Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers.

By a strange coincidence, I started this book at the same time that Nymeth was starting it. We decided to do a buddy review. These are her questions for me. You can read my questions for her on her blog.

What was your favourite scene? Why?
- I think my favourite scene was when Lavinia and her friend went down to the beach to see Lavinia's husband for the first time. You have to picture it. Two teenage girls sneak away from their home to spy on a group of soldiers from a foreign land. They could be the enemy, so it was dangerous in the first place, but they also should have been on guard and these girls managed to watch them for quite some time. I thought it was it was a quaint scene in the midst of all the other drama of the time. That is not to say that there were not other scenes that I enjoyed, but that is the one that came to mind first.

What did you think about the way Le Guin framed the story?
- I really liked it. In a way, you knew the whole story before it even unfolded, but if you were like me, there were a lot of names being revealed and without a context I forgot most of the story. I wasn't sure how it would work having Lavinia aware of what was going to happen before it happened, but it turned out fine in the end. It makes you think, really. Le Guin wrote her novel as a poet was telling Lavinia's story. What if that is all that living is? Several books I have read lately have used this idea and I have to admit that it does sometimes give me pause.

What about the setting? I know not all that much is known about Bronze Age Italy, so there isn’t much we can compare it with, but did you find it convincing?
- Like you said, not a lot is known about the history that is represented, but there was nothing in the book that made me think it was entirely implausible. I think for what we know about this time period in history, Le Guin did a very good job of representing it. She didn't try to go too far out of the realm of possibilty just because it is a little known part of history and she is essentially a sci-fi/fantasy author, so I think it worked. I enjoyed it, anyway!

What did you think of Aeneas’ son Ascanius?
- Well, I am not really all that sure. I was thinking this very question while reading this book, to be entirely honest. At times I didn't like him, but there were other times that felt sorry for him. I think he just felt lost. He had been through a lot and was not really sure what was the correct way to handle things anymore. He wanted very much for his father to be proud of him, but at the same time he wasn't sure how to go about doing that. He also lived a lifestyle that was not exactly proper for the times, so he often had to live a lie. By the end of the book, I actually didn't mind him, but in the beginning he was not my favourite character. I also think he got blamed for things that were not really within his control, which made him look even worse than he actually was.

Was there anything about the novel you were less than happy with?
- Actually, I think I consider this my favourite Ursula Le Guin novel. It reminds me of Marion Zimmer Bradley and other female-told novels. There are not enough books of this nature out there, so you have to appreciate what you have. Ursula is an author that I consider a hit or miss author with me, so to be able to say that I loved this book is very rare when she is considered. I am still not a huge fan of her writing style, or maybe voice is the best way to word it, but it worked for this novel. I recommend it!

Another book that I wish I had bought and not just read through the library...

Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin (The Annals of the Western Shore Trilogy, Book 2)

*This was supposed to be posted on Wednesday. I got my days of the week mixed up! Sorry I am late!*

Books Completed: 47
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 360
Publication Date: March 4, 2008

Reason for Reading: Next in the Series. Buddy review with Chris, head on over to his blog to read his answers to my questions!

Ansul was once a peaceful town filled with libraries, schools, and temples. But that was long ago, and the conquerors of this coastal city consider reading and writing to be acts punishable by death. And they believe the Oracle House, where the last few undestroyed books are hidden, is seething with demons. But to seventeen-year-old Memer, the house is the only place where she feels truly safe. Then an Uplands poet named Orrec and his wife, Gry, arrive, and everything in Memer's life begins to change. Will she and the people of Ansul at last be brave enough to rebel against their oppressors? Includes an interview with the author and a teaser to the third book in the series,Powers.

1. How do you think Voices compared to Gifts?
I really liked Gifts, so it was hard to beat it, but Voices succeeded! I actually really liked Voices and thought it was better than Gifts. They are both good reads, though. Voices just spoke to me more than Gifts did. It is unusual for the second book in a trilogy to be the better book, but I think it is a mark of how good an author Le Guin is that she managed to accomplish that.

2. Do you think it's necessary to read Gifts before reading Voices?

Nope. Voices has some of the characters from Gifts, but it is an entirely different story set in an entirely different town. Even if you hadn't read Gifts you would still be able to figure out what was going on in Voices.

3. What did you think of the library?

I thought the library was one of the best aspects of the book. Reading about Memer exploring the library and visiting with the books that were banned from society in their entirety was really well written. I also enjoyed the description of the books and the shelves. I see libraries all the time and pretty much have my own at my house, but Memer was seeing something that not very many people in her society had seen before. It was nice to see through the eyes of someone who doesn't take a library for granted.

4. How about Memer? Did you like her? Did you picture her as looking like she does on the cover?

Memer was a really good character. She wasn't overly immature, so I didn't find her annoying as she told the story. I enjoyed reading about her world and her adventures. She was a very likable character. As to how she looked, I probably could see most of the cover picture in my head, but the hairdo was a bit surprising.

5. What did you think of Orrec and Gry in this book? And how about Shetar?
I really liked all the secondary characters. Orrec and Gry were the main characters from the first book, so I enjoyed how Le Guin worked them into the story, but still managed to make Memer the central character and the story fresh and original. In many ways you also go to know the characters better by seeing them through someone elses' eyes.

6. What did you love about the book?
One of the things that I have always loved about Le Guin's books is her diversity of characters. Even in fantasy novels of the make-believe, the characters are often white men or women. Le Guin has always been revolutionary in the fact that she doesn't do what everyone else does. She also doesn't specify skin colour in many cases. It is common for people to read and just assume that the characters are white because that is what is seen normally, but that is not something you can assume about Le Guin.

