What you consider the 10 best books ever

<snip earlier stuff>
Some minor spoilers are included below, just in case you haven't read
the later novels.

  > > That's pretty much the way I felt about Tehanu as well - the complete
  > > change of character felt very wrong, and changed the atmosphere of the
  > > books dramatically.
  > > When I re-read the series, I treat Tehanu and The Other Wind as a
  > > separate series to the original trilogy. It's less grating that way.
  > >
  > > I think the story would have made it's feminist point far better if
  > > the women had achieved their power without having to remove Ged's
  > > magic. There was no reason to alter Ged so dramatically - it only
  > > enforces the now out of date sterotype that women can't achieve
  > > equality unless the men have their power removed.
 >
 > I disagree. Ged's loss of power was set up in _The Farthest Shore_; he lost
 > his power in conquering the power of death - LeGuin offers an alternative
 > but lets that be the legend; it's only a possibility that he still can do
 > magic. When he flies off into the sunset he is "done with doing."
I always preferred the 'legend' ending. I didn't think that he spent
his power conquering death. Cob had to give up his power to come back
to life (the way was too narrow) but Ged had the power to close the
gap and come back to life another way. From my viewpoint, this
appeared much like when he created the fog in WoE - he overspent his
power, but it eventually returned (with help from Ogion)
So, at the end of TFS, he was 'done with doing', but still had his
power.

 > However, I found it completely within character that he would be shattered by finding himself without power, something that had always been a source of joy for him.
I agree with him being shattered. I just found that he was portrayed
very differently in Tehanu and it didn't seem to fit. The Other Wind
was a little better - he could still speak with Dragons, provide
guidance to the Masters of Roke etc, he just didn't have any magic
left.
Once we found out who Kalessin really was, I had hoped he would be
able to restore Ged's power ( again, like Ogion )

 > I don't think that Tenar gained power because Ged lost his - she was
 > already strong before he came.
Agreed. I didn't have a problem with the contrast between Ged and
Tenar in Tehanu, I just disliked the potrayal of Ged - he seemed
insignificant to the story.
It wasn't until TOW that I thought the contrast was apparent - Ged
with no power and Irian taking up that role. Again, Ged seemed largely
insignificant to the tale. The story could have been told as a
Ged-free Earthsea story with no significant difference and I wouldn't
have had an issue.

 > That's the point; that there's value in a woman's life as wife as mother and > so on. They both gain more together.
 > And the "feminist point" is that there's heroism in being, not just in
 > doing...
To me the "feminist point" appeared to be the emerging power of women.
The female characters could easily have taken a much more prominent
role while still maintaining Ged's own character. This would have
resulted in a more complete world, rather than the re-invented feeling
I got from the later novels.
The "heroism in being" doesn't strike me as a feminist point - it
applies equally to everyone - Tenar, Ged and Tehanu.

There is an interview doing the rounds in which UKLG says (and I'm
paraphrasing here) at the time of WoE, she was required to write from
the male perspective. Now that times have progressed, she was able to
write from the female perspective. To me it seemed that UKLG was
trying to tear down all the previous ideas and replace them with a
more modern / personal viewpoint. Personally I would have preferred
these ideas if they were incorporated into the existing world a little
more smoothly.

 > Perhaps the romantic in me wanted Tenar and Ged to get together, too.
I never pictured these two romantically. That's probably part of my
problem.

 > Debbie

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I've recently re-read the original
trilogy, now I think I'll try the later novels again with less focus
on the changes more on the points you raised.

Cheers,

Adam<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What you consider the 10 best books ever 

I'm not sure I'd include Redwall. I loved the books when I was young,
but as I got older, I felt they were getting worse and worse. In
retrospect, they were staying more or less the same quality, but I was
outgrowing them! I still read kid's books today, so for me, an
excellent title has to age with the reader.

I would say "The Chimney Witches" and "Green Smoke" should be in
there. They're out of print, I've lost my copies, and I can't
remember who wrote them (

I'd also include "The Little Prince" by Anthony Saint-Exupery and (of
course) "The Hobbit".

Plus "The Little Vampire" by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg - the original
novel, I mean, rather than the novelisation of the film, which she
apparently co-wrote. I haven't read it, and I'm not going to on
principle. I think it's scandalous that the original books are out of
print! )

And "The Worst Witch" series by Jill Murphy.

--
Stuart Lavin
s.DeleteThis@dracos.co.uk
 >> Stay informed about: What you consider the 10 best books ever