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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
fast-paced
adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
If there is any book by Le Guin that I've read thus far which clearly shows her upbringing under 2 anthropologists, it is this one. While other stories of hers challenge or subvert our expectations on gender, race, and class by directly choosing to not follow the modern cultural norms in western society from which she wrote, Planet of Exile chooses to display those biases and bigotries through the characters and in doing so challenges the reader to consider their own. Le Guin, through characters on two sides of a cultural divide, similarly challenges traditional anthropological paradigms in an almost post-modernist critique of the classification of societies and culture. I cannot more highly recommend this book to Le Guin fans, and to those exploring her works for the first time.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The main strength of this story, for me, is in the depiction of two societies that consider themselves "men" and the other "not-men." And sure, they have differing biology. Different cultural norms. Different knowledge and history. But because we see points of view from both groups, we can see how they are all "men." Men dealing with the growing impotency of advanced age, judgment from peers, the struggle of principle and pragmatism against distrust and fear of the other.
The plot itself was unfortunately sparse, with a significant portion dedicated to a slow effort to fend off a poorly executed siege of the city. Particularly for a story of its brevity, it felt to me like this stretched for too long without quite enough to say. A further exploration of the relationship between the cultures and the main characters would have elevated this story significantly. For that, I think George RR Martin's a Song of Ice and Fire can be considered an apt substitute - with a similar overarching plot and similar themes (as regards the free folk and the people of Westeros), enough space is given to the topic to satisfy. And between the two, the story can even be considered complete.
The plot itself was unfortunately sparse, with a significant portion dedicated to a slow effort to fend off a poorly executed siege of the city. Particularly for a story of its brevity, it felt to me like this stretched for too long without quite enough to say. A further exploration of the relationship between the cultures and the main characters would have elevated this story significantly. For that, I think George RR Martin's a Song of Ice and Fire can be considered an apt substitute - with a similar overarching plot and similar themes (as regards the free folk and the people of Westeros), enough space is given to the topic to satisfy. And between the two, the story can even be considered complete.