wrote that the novel was 70% fact and 30% fiction. The fictional parts are culled from different sources, including unofficial histories, folk stories, the Sanguozhi Pinghua, and also the author’s own imagination. Nonetheless, the description of the social conditions and the logic that the characters use is accurate to the Three Kingdoms period, creating “believable” situations and characters, even if they are not historically accurate.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, like the dramas and folk stories of its day, features Liu Bei and his associates as the protagonists; hence the depiction of the people in Shu-Han was glorified. The antagonists, Cao Cao, Sun Quan and their followers, on the other hand, were often denigrated. This suited the political climate in the Ming Dynasty, unlike in the Jin Dynasty, when Cao Wei was considered the legitimate successor to the Han Dynasty.

Some non-historical scenes in the novel have become well-known and subsequently became a part of traditional Chinese culture.

Literary analysis[edit]

A depiction of Pang De at the Battle of Fancheng, from a Qing Dynasty edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Dominant themes of the novel include: the rise and fall of the ideal liege (Liu Bei) finding the ideal minister (Zhuge Liang); the conflict between the ideal liege (Liu Bei) and the consummate villain (Cao Cao); and the cruelties and injustice of feudal or dynastic government.

Critics have argued that Luo Guanzhong’s initial pronouncement “It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide” epitomises the main theme of the novel. Taking this as a locus for study of the classic has been disputed, however. Further, “division” and “unity” for Luo are not of equal importance. Even though the work shows the journey from unity to division in the final years of the Han Dynasty, that is only the beginning of the book. “The author expended most of his ink on the focal point of his description—the difficult transition from ‘division’ to ‘unity’ and the great achievements that came out of the bitter struggle by various heroes to reunify the Chinese empire.”

Besides the famous oath, many Chinese proverbs in use today are derived from the novel:

Translation Chinese Interpretation
Brothers are like limbs, wives are like clothing. Torn clothing can be repaired; how can broken limbs be mended? 兄弟如手足，妻子如衣服。衣服破，尚可縫； 手足斷，安可續？
It means that wives, like clothing, are replaceable if lost but the same does not hold true for one’s brothers (or friends).

Liu Bei “borrows” Jing Province – borrowing without returning. 劉備借荊州——有借無還 This proverb describes the situation of a person borrowing something without ever returning it.
Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. 說曹操，曹操到
說曹操曹操就到 Equivalent to speak of the devil. Describes the situation of a person appearing precisely when being spoken about.
Three reeking tanners (are enough to) overcome one Zhuge Liang. 三個臭皮匠, 勝過一個諸葛亮
三個臭皮匠, 賽過一個諸葛亮 Three inferior people can overpower a superior person when they combine their strengths.
Losing the lady and having the army crippled. 賠了夫人又折兵 The “lady” lost here was actually Sun Quan’s sister Lady Sun. Zhou Yu’s plan to capture Liu Bei by means of a false marriage proposal failed and Lady Sun really became Liu’s wife. Zhou Yu later led his troops in an attempt to attack Liu Bei but fell into an ambush and suffered a crushing defeat. This saying is now used to describe the situations where a person either makes double losses in a deal or loses on both sides of it.
Eastern Wu arranges a false marriage that turns into a real one. 東吳招親——弄假成真 When a plan to falsely offer something backfires with the result that the thing originally offered is appropriated by the intended victim of the hoax.
Every person on the street knows what is in Sima Zhao’s mind. 司馬昭之心，路人皆知 As Sima Zhao gradually rose to power in Wei, his intention to usurp state power became more obvious. The young Wei emperor Cao Mao once lamented to his loyal ministers, “Every person on the street knows what is in Sima Zhao’s mind (that he wanted to usurp the throne).” This saying is now used to describe a situation where a person’s intention or ambition is rather obvious.
The young should not read Water Margin, and the old should not read Three Kingdoms. 少不讀水滸, 老不讀三國 The former depicts the lives of outlaws and their defiance of the social system and may have a negative influence on adolescent boys, as well as the novel’s depiction of gruesome violence. The latter presents every manner of stratagem and fraud and may tempt older readers to engage in such thinking.
The writing style adopted by Romance of the Three Kingdoms was part of the emergence of written vernacular during the Ming period, as part of the so-called “Four Masterworks” (si da qishu).

