Reviews

If you're looking for a typical Ursula LeGuin, this is not it. I'd never even heard of it until it was mentioned online somewhere, and it seems very a-typical to me. It's good, very short, and not entirely satisfying.

chandleratk's review against another edition

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5.0

So simple and so beautiful. concise and universal. Like pulling out a story that already existed within me.

mikimeiko's review against another edition

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4.0

Un libro da leggere quando hai tipo 13 anni e non capisci niente di quello che sta succedendo dentro e attorno a te, e poi da rileggere ancora e ancora perchè semplicemente non puoi farne a meno.

melk's review

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

blathering's review against another edition

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4.0

I think this tiny novella has sat on a bookshelf and moved with me for decades. This evening it fell off the shelf and asked to be read.

I'm some ways it is very mid70s... A $3k new car! And in other ways it us timeless. How do we figure out who we are and how do we find our way in the world. 17 is a long way in my past but I can still remember being lost and LeGuin captures that beautifully.

sharpestlives's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

halfway through the novella, the main character/narrator, Owen, describes Thorn, the imaginary world he came up with when he was still a child. and while there were many emotional, painfully relatable moments throughout the story, it was this description that almost brought me to tears. I'm so glad I read this.

(the Italian edition is titled "Agata e pietra nera", agate and the black rock. as I went into this book without any prior knowledge, I expected Agata to be the name of one of the characters; I was delighted to find out it actually comes from one of the most memorable scenes -- "She gave me the black rock, and I gave her the agate.")

"Safety in numbers. I'm not me. I'm a basketball letter. I'm a popular kid. I'm my friend's friend. I'm a black leather growth on a Honda. I'm a member. I'm a teenager. You can't see me, all you can see is us. We're safe."

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