Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4) in Beyond Reality

Dec 22, 2010 Katherine rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, young-adult, fantasy, 20th-c, fiction, american

Very disappointing and completely unnecessary addition to what was formerly known as the Earthsea trilogy.

4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2011 Coyle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It must suck to be Ursula Le Guin. Not only is she one of the few female science fiction/fantasy writers out there (I want to say she was the only one when she started, but that might be a lie), but I get the impression that she is increasingly unhappy with her previous writings. I suspect that she wrote The Farthest Shore in reaction to the relatively pro-Western message of her earlier Earthsea books, and I suspect that she wrote this book (the fourth in the Earthsea cycle) in reaction to the p It must suck to be Ursula Le Guin. Not only is she one of the few female science fiction/fantasy writers out there (I want to say she was the only one when she started, but that might be a lie), but I get the impression that she is increasingly unhappy with her previous writings. I suspect that she wrote The Farthest Shore in reaction to the relatively pro-Western message of her earlier Earthsea books, and I suspect that she wrote this book (the fourth in the Earthsea cycle) in reaction to the perceived inherent masculinity in the previous books. (I know she did that intentionally in The Left Hand of Darkness). At some point, I'll have to read more about/by Le Guin to find out whether or not that's an accurate analysis, but that's the impression I get.
Whether that is the origin of the story or not, it certainly matches up with the feminist and Eastern (specifically Taoist) themes of the book.

On the feminist side of things, Le Guin writes this book from the perspective of Tenar (the heroine of The Tombs of Atuan) as an older widow. Tenar spends a significant amount of time in the book wondering why women are treated as second-rate citizens and why men seem to fear them, and so keep them oppressed. Throughout the book are hints that women have their own kind of power (separate from the power of men, and specifically separate from the kind of power held by wizards), but that this power remains dormant. It seems that Tenar's adopted daughter will be the one to tap into this power and open up a whole new world of opportunity for women, though (spoiler alert!) the book ends before anything like this can happen. In fact, the book doesn't have much of an ending at all, it just stops.
I think Le Guin runs herself into a problem that feminists (second-wave feminists, at least) generally run into. She wants to argue that women are at the same time different from and equal to men. Women are equal to men in that they have an inherent dignity and power. They are different from men in that their inherent dignity and power is of a different nature from that possessed by men, while they are equal to men in that they are equally valuable as human beings. The problem (on an artistic level, to say nothing of the real world) is the question of how to express this. If the belief is simply stated, and then life goes on as normal the problem becomes that in the world Le Guin has constructed the women carry water, tend the crops, and manage the household. While all these activities are valuable and to be treasured, they are nothing like the deeds of Ged, the hero of the earlier books. Planting vegetables is not the same thing as fighting dragons, defying dark powers, and passing through death itself. (Though Tolkien of course would disagree.) Simply going back and rewriting the earlier stories with a female lead character in the place of the male wouldn't solve the problem either, since then you would just have a female acting like a man. The artistic challenge is the establish some kind of actual difference between men and women that keeps the readers interest while giving both their full equal due as unique types of human beings.
Unfortunately, I don't think Le Guin has done a very good job of accomplishing this. At the end of the day, none of the problems are resolved. I can't discuss it without giving away more of the plot than I have, so I'll just have to leave it at saying that the book is unsatisfactory (which may or may not be a reflection of the state of feminist thought when Le Guin wrote the book).

On the religious level, this book, especially when combined with The Farthest Shore is a wonderful picture of how ultimately unsatisfactory Eastern thought is (and I suppose I should say "philosophical" rather than "religious", since most Eastern systems aren't specifically religions). The message of the book, in fact of the whole series, is that life and death, male and female, existence and non-existence are all different sides of the same coin, and hence ultimately parts of the greater whole. "Male" means nothing except in the context of female (again, see Left Hand of Darkness for more of Le Guin's thoughts on that), and "life" and "death" are complementary truths which have no meaning outside of each other. This argument works, so long as 1) there is no existence outside that of the natural world, if there is any kind of transcendent reality, this definition falls apart; 2) we assume that death and life are morally neutral events or states of being (which Le Guin seems to do). If death is not wrong and evil, and life is not good and moral, then Le Guin has defined a system we can all agree with. The problem is that if death is not wrong, we need to get rid of laws against murder. If life is not right, we need to stop pulling over to let the ambulance through when we're driving. Acceptance of these statements as truths has moral implications that run deeply contrary to the centuries of Western and Christian (especially Chrisitan) ethics ingrained in us as individuals and a society- ethics which are frankly more appealing than the statement that your or my death and life have no meaning beyond being a fact in the natural scheme of things.

Having said all of that, this is yet another excellent book in the Earthsea cycle. Even though much of it is taken up with the mundane (Tenar spends far more time weaving and gardening that I'd really care to), Le Guin is a good enough writer to pull it off... Mostly. This book is worth the read; I'm looking forward to finishing the cycle. ...more

Like · see review

Jun 16, 2009 Laure rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy, novels-novellas, nebula-winners, children, ya

This was the book I'd been waiting for, but it wasn't all I'd hoped it would be.

In The Farthest Shore, I'd missed Tenar and was disappointed by the return to the male-dominated world of Earthsea and the lack of female characters. Le Guin creates a world that in many ways is not unlike our own, with gender inequality and many limitations on women.

I'd hoped this would be the installment to turn that on its head. I was hoping to see (for lack of a better term) women kicking ass and rising up again ...more

Like · see review

Mar 18, 2010 Deedee marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: t2, fantasy, young-adult, nebula-award-winner, nebula-award-nominee, young-adult-fantasy-and-sf, mythopoeic-award-nominees, year-1990, series-4th, title-has-1-word

(Lexile Score: 880L)

Like · see review

Jul 05, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

1 like · Like

Nov 27, 2007 Gavin rated it really liked it

Like

Jun 03, 2008 Matt rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

Like

Jun 04, 2008 Marisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Like

Jul 04, 2008 JuliAnna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-horror

Like

Nov 24, 2008 H. R. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, authors_ursula_le_guin

Like

Dec 29, 2008 Angela Randall rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kids, american-author, 1990-1999, 20th-century, fantasy, fiction, second-hand-bookshop-wishlist, nebula-award, locus-award-fantasy, award-winner

Like