Buddhist aspects[edit]
Romance of the Three Kingdoms recorded stories of a Buddhist monk called Pujing (普淨), who was a friend of Guan Yu. Pujing made his first appearance during Guan’s arduous journey of crossing five passes and slaying six generals, in which he warned Guan of an assassination plot. As the novel was written in the Ming Dynasty, more than 1,000 years after the era, these stories showed that Buddhism had long been a significant ingredient of the mainstream culture and may not be historically accurate. Luo Guanzhong preserved these descriptions from earlier versions of the novel to support his portrait of Guan as a faithful man of virtue. Guan has since then been respectfully addressed as “Lord Guan” or Guan Gong.

 The first known translation was performed in 1907 by John G. Steele and consisted of a single chapter excerpt that was distributed in China to students learning English at Presbyterian missionary schools. Z.Q. Parker published a 1925 translation containing four episodes from the novel including the events of the Battle of Red Cliffs, while Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang published excerpts in 1981, including chapters 43–50. A complete and faithful translation of the novel was published in two volumes in 1925 by Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor, a long time official of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service.

. After decades of work, Roberts published a full translation in 1991 complete with an afterword, eleven maps, a list of characters, titles, terms, and offices, and almost 100 pages of notes from Mao Zonggang’s commentaries and other scholarly sources.

List of fictional people OR PPP'S of the Three Kingdoms, list of fictional people of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280)
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is comparable to the Bible in East Asia. It’s one of the most-read if not, the most-read classics in the region.”
^ Shoji, Kaori (2008-11-06). “War as wisdom and gore”. The Japan Times. “In East Asia, Romance is on par with the works of Shakespeare…in the same way that people in Britain grow up studying Hamlet and Macbeth.”
^ On Cho Ng, Q. Edward Wang, “Mirroring the past: the writing and use of history in imperial China
Three kingdoms: a historical eurro na árvora das patacas.....

SEXO FORTE - SAMUEL MAIA - DO TEMPO QUE TORNA ININTELIGÍVEIS OS DIÁLOGOS MAIS SIMPLEX OU ESCREVE-SE AS NARRATIVAS?

VAIS PARA PADRE, SERAFIM?

-MEU PAE QUER

GOSTAS?

PUDERA, NÃO. VIDA REGALADA E SER PESSOA DE RESPEITO.

-DEVE CUSTAR MUITO, SÓ PARA LER AQUELES LATINS, LIVROS TÃO GRANDES ,

APRENDER TANTA CERIMÓNIA...

ROSALINA, ARMADA DE UMA VERDASCA, ABALOU A CORRER, DESCALÇA,

PINCHANDO SOBRE PEDRAS E URGUEIRAS

TEU PAE BEBEU DORMIDEIRA QUANDO SONHOU FAZER DE TI PADRE, OU DEUS TE

MANDA PARA O CASTIGAR D'UM PASSO ERRADO

EM VEZ DE BATINA, ASSENTAM-TE UMA COIRATA DE RAPOSA NO LOMBO

VAMOS À LEITURA - INZEMPLO DE CARIDADE INZEMPLO ..VAI PRA O EIZAME

COM ESSA E ESPERA PELO TRÔCO

TANTOQUE...

~HEIN?

É O VERBO TANTOCAR?

OLHEM O PADRE TANTÓQUE

UM EPARENTES: PALMADA NO CACHAÇO ...TOMA

A CLASSE INTEIRA RIU

- CADA VEZ MAIS BRUTO

o eurro
ora hipereurificação permanente

          

é o resgate não inflacionário exporta deflação né….
só não exporta deflação pró barril de petrodólar
felizmente os amarikanos já estão quase auto-suficientes nisso
e até os metaes e o triticum aestivum e o durum andam a descer
é uma boa notícia pró esparguete
já para a carne de cavalo nos hambúrgueres a falta de inflação enche os burguer kings dela
é estranho num é?
ou é o texto que é estranho?
se calhar entranha-se

THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE - A SHOPIST OR AN SOPHIST VIEW Protagoras of Abdera: Of All Things Man Is The Measure AND THE MEASURE OF U.S OF A ARE 30,000 SHOT EVERY YEAR MORE OR LESS, MORLESS

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape is a book written in 1993 by James Howard Kunstler exploring the effects of suburban sprawl, civil planning and the automobile on American society. The book is an attempt to discover how and why suburbia has ceased to be a credible human habitat, and what society might do about it. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. ‘The future will require us to build better places,’ Kunstler says, ‘or the future will belong to other people in other societies.’
References
ou aqui ao estylo da bela vista
The Effects of Metropolitan Economic Segregation on Local Civic Participation

