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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s a classic for a reason! Completely immersive and thought provoking. Definitely warrants a reread.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ursula K. Le Guin is a name I always seem to have known, but, at age 61, this is the first of her books I have read. I had such high hopes, and was gutted to be so sorely disappointed in this double award winner. Much of the time I was bored by the story and I never had any great empathy for the characters. Consequently I didn’t care very much what happened to them. If it hadn’t been a Book Club read then a DNF would have been tempting, although given its award winning status I like to think I would have persevered to the end anyway. I’m very glad I did, the readability and interest levels increased considerably once the prison and Gobrin Ice Sheet sections began, although even then I found some sections turgidly dull, long winded and repetitive - particularly the seemingly endless journey to the prison.
There is no doubt that the book raises some very interesting ideas on the subject of gender, sex and how we are inherently influenced by those aspects in our own lives and by societal pressures and expectations. I’d rather forgotten that much of classic sci-fi was written to hold a mirror up to our own society and to suggest alternative ways we may develop - many are very dystopian to highlight perceived risks, a lot fewer seem to be utopian. However, I always need a good story to underpin these musings since the ideas being explored are rarely fascinating enough for me in their own right, and that is certainly true here. Unfortunately in this case I just didn’t find one - the story is maybe 3/4 political intrigue, with some comparing and contrasting of different political systems, and 1/4 a story of friendship and misunderstandings between aliens, with some good action thrown in. Had it been weighted the other way I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed it much more.
The description of the properties of the furs, stove, sled and other equipment needed to survive the glacier crossing works well, but there are a lot of references to animals, trees and snow types which are simply meaningless names with little or no hint of a description to help the reader picture them. A map would definitely have helped too. The descriptions of towns and cities designed to survive a largely Winter world are quite well done, but the long winded alien names for both the people and their calendar I found very off putting. At one point I thought a journal was being written to describe the motives or behaviours of various characters, only to realise after a few pages that they were in fact daily journal entries. (Favourable comparisons with Tolkien’s world building skills are, in my opinion, entirely invalid.) I had a further point of extreme confusion on p108 of my copy where a character is having a nightmare and then finds himself in a very similar waking circumstance. However, I found this so poorly written that it initially seemed as if everything afterwards were part of the nightmare, not his waking experience. Even after re-reading that bit several times, it is only the fact that the story continues in the way it does that I am certain it wasn’t meant to be an over long description of the nightmare’s content.
Overall I’m glad I’ve finished it, quite the struggle though it was for a lot of the time, especially for the first 50 pages, but it certainly doesn’t make me want to read any more Le Guin - which is a real personal sadness.
There is no doubt that the book raises some very interesting ideas on the subject of gender, sex and how we are inherently influenced by those aspects in our own lives and by societal pressures and expectations. I’d rather forgotten that much of classic sci-fi was written to hold a mirror up to our own society and to suggest alternative ways we may develop - many are very dystopian to highlight perceived risks, a lot fewer seem to be utopian. However, I always need a good story to underpin these musings since the ideas being explored are rarely fascinating enough for me in their own right, and that is certainly true here. Unfortunately in this case I just didn’t find one - the story is maybe 3/4 political intrigue, with some comparing and contrasting of different political systems, and 1/4 a story of friendship and misunderstandings between aliens, with some good action thrown in. Had it been weighted the other way I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed it much more.
The description of the properties of the furs, stove, sled and other equipment needed to survive the glacier crossing works well, but there are a lot of references to animals, trees and snow types which are simply meaningless names with little or no hint of a description to help the reader picture them. A map would definitely have helped too. The descriptions of towns and cities designed to survive a largely Winter world are quite well done, but the long winded alien names for both the people and their calendar I found very off putting. At one point I thought a journal was being written to describe the motives or behaviours of various characters, only to realise after a few pages that they were in fact daily journal entries. (Favourable comparisons with Tolkien’s world building skills are, in my opinion, entirely invalid.) I had a further point of extreme confusion on p108 of my copy where a character is having a nightmare and then finds himself in a very similar waking circumstance. However, I found this so poorly written that it initially seemed as if everything afterwards were part of the nightmare, not his waking experience. Even after re-reading that bit several times, it is only the fact that the story continues in the way it does that I am certain it wasn’t meant to be an over long description of the nightmare’s content.
Overall I’m glad I’ve finished it, quite the struggle though it was for a lot of the time, especially for the first 50 pages, but it certainly doesn’t make me want to read any more Le Guin - which is a real personal sadness.
Quite emotional to write a review yet. I will need time to mourn this one.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I finally got around to reading this classic. As is often the case, the hype has grown large enough to dwarf the original a little. I think when first published this must have been sensational. That being said, I still loved it, it was very good. Very thought provoking. I'll be chewing it over for a while i suspect.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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:
Complicated