2011 Reading #49: The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
42. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
43. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
44. Noise by Darin Bradley.
45. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.
46. The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin.
47. Fugitive Days: A Memoir by Bill Ayers.
48. Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine.
49. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin. I've been trying to figure out the point at which things shifted for Le Guin, the point at which she made the transition from writing what were more or less adventure stories about men to writing more complex, less easy-to-classify stories that are mostly about women. And then at WisCon last weekend I was reading this over my ConSuite breakfast, and someone told me that this book is where it changed; I forget the full explanation, but it had something to do with Le Guin writing this book while she was stalled out on Malafrena, where she was apparently having trouble with the gender roles. I'm not sure if this is generally considered to be the pivot point, but I could believe it; it's a book about nonviolent resistance, and a story in which the women protag as much as the men, and are (mostly) more clear-headed about it. Basically it's a story about a prison planet on which a population of strongmen from the Argentinean hacienda system try to make a population of peace activist newcomers into serfs and slaves; the collision is not pretty or neat or good for either side, but it is convincing, and characteristic of the sort of stories that Le Guin still tells, I think.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
42. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
43. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
44. Noise by Darin Bradley.
45. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.
46. The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin.
47. Fugitive Days: A Memoir by Bill Ayers.
48. Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine.
49. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin. I've been trying to figure out the point at which things shifted for Le Guin, the point at which she made the transition from writing what were more or less adventure stories about men to writing more complex, less easy-to-classify stories that are mostly about women. And then at WisCon last weekend I was reading this over my ConSuite breakfast, and someone told me that this book is where it changed; I forget the full explanation, but it had something to do with Le Guin writing this book while she was stalled out on Malafrena, where she was apparently having trouble with the gender roles. I'm not sure if this is generally considered to be the pivot point, but I could believe it; it's a book about nonviolent resistance, and a story in which the women protag as much as the men, and are (mostly) more clear-headed about it. Basically it's a story about a prison planet on which a population of strongmen from the Argentinean hacienda system try to make a population of peace activist newcomers into serfs and slaves; the collision is not pretty or neat or good for either side, but it is convincing, and characteristic of the sort of stories that Le Guin still tells, I think.