THE DISPOSSESSED - A COLD WAR TALE OF A DYSFUNCTIONAL THIRD WAY

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia

set on Anarres and Urras, the twin inhabited worlds of Tau Ceti.
Cetians are mentioned in other Ekumen novels

In The Dispossessed, Urras is divided into several states which are dominated by the two largest ones, which are rivals.
In a clear allusion to the United States (represented by A-Io) and the Soviet Union (represented by Thu), one has a capitalist economy and patriarchal system and the other is an authoritarian system that claims to rule in the name of the proletariat. Further developing the analogy, there are oppositional left-wing parties in A-Io, one of which is closely linked to the rival society Thu, as were Communist parties in the US and other Western countries at the time the story was written. Other parties represent various dissident visions of socialism, including Odonians, who contact Shevek with a note chiding him for betraying his beliefs by working at the university and accepting the government's hospitality. Beyond that, there is a third major, though underdeveloped, area called Benbili — when a revolution supported by Thu breaks out there, A-Io invades, generating a proxy war. Thus, Benbili  an allusion to the Vietnam War.
 Although there are a wide variety of parties in A-Io, there are no opposition parties on Anarres, only an Odonian orthodoxy that rules without any overt enforcement or oppression, although free thinkers who go too far can end up in psychiatric institutions, as happens with Shevek's childhood friend, Tirin.

In the last chapter of The Dispossessed, we learn that the Hainish people arrived at Tau Ceti 60 years ago, which is more than 150 years after the secession of the Odonians from Urras and their exodus to Anarres. Terrans are also there, and the novel occurs some time in the future. A date of 2300 has been suggested, while the complexities of Urrasti history hint otherwise.

 

The chapters alternate between the worlds — even-numbered chapters are set on Anarres, odd-numbered chapters are set on Urras. The only exceptions are the first and the last chapter which include both worlds and are, thematically, chapters of transition. In chapter one, we are basically in the middle of the story, while the plot of the last Anarres-chapter (i.e., the penultimate chapter, or, chapter twelve) ends at a point before the plot of the first chapter begins.

 

The story takes place on the fictional planet Urras and its habitable moon Anarres.
In order to forestall an anarcho-syndicalist rebellion, the major Urrasti states gave the revolutionaries the right to live on Anarres, along with a guarantee of non-interference, approximately two hundred years before the events of The Dispossessed. Before this, Anarres had had no permanent settlements apart from some mining.

The protagonist Shevek is a physicist attempting to develop a General Temporal Theory. The physics of the book describes time as having a much deeper, more complex structure than we understand it. It incorporates not only mathematics and physics, but also philosophy and ethics. The meaning of the theories in the book weaves into the plot, not only describing abstract physical concepts, but the ups and downs of the characters' lives, and the transformation of the Anarresti society. An oft-quoted saying in the book is "true journey is return."

The meaning of Shevek's theories – which deal with the nature of time and simultaneity – have been subject to interpretation. For example, there have been interpretations that the non-linear nature of the novel is a reproduction of Shevek's theory.

Anarres is in theory a society without government or coercive authoritarian institutions. Yet that deviates from his society's current consensus understanding, Shevek begins to come up against very real obstacles. Shevek gradually develops an understanding that the revolution which brought his world into being is stagnating, and power structures are beginning to exist where there were none before. He therefore embarks on the risky and highly controversial journey to the home planet, Urras, seeking to open dialog between the worlds and to finish his General Temporal Theory with the help of academics on Urras. The novel details his struggles on both Urras and his homeworld of Anarres.

Shevek experiences hatred from some of the people on Anarres due to his journey to Urras to advance his research, and due to his idea about increasing contact with the home planet. So the story touches on the themes of how people suffer for pursuing their purpose in life (suffering for one's art), and how they suffer for speaking out for change.

The book also explores the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis, that language shapes thinking, and thus, culture. The language spoken on the anarchist planet Anarres, Pravic, is a constructed language that reflects many aspects of the philosophical foundations of utopian anarchism. For instance, the use of the possessive case is strongly discouraged (a feature that also is reflected by the novel's title). Children are trained to speak only about matters that interest others; anything else is "egoizing" (pp. 28–31). There is no property ownership of any kind. In one scene, Shevek's daughter, meeting him for the first time, tells him "You can share the handkerchief I use," rather than "you may borrow my handkerchief", thus conveying the idea that the handkerchief is not owned by the girl, merely used by her.

