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Violanthe
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 REVIEW: Wizard of Earthsea
Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:29 pm |
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Our newest article on ARWZ is a review of The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin.
You can read the review here:
https://www.arwz.com/zinereviewSKS36.php
So, has anyone else read this book? Do you agree or disagree with the review? Have you read any other books by this author? What's your take on those?
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Last edited by Violanthe on Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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pecooper
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:03 pm |
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I read The Wizard of Earthsea when it was first published in 1968. There weren't a whole lot of fantasies being published in those days. It was a wonderful book for a teenager and it still reads beautifully. I can also recommend the sequels, The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore. While these books are marketed as being for young adults, they are not watered down. Adults will appreciate them, as well.
Le Guin abandoned the series for 18 years. When she started writing books in it again she had a very different style and set of priorities. I'm not sure how suitable her later books are for young adults, although grownups might appreciate them. Any of Le Guin's work is worth, at least, trying.
| Quote: | | LeGuin's writing style, unfortunately, did not catch on as well as her concepts. Hers is a traditionally literary style, elegant in its economy. Aspiring fantasy writers would benefit from reading this book as an example of how imaginative and evocative language can be, even in a fantasy, when it is uncluttered by much of the mess that plagues modern fantasists. |
I agree very much with the review, particularly the statement above. |
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Violanthe
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Peter
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:10 pm |
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| Re: later books. Tehanu is a much different work to the first three. Far grimmer book and lacks the utter sense of authority Le Guin wrote the first three with. |
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pecooper
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:45 pm |
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| Violanthe wrote: | | I didn't read this until I was older, but I remember reading an associated short story back in school. Something where a character's not-true name was Underhill? |
I believe that Le Guin did write some short stories set in the Earthsea universe. I'm not sure that they have ever been collected into their own book, though, or even if there are enough of them to warrant it. The name Underhill does sound familiar, though I can't pin down where it's from.
Did you read your story as part of your curriculum, or was it something you discovered in a book? |
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Peter
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:12 am |
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| The only "Underhill" I know that was used as a false name was by Frodo in the Fellowship of the Ring. I don't remember it at all in the Earthsea books. Ged had another name but it wasn't Underhill, AFAIK. |
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Mervi
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:59 am |
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| pecooper wrote: | [
I believe that Le Guin did write some short stories set in the Earthsea universe. I'm not sure that they have ever been collected into their own book, though, or even if there are enough of them to warrant it. |
Tales from Earthsea. It's even been translated into Finnish. There's also The Other Wind about a sorcerer Alder. |
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Violanthe
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:50 am |
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| Quote: | | Did you read your story as part of your curriculum, or was it something you discovered in a book? |
It was one of the books in our "Reading" text book, that is, a book specifically published as a compendium of short stories for school teaching, complete with homework questions and bolded/glossed vocabulary words.
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Violet "Violanthe" Kane
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Khuly
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:20 pm |
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| I agree with the Review, although I found the books a little less exciting than it leads one to believe (probably because I read too much, like it says). I think her writing style was brave, considering it's more difficult to "get into" than others. Good book, but I don't see myself reading them again in the near future |
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Violanthe
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