Kevin's Watch

danlo wrote:Tehanu is essential to the last two books! Have you read them (The Other Wind is amazing!)?

No, I haven't. For a long time I didn't realise they existed, and once I did discover them, my experience of Tehanu put me off.

Le Guin has come out with a second book of the Hainish (Left Hand of Darkness) world called The Telling, which is getting very good reviews. I haven't read it yet but posted a synopsis in the Le Guin forum at Ahira's Hangar.

danlo wrote:Le Guin has come out with a second book of the Hainish (Left Hand of Darkness) world called The Telling, which is getting very good reviews. I haven't read it yet but posted a synopsis in the Le Guin forum at Ahira's Hangar.

it's VERY VERY good!!! it was the first one i read of the Hainish novels as i had only just finished the Earthsea books when The Telling came out and Leguin came here to San Francisco for a reading. i bought The Telling to have signed at the reading.

Leguin read from it...she was great! just an incredible storyteller and one of THE nicest and engaging authors i've ever met at a reading.

How on earth did I miss this thread until now?!??

dunno


fist. danlo. you guys wanna read my paper? ursula k leguin is in it.

you and danlo might like it fist.

What paper? I see you mentioned it on the first page. But sure!

Lord Foul wrote:I like Le Guin's style: very simple and clean, possessing a Taoist calm. I think Fist once said it retains tranquility even when less-than-tranquil events are happening. Her mode of writing is certainly suited to sailing and islands and all that contemplative stuff of the seashore.

I talk about the Earthsea/Taoism connection here:
p210.ezboard.com/fahirashangarfrm37.showMessageRange?topicID=2.topic&start=21&stop=40
Highdrake's 2nd post, which is the 6th post on the page.

Murrin wrote:I did not enjoy Tehanu much when I read it, but that was a long time ago. I would say The Farthest Shore was the one I had the most difficulty with, though.

And like CovJr, I thought The Tombs of Atuan was the best one.

Can I put a third on that?

I'll have to try Tehanu again at some point. I first tried it after reading the first three Earthsea books, and at the time it moved too slow for me. It wasn't because the main character is a woman, but because the story seemed to start off a little sluggishly. The character is actually pretty interesting in Tombs, so I was interested in reading another story with the character, but as a teenager it didn't move quick enough for me. Adulthood may have perhaps changed that, we'll see when I give it another try.

Oh my goodness...

Happens to us all.

RIP

--A

This threa is a lot older than I realised! I reread the first four Earthsea books about 5 or 6 years ago, and contrary to what I said in here back in 2006, I ended up loving Tehanu, and I'm sure I've been vocal about it being my favourite Earthsea book ever since.

I attempted to write about it back then, but ended up putting what I wrote to one side and never finishing it - until yesterday, when I finally gave it the revision it needed. This was after feedback from ussussimiel and LuciMay I received way back in 2013, and I think the piece is all the better for it. You can read my thoughts on Tehanu here.

Yeah, it's been my favourite for a long time too. The darkest and most complex of the 4.

--A

As I am in the market for a new epic fantasy saga, I am reading this with interest. Thing is, I know I read at least the first 2 books, possibly all 4, of Earthsea, about 500 years ago and don't recall a single thing about them. And I do remember books I read that long ago, some of them. I also read Left Hand and some others (my Dad was bingeing on LeGuin for awhile and I got them when he was done).

I think there was a book about a woman who leaves her farm, has some adventures, returns to the farm with a stray, scarred child... it was the first time I saw the term "milch cow" and had to look it up. Any clues what that was? (maybe not even LeGuin, I just feel like it was one of hers)

I guess I'll do the sample thing on Amazon.

Sounds like you remembered some early parts of Tehanu, the fourth Earthsea book. Also my favourite of them.

yep I think you're remembering some of Tehanu as well Deer.

read em again. they're totally worth it.


here's my favorite passage from The Other Wind (the fifth novel and sequel to Tehanu)

"I think," Tehanu said in her soft, strange voice, "that when I die, I can breathe back the breath that made me live. I can give back to the world all that I didn't do. All that I might have been and couldn't be. All the choices I didn't make. All the things I lost and spent and wasted. I can give them back to the world. To the lives that haven't been lived yet. That will be my gift back to the world that gave me the life I did live, the love I loved, the breath I breathed."

Congratulations, deer, on choosing to read Earthsea!!!

Dragonfly comes after Tehanu, before The Other Wind. It is a novella, or short story, or whatever, in a collection called Tales from Earthsea. There are other excellent stories in that collection that are not part of the overall story arch. But they add soooo much!

Fist and Faith wrote:Congratulations, deer, on choosing to read Earthsea!!!

Dragonfly comes after Tehanu, before The Other Wind. It is a novella, or short story, or whatever, in a collection called Tales from Earthsea. There are other excellent stories in that collection that are not part of the overall story arch. But they add soooo much!

yep. I've got that one too. (tales from earthsea I mean) <3