Cover of first paperback edition

The Dispossessed looks into the mechanisms that may be developed by an anarchist society, but also the dangers of centralization and bureaucracy that might easily take over such society without the continuation of revolutionary ideology. Part of its power is that it establishes a spectrum of well-developed characters, who illustrate many types of personalities, all educated in an environment that measures people not by what they own, but by what they can do, and how they relate to other human beings. Possibly the best example of this is the character of Takver, the hero's partner, who exemplifies many virtues: loyalty, love of life and living things, perseverance, and desire for a true partnership with another person.

However, in order to insure the survival of their society in a harsh environment, the people of Anarres are taught from childhood to put the needs of their society ahead of their own personal desires. Shevek and Takver, as good Odonians, take work postings away from each other, and Shevek does hard, agricultural labor in a dusty desert instead of working on his research, because he is needed there due to a famine.

The work is sometimes said to represent one of the few modern revivals of the utopian genre, and there are many characteristics of a utopian novel found in this book. Most obviously, Shevek is an outsider when he arrives on Urras, following the "traveler" convention common in utopian literature. All of the characters portrayed in the novel have a certain spirituality or intelligence, there are no nondescript characters. It is also true to say that there are aspects of Anarres that are utopian: it is presented as a pure society that adheres to its own theories and ideals, which are starkly juxtaposed with Urras society.

When first published the book included the description "The magnificent epic of an ambiguous utopia!" which was shortened by fans to "An ambiguous utopia" and adopted as a subtitle in certain editions. The major theme of the work is the ambiguity between different notions of utopia. Anarres is not presented as a perfect society, even within the constraints of what might define an anarchist utopia. Bureaucracy, stagnation, and power structures have problematized the revolution, as Shevek comes to realize throughout the course of the novel. Moreover, Le Guin has painted a very stark picture of the natural and environmental constraints on society. Anarres citizens are forced to contend with a relatively sparse and unfruitful world.

  Much of the philosophical underpinnings and ecological concepts came from Murray Bookchin's Post-Scarcity Anarchism, according to a letter Le Guin sent to Bookchin. Anarres citizens are dispossessed not just by political choice, but by the very lack of actual resources to possess. Here, again, Le Guin draws a contrast with the natural wealth of Urras, and the competitive behaviors this fosters. Le Guin's foreword to the novel notes that her anarchism is closely akin to that of  Kropotkin, whose Mutual Aid closely assessed the influence of the natural world on competition and cooperation. 