7. Anything you dislike about the book?
Nothing that jumps right out at me. Unfortunately, it is has been a couple weeks since I finished this book, so it is not as fresh in my memory as it once was!

Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin (The Annals of the Western Shore Trilogy, Book 1)

Books Completed: 32
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 300
Publication Date: March 4, 2006

Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability--with a glance, a gesture, a word--to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill. In this beautifully crafted story, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world's darkness, gifts of light. Includes a reader's guide and a sample chapter from the companion title Voices.

I started this book with some worries. I read a couple standalone books by Le Guin many years ago. I couldn't even begin to tell you when anymore! I loved them. One of them was Left Hand of Darkness. I do remember that. Anyway, a few years went by and I had to read Le Guin again in one of my university classes. The book was Tales from Earthsea. I was excited to read it because I had been meaning to get back to Le Guin and it just hadn't happened. I hated the book. I just could not get interested in anything that it said, and I remember leading some very entertaining discussions in university because of my extreme dislike of the novel. That being said, I still bought a copy of A Wizard of Earthsea. I don't like to be close-minded, so I figured I should give the series another chance. I read it last year and, well, I just don't think that Earthsea is for me. When I first joined the library I was going through my wish list and came across Gifts. I decided to give Le Guin one more chance.

That's a long backstory, but I finished Gifts the other day and I actually liked it! I went into it expecting that this was probably going to be my last try at liking Le Guin, so I didn't have super high expectations. Thankfully, this trilogy seems to work for me, so I have already requested the next book from the library. The novel is narrated by Orrec, a young boy living in the Uplands. The people are poor, but they have extraordinary Gifts. It is just accepted that you learn your gifts, and marriages are planned to have the best chance of success with them. As a result of the gifts, there is a lot of warfare amongst the scattered groups. If you don't have a power or don't use your power, you are often considered a waste. Orrec's power is too powerful, though, and he is worried that he will hurt the ones that he loves. In desperation he puts on a blindfold and lives in a dark world. His friend Gry helps him navigate for the next couple years of his life.

Orrec and Gry are not like the other people of the community, though. They are not accepting of all that their gift does for them, which will lead to some big decisions at the end of the book. Orrec may not be able to see, but he tells the story with a clarity that is captivating. Gry is a wonderful secondary character, as well. It is fun to watch these two grow up together. I look forward to seeing what Le Guin has planned for the next book in the trilogy.

Tales from Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin (January/06)

January had a few bad books in it, and this was another one. I had to read it for school, which was fine, but the professor chose a book in the middle of the Earthsea series and it really did not make much sense to the members of the class that had not read any of the books before. Boring was an understatement, people actually fell asleep attempting the pages of the book. It is laughable because there was a comment in the critique page where a reviewer said something along the lines that if you had not read the series before, this would be a good introduction. Wrong!

There were so many things wrong with this book, but I will give Ursuala the credit that it would likely be better for the reader if they had read the rest of the books before reading this one. It is broken up into a novella called "The Finder" and a few short stories. From what I gather, in the Earthsea series the women are under the men, and one of the purposes of this story was to explain how they got to be that way. It was the fault of the main character of the story, Otter. He had special powers and in his town those with special powers were allowed only to work for the king, so his family tried to hide his gifts from the rest of the town. It did not work and Otter was eventually taken into the Kings service. With the help of a young woman on her last legs, though, his captivity did not last long before he was off having his adventures. He had been bid by the women of the young women's town to find an island where the magical folks lived that was run by women. Otter spent years looking for this island.

When he found it, yes it was ran by women, but that did not withstand the arrival of Otter. It was not long before he was making the decisions for the good of the community and the women were slowly being pushed to the sidelines. I am not even sure if the women knew it was happening, but by the later books in the Earthsea series, men ruled the world. Which is sad. It was a dull explanation, but I find myself one day planning to read the rest of the books in the series to see if this novel would be better to me if I had. It is on my to-do list I suppose.

Overall, though, a terrible book that I would not recommend to anyone unless you plan to read the rest of the series. My rating may change if I ever do that.

2/5

Good for a nap, though!

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le. Guin (January/06)

Sometimes when I read a short story or an article for school that I enjoy, I include it in my reading numbers. It only happens from time to time, but there was something in this short piece by Ursula K. Le Guin that caught my eye. It is called "The Ones that Walk Away from Omelas". A very short little story, I believe it is part of a larger collection, but I am reading it online. I had to read for my fantasy English class, and I am glad that I did.

It is about a town called Omelas, a what would appear to be Utopian town. The people are always merry, they do not have any of what people in our society call "sins", and generally live in harmony with one another. The horses were happy to race, the race is one of the scenes that the author uses to show the tranquility of the people. There is no King, it seems to be a town of such perfection that the people are able to get by without leadership. They have no need to rebell. They do not have slaves and they are not barbaric, they are also not simple people. They have the things that they need to get by.

Le Guin has the narrator compare this society to ours, saying that we can not understand it because we look on happiness as stupid. There is one good quote in this piece that I feel I must point out. At one point the narrator says "... to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else." Isn't that just so true, though? Especially in this society where wars are fight, people are killed, lives are destroyed. We truly do not know what it is to be happy.

Even in this perfect society, though, there is still what we would deem inperfection. In order for this society to stay as it is a six-year-old child is treated cruelly. In return for the perservation of many, one child is forced to live without a cruel word. Even the most perfect has its secrets.