Reviews

Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin

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chazzychax's review

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

prouvaire's review

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challenging hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i was hooked to read this collection when i stumbled on the quote about the nature of war and peace (which turned out to be on the very first page of the first story)

the plots are your usual le guin, meandering but pleasurable, often ending in soaring bittersweetness.

this collection is about the caste- and slavery-based society in planets werel and yeowe. le guin didn't disappoint in portraying the characters in a very real and human way. the main conflict, which was the abolishment of slavery and violent transformation of a racist society, could easily be unraveled simplistically, but was instead told with such heartfelt sympathy and gentleness. we all must live with what our ancestors have given us, and only by reckoning with that fact, we can change it.

i also liked the perspective changes and time jumps, it's a fun alternative way to the usual 'novel' way to tell a long form story about a subject

beautifuldissonance's review

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dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

drtone's review against another edition

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3.0

This book was good. It was nice to see different perspectives between a planet and its moon and their war for independence. It was hard for me to keep track of all the characters though. I think I would enjoy it more the second time through.

richaro's review

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reflective medium-paced

5.0

lory_enterenchanted's review

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challenging dark sad tense

3.5

Five long stories or short novellas set on a world struggling to transform an oppressive, enslaving regime. The enslavement is race-based but posits a dark-skinned enslaving class, a step that may seem insensitive on Le Guin's part, though they are clearly differentiated from dark-skinned Earth-humans, having descended from a common ancestor many ages ago and having a different, bluish skin tone and other physical adaptations.

Aside from that -- these are mainly grim stories with lots of pain and suffering, and faint glimpses of "forgiveness." In the first couple of stories I found it disappointing that sexual union was presented as the solution, equated with forgiveness. Others moved away from this trope, which was good. The story that stuck with me the most was "A Woman's Liberation," with its moving personal narrative of struggle to escape the mindset as well as the physical limitations of slavery. I also enjoyed the glimpse of Hain in "A Man of the People", which was also about a mindset, not of slavery but of insularity and blocking out other ways of viewing the world. It tried to posit a way this could be made the basis of a healthy society, which is fascinating to think about (since this human tendency is not going away any time soon.)