Book thoughts: Earthsea Cycle (books 1-4)

[owlmoose]

Somehow, I never got around to reading the Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin. Late last year, I was in my favorite used bookstore with a 20% off discount card, and I decided this was one of the things to remedy. So I bought the first four books, and finally finished reading them today.

It was good, but I didn't fall in love with them the way so many people have. Of the four, I liked The Tombs of Atuan the best, followed by Tehanu; the other two I was more lukewarm on. I enjoyed them well enough, I'm glad I read them, but something is missing for me, and I think it comes down to two things: the pacing, and Ged.

I don't dislike Ged, at all, and in Tombs of Atuan, especially, I liked him quite well. But I felt like I had too much distance from him, especially in A Wizard of Earthsea, which was supposed to be telling his story. I wanted a better view into his head, a better grip on what he was thinking and feeling. It made it hard for me to invest in him, and given that he's the central character in the series, it followed that I had a harder time investing in the books. It led to a lot of "telling not showing" in terms of how other characters were reacting to him, especially young Arren. Why is he inspiring such awe and devotion?

This is related to my other issue with the books, which was the pacing. Long sections of exposition, not a great balance for books that are this short, and the only one of the four that didn't feel rushed in the resolution was Tombs of Atuan. This might be personal preference, and it might be my modern reading tastes, but I had a hard time sinking in to any of the others, losing myself in the characters and their world.

I do want to mention one other thing about Tehanu; when I was talking to Jed about my progress in reading the series (I was working on Farthest Shore at the time, and finding it slow going), he mentioned that he avoided reading Tehanu for many years because people described it to him as a "feminist polemic". This is a theme I see in GoodReads reviews, too, and I find it troublesome. Unless the very fact of pointing out that women are oppressed in a society that doesn't allow them to own land or practice magic or hold positions of authority make a book a "polemic", it doesn't even come close. Yes, the book certainly deals with themes regarding the treatment of women in the world of the book (in ways that reflect on our own world), but I found the touch fairly deft, even as LeGuin was making her points. If this is what a feminist polemic looks like, then I say the world needs a whole lot more of them.

Comments

[stealth_noodle]

I'm kind of comforted that I'm not the only one who's taken forever to get around to reading these! They are slowly working their way to the top of my to-read list, so SOON.

Unless the very fact of pointing out that women are oppressed in a society that doesn't allow them to own land or practice magic or hold positions of authority make a book a "polemic",

This would be a bit less depressing if you were only seeing this attitude in reviews at the time of publication, rather than current GoodReads reviews. Sigh.

[owlmoose]

It makes me think of that statistic I often hear cited: if a group is gender balanced, 50% male/50% female, people actually perceive it as being slanted toward women. It takes a notable majority of men before people think of it as "balanced". So it seems like it almost doesn't matter how gently or deftly you bring the topic up: you challenge privilege or the status quo, people see it as a threat.

[sarasa_cat]

I've heard something (depressingly) similar: something along the lines of a group needs to have at lead 33% women for women to have a presence, but not much more than that before the group is considered negatively-gynocentric. :/

[sarasa_cat]

I originally read the Earthsea series when I was pretty young and I enjoyed it a good deal then. A couple of years ago I decided to reread the series (but I only reread the first two) and what struck me then was how much it read like YA fiction (which, of course, it is). The first book did have a lot of telling but I guess I just accepted that because of it felt targeted to the younger-end of YA??? *shrugs*

I also like Ged but in that same sort of distant telling way. He has an interesting tale, I enjoyed it, but yes. Everything you said. I definitely remember liking the books far, far more when I was 12.

Tehanu & feminist polemic: this makes me sad.

[owlmoose]

I like some YA fiction first read as an adult, but I do wonder if this would have spoken to me more if I'd read it when I was in the target audience.

[sarasa_cat]

I also enjoy reading certain new(ish) YA fiction as an adult, although I know that I consciously evaluate that fiction as YA fiction.

I don't know how much of Le Guin's other fiction you have read. I vaguely remember my adult read of the Earthsea series was partly colored by my expectations from more recent Le Guin novels aimed at adult (16+) readership.

I also wonder if the lack of full enjoyability today for adult readers like us is due to Earthsea being something Le Guin wrote pretty early in her career (thus, she was less technically accomplished, perhaps??), and changing audience expectations since the publication dates for the original trilogy (1968-1972).

Thinking back, I young!me found the specific fantasy elements of that world the most compelling thing.