By Alex on January 31, 2011

I have loved Ursula le Guin for a long time; I think we read A Wizard of Earthsea for school, and when I discovered there were sequels – many years later – I was very happy indeed. But it wasn’t until many years after that that I discovered she had written a lot of serious, awesome, adult work too. It took me ages to get to The Left Hand of Darkness, which now rates as one of the best SF books ever for me, and I have slowly been getting to her others. Happily, The Dispossessed is the February book for the Women of SF Book Club – a perfect opportunity.
A spoiler-filled, and whimsical, discussion
Narrative
The conceit of calling this post ‘spoilery’ makes me laugh, since the plot itself is so simple – and there’s really nothing to spoil. A man goes from one planet to another; learns some stuff; gets involved in some political stuff; goes home. Has flashbacks about meeting his partner and about his evil boss. That is, Shevek – a highly-regarded physicist – leaves his planet Anarres and goes to its sister-planet Urras to further his research. Anarres was colonised 170 years before by people fleeing Urras, determined to set a society with no property or ownership (a philosophy called Odonianism). In alternating chapters we get his experiences on Urras – learning what it is to be ‘propertarian’ and then getting involved in the beginnings of a revolution – and then his life to that point on Anarres, involving a stick-in-the-mud physicist, meeting his partner Takver, and Shevek coming to terms with his own attitude towards Odonianism. I was a bit sad that it ended with Shevek landing back on Anarres, though; I would have liked to see the reaction to his return. I guess leaving it ambiguous is part of the point.
I would not be surprised to find that a lot of people find this a very boring book, because the plot is indeed quite slow, and straightforward, and really almost nothing happens. But the point, of course, is that this is not a plot-driven book; while the plot itself is actually interesting and I enjoyed it, it’s there – I think – to enable the character-driven and politics-driven book.
I loved the past/future back and forth of the chapters. To see where Shevek ends up, while also seeing how he got there, is a fascinating narrative trick. It almost denies causality, in some way, which ties in very neatly with Shevek’s own thoughts and dealings with time and temporality: we know he got together with Takver before he meets her, we know he becomes an immensely important physicist before he becomes one. On p162 of my copy, he suggests that “The way to see how beautiful life is, is from the vantage point of death.” Although Shevek isn’t dead at the start of the book, I think we best appreciate his experiences on Uras by looking from the vantage point of Antarres… and vice versa.
Characters
Shevek is not entirely likeable, but almost always admirable – with one horrendous exception, where he possibly rapes Vea (I think it’s unclear whether he does or not). Interestingly, the fact that all we know of Vea’s behaviour is from Shevek’s point of view – coloured by his naivety – made me quite surprised when it appeared that Vea was not, actually, interested in ‘copulation’ there and then. Anyway, he has those outsider/loner characteristics that so often seem necessary for making an interesting character, even if ultimately he ends up appearing like the most ‘inside’ Odonian politics. Most of the other characters are mere sketches – even his partner Takver. This is not to say that they are caricatures or stereotypes; more, perhaps, that being entirely fleshed out is unnecessary for the story to take place.
Politics
Undoubtedly some readers will see this book as overly polemical. But tying it all in with the science, and some intense personal relationships, tempers the politics in my mind; and besides, when it’s as well-written as this, and as critical, passionate, and searing as this, polemical definitely has its place. I love that this was written in 1975 and it’s a critique – almost a damnation – of both capitalism (called propertarianism) and perhaps the ultimate expression of communism (Odonianism). USSR-type communism comes in for a brief condemnation, too, via a discussion Shevek has with the physicist from Thu, Chifoilisk. At times, both Anarres and Urras appear to be fine places to live: Urras is very familiar, while Anarres comes across as so worthy – or maybe that’s just me and my left-leaning sensibilities (it will be very interesting to see how the American readers in the book club respond…). Then on the other hand, Urras is so stifling, its attitudes towards women so 1950s-esque – and the government’s response to a mass, peaceful, demonstration is so extreme – that I shudder to think Australia could be like that. In turn, Anarres feels so poor, and has its own brand of stifling and unpleasant, that neither appears as a utopia; hence the subtitle given to the book, I guess. I think I would still opt for Anarres, given the opportunity to pick – despite le Guin warning that it too is imperfect, in its application of Odo’s philosophy.
Odonianism as a philosophy
I need to think more about what le Guin is suggesting here, I think. It has aspects of Marxism, especially of its Leninist interpretation; the ‘free love’ aspect (copulation brings no lasting attachment necessarily, has no moral component, sex is not dirty) was advocated to some extent by the Russian Alexandra Kollontai (a Bolshevik) and is also familiar from Brave New World…. Attempting to rid humans of all feelings of ownerships feels like a hopeless task to me, but it’s interesting to see how le Guin imagines it might be undertaken; her point that language itself would have to change is brilliant. On that note, the idea of making the word for work also the word for play is quite revolutionary and truly intriguing. It would have an enormous impact on people’s attitudes.
The science
I haven’t done physics in a very long time. I am sure that a physicist reading this could get frustrated by the vagueness of le Guin’s science if they wanted to, and no doubt pick holes in her ideas of simultaneity etc if they really wanted to. For me, it was techy enough that it gave Shevek and his friends the semblance of true science, without totally losing me. More interestingly, though, as a whole, is the fact that she ties the ideas of physics into ideas of morality and responsibility. How utterly awesome and mind-boggling. Too often ‘pure’ science is seen, and even sees itself, as devoid of political or moral connection. I don’t agree with that, and I’ve never seen it argued so well and passionately in fiction before.
What it made me think
Well, a lot of things, really. The sympathy I feel for Marxism is of course tempered by my knowledge of the USSR, China, etc. But Anarres shows a different way of how things could be. While things are not shown as perfect, by any means, and that the philosophy can be bent, there is still a feeling that it could work – with the will and intention of people who truly hold to Odonian philosophy, working in genuine solidarity. On a more personal level, the idea of working with time, rather than against it, was more provocative than almost anything else, given that I am already a sympathiser of the political ideas.