A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA

[lunabee34]

thelastgoodname and I are once again reading kid lit--this time Ursula K. LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea series.

SPOILERS FOR A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA

On the whole I did not enjoy this book. It was too interior of the mind, too devoid of human relationships, too bereft of dialogue. I have realized that when too many pages go by without dialogue, I start to get BORED! Also, the lack of chicks in this books is super annoying.

I liked the emphasis on and significance of names. I liked pretty much every part when Ged was speaking to and interacting with other people (or even creatures) but those were too few and too far between. I think the last three pages of the book were my absolute favorite because he and Vetch were, you know, DOING STUFF and TALKING TO EACH OTHER.

I honestly have nothing to say about this book other than, "I read it."


I've finished the next book, The Tombs of Atuan, and I have much to say about it, so the series does get better, thank goodness.

Comments

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I didn't like it either, but for a completely different reason: Ged's an idiot. I know his idiocy had to be played up in the first part so that he would do something really, really dumb, and I know it's a kid's book and kids can't do subtle or something, but the guy's an idiot. I'm just not interested in him. (This could make the rest of the books somewhat difficult for me.)

The missing women were really, really noticeable. The gender relations on Earthsea are extremely problematic, in fact, given the facts of the first book: women aren't allowed to do much of anything, including travel from island to island, it seems (all the people on all the boats were men). And if women aren't allowed to become wizards, but Ged has all this innate power, well that speaks to a sort of biological determinism that I'm really not happy with. Not to mention the "women's magic" is of a lower class -- and men can learn it -- while "real magic" is not given to women. If LeGuin doesn't do something about this in later books -- at least acknowledge it -- I'm going to be very unhappy.

As for Vetch, he was a cypher -- I know nothing about him except that he's a big guy who loves his family. Of course, other than Ged having a temper and a self-esteem problem, I know nothing about him, either.

I liked it a lot more than most of the Dark Is Rising books, though. (Except for The Grey King, which it turns out I sort of enjoyed and would read again many time before I picked up this one again.)

I've started The Tombs of Atuan, so I'll probably post on that soonish.