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A review by theanitaalvarez
Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
My professor at the Children’s Lit course I took last semester said that Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the best fantasy authors around. And she recommended this trilogy (the second book Voices in particular, but I like reading sagas in order) because she loved it. So, here am I, a nerd through and through and reading this in my holidays.
I enjoyed the story a lot. Though, more than the story per se, I enjoyed firs the world building behind this novel. It is set in a world divided between the Lowlands and the Uplands. People in the Uplands are kind of a mixture between Highlanders and Vikings (they raid) and they are sometimes born with certain powers, the Gifts, which are different for each clan. In the case of Orrec, the protagonist/narrator of this novel, it is “unmaking”, which is a fancy way of saying “to kill”.
Orrec’s family is known because they can kill or destroy things with their sight. When Orrec finally shows his power, they discover that not only he has it, but it is also a wild gift. He can’t control it, despite all the training his father has given him through the years. So, his parents decide to make him wear a blindfold, less the gift gets out of control.
Orrec’s best friend is a girl his age, Gry. Her gift is to call the animals, but she refuses to use it for hunting, as her parents expect her to do.
This is a coming-of-age novel, and it deals with many topics. Orrec looks for independence beside his family’s expectations (which could be represented by his power), and his knowledge as an alternate source of power. His mother is from the Lowlands (called Callucs as a derogatory term), and she is the only one in the uplands who actually know how to read, and she teaches Gry and Orrec too.
His change is related to something we all get at some point in our lives: we realize we’re not our parents and we need to discover who we are and what we want to do with our lives. Even if our families don’t have death glare powers, we still have to deal with those issues.
There’s also something about storytelling. I think there’s an essay by Le Guin which talks about the different stories told by women and men in the stone age, and I think these ideas play a role in this novel. Just take a look at the stories that Canoc and Melle tell Orrec and Gry, they are completely different. Hers are about heroes who do the right thing, while his are about great displays of power.
My only problem with the book was that a certain point I felt I was a so immersed in the world (and the stories they told) that the actual plot was kind of lost for me. And then I got a lot of events quickly succeeding each other and the story ended. I was left wanting more. A lot more.
I enjoyed this novel a lot and I can’t wait to read the next one (which my professor said was her favorite).
I enjoyed the story a lot. Though, more than the story per se, I enjoyed firs the world building behind this novel. It is set in a world divided between the Lowlands and the Uplands. People in the Uplands are kind of a mixture between Highlanders and Vikings (they raid) and they are sometimes born with certain powers, the Gifts, which are different for each clan. In the case of Orrec, the protagonist/narrator of this novel, it is “unmaking”, which is a fancy way of saying “to kill”.
Orrec’s family is known because they can kill or destroy things with their sight. When Orrec finally shows his power, they discover that not only he has it, but it is also a wild gift. He can’t control it, despite all the training his father has given him through the years. So, his parents decide to make him wear a blindfold, less the gift gets out of control.
Orrec’s best friend is a girl his age, Gry. Her gift is to call the animals, but she refuses to use it for hunting, as her parents expect her to do.
This is a coming-of-age novel, and it deals with many topics. Orrec looks for independence beside his family’s expectations (which could be represented by his power), and his knowledge as an alternate source of power. His mother is from the Lowlands (called Callucs as a derogatory term), and she is the only one in the uplands who actually know how to read, and she teaches Gry and Orrec too.
His change is related to something we all get at some point in our lives: we realize we’re not our parents and we need to discover who we are and what we want to do with our lives. Even if our families don’t have death glare powers, we still have to deal with those issues.
There’s also something about storytelling. I think there’s an essay by Le Guin which talks about the different stories told by women and men in the stone age, and I think these ideas play a role in this novel. Just take a look at the stories that Canoc and Melle tell Orrec and Gry, they are completely different. Hers are about heroes who do the right thing, while his are about great displays of power.
My only problem with the book was that a certain point I felt I was a so immersed in the world (and the stories they told) that the actual plot was kind of lost for me. And then I got a lot of events quickly succeeding each other and the story ended. I was left wanting more. A lot more.
I enjoyed this novel a lot and I can’t wait to read the next one (which my professor said was her favorite).