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

[jadelennox]

(Lunabee, hi, poking in my head from tlg's place)

Oh, trust me, it's social commentary. And she recants her previous political philosophy with every book! Tombs was a reaction to gender in Wizard, and at the time, was reasonably feminist. When you're done with the series, you might want to read some of her commentary on it, which is fascinating stuff.

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

Social commentary with hindsight, or intentionally from the start? If, as you say, Tehanu was a response to Tombs, then she's growing as she's writing (which is great for her as a person and a writer, but less so for a reader reading the books in one go).

And yeah, Tombs was exactly what I would have expected from the time and the person (in a good way).

[jadelennox]

I think when she wrote Tombs, she was bringing female protagonists intentionally into an all male world, and she did it in a way which made sense at the time. Years later, she looked back at her own strange attempts at gender politics and was appalled, and that comes out in Tehanu. So yes, it's weird for the reader reading in one go.

It's strange for me, because she became much more of a gender feminist than I am. But reading the books as the development of a writer is fascinating to me. As opposed to when I was little and was just thrilled to have Tenar at all (in those pre-Tamora Peirce pre-Robin McKinley days, when Tenar was the best we got).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

*waves*

Hi. :)

I think I will check out the commentary. That sounds interesting to me.