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Ok... I decided to check out the book 'A Wizard of Earthsea' By Ursula K. Le Guin, and I have to say... it was terrible! Why is this such a popular novel?
Why is this book a classic? A 40 year old novel does not make it a 'Classic'
Not once do I get into the Main character, his motivations *Especially during his training which sets up the whole story* were weak, and not once did I 'feel' him.
The secondary characters were poorly executed and barely understood. The whole novel is about one person with his whole story based on a action he performs because of his poorly written, and barely understood jealousy of a rival.
The book felt like it was written with scenes that go from one to the next, jarring the story and not smoothly moving from one to the other.
The only part of the novel I liked was his childhood, but once he leaves his village the story goes down hill from there.
I would not recommend this novel to anyone.
This is the first novel I have read by Ursula K. Le Guin, do they get any better?
Edit: I should make something clear.. I did not actually 'Read' this book, I listened to it. I bought it in Audio form, listening to it during my long drives. There is a chance *But doubtful* that the poor narrating of the novel may also be effecting my opinion. It was narrated by Harlan Ellison another author who did not do a very good job at the narrating. I have listened to other novels that were poorly narrated but that I have liked.
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You, sir, are a buffoon.
I really enjoyed this book, and thought the training sections were particularly well done. Le Guin tends not to lay it out on the line very clearly - another example is the Left Hand of Darkness - but overall I found the book a very satisfying read with a good ending. Arguably, it is about not allowing one's cruelty and base instincts to rule one, but also to accept that it is a part of you and must be controlled and internalised. Seems fair to me, and a decent moral for what is a kid's book.
And it has the best dragon in it after Smaug.
(I can't be sure what impact having it as an audio book might have had. Ellison is an author, not an actor, and his narration may just have been s&%!. And it may well have been badly abridged too.)
Spreads blanket on nearby hillock. Starts chilling wine. Waits for the Frog to shop up with popcorn.
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You, sir, are a buffoon.
I just may be.. ;-)
Seems fair to me, and a decent moral for what is a kid's book.
Ahh.. yes... Kid's book... That may be the main reason why I did not like this book...
And it has the best dragon in it after Smaug.
Cool dragon... Not enough of it.
(I can't be sure what impact having it as an audio book might have had. Ellison is an author, not an actor, and his narration may just have been s&&&. And it may well have been badly abridged too.)
It was Unabridged, I never read or listen to Abridged novels.
It has been a long time since I read the book, but I remember liking it. It came across to me as "impressionistic" (not sure of literary equivalent for a visual art term), a style some may not enjoy.
I adored that book at age 12. Perhaps it's the age at which you came to it. Otherwise, diff'rent strokes and all that...
Disgusted by the lack of popcorn and the promise of violence unfulfilled, the wizard folds up his blanket, puts the bottle of cava in his sleeve, dumps out the ice, takes the bucket, and walks out of the thread in a huff.
Disgusted by the lack of popcorn and the promise of violence unfulfilled, the wizard folds up his blanket, puts the bottle of cava in his sleeve, dumps out the ice, takes the bucket, and walks out of the thread in a huff.
Waiting until the wizard abandoned his post, the wolf, finally alone, produced a barrel of Dale and Thomas popcorn and smashed it down over the heads of helpless Paizo posters buried up to their necks in the sod.
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Disgusted by the lack of popcorn and the promise of violence unfulfilled, the wizard folds up his blanket, puts the bottle of cava in his sleeve, dumps out the ice, takes the bucket, and walks out of the thread in a huff.
Give it time, leave face, Give it time.
All good things come to those that wait... or something like that.
I was called a Buffoon.
Disgusted by the lack of popcorn and the promise of violence unfulfilled, the wizard folds up his blanket, puts the bottle of cava in his sleeve, dumps out the ice, takes the bucket, and walks out of the thread in a huff.Waiting until the wizard abandoned his post, the wolf, finally alone, produced a barrel of Dale and Thomas popcorn and smashed it down over the heads of helpless Paizo posters buried up to their necks in the sod.
A voice echoes back into the thread.
And you could of had half the bottle of cava, Jade. (I know, you say, sparkling wine with popcorn? Trust me.)
As to Moonie, I don't retaliate against buffoons who don't defend themselves!
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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I have a weird history with that book. I was given it when I was around 13 but never got very far into it. I tried again and again over the years and didn't enjoy it. Then, about five years ago I devoured it in an afternoon and loved it, wondering why it had bored me so much before.
The cover of the one I had was quite lovely.
Reading is a mysterious thing, Superstar T.D.
Did any of you guys see the Hayazaki Earthsea animated movie? I thought it was better than the SciFi channel thing.
Reading is a mysterious thing, Superstar T.D.
Did any of you guys see the Hayazaki Earthsea animated movie? I thought it was better than the SciFi channel thing.
A friend said it was a botch. I said, "Miyazaki had a miss?!" He told me that it was Miyazaki's son who made the picture. Apparently it wasn't one of the three original books.
I'd still like to see it though.
I liked it, though it's true his son was in charge. I wish it had an English dubbing, but due to rights issues with SciFi channel, it may not happen. It's hard to compare it to, say, HM's latest three English releases, since it's an exercise in reading and watching.
I liked it, though it's true his son was in charge. I wish it had an English dubbing, but due to rights issues with SciFi channel, it may not happen. It's hard to compare it to, say, HM's latest three English releases, since it's an exercise in reading and watching.
I'm all right by subtitles.
For some reason my conversational hearing isn't all that good but I can hear a mouse pee ten meters off. I wouldn't have heard a complete phrase go by in Deadwood if I didn't put on close captioning. All that iambic pentameter... that got me used to reading while watching almost as easily as hearing dialog while watching.
Disgusted by the lack of popcorn and the promise of violence unfulfilled, the wizard folds up his blanket, puts the bottle of cava in his sleeve, dumps out the ice, takes the bucket, and walks out of the thread in a huff.
If you really want violence, I could explain how 4e is perfect for running Earthsea style adventures...or whether certain heroic characters remind me of Obama. Then I would go straight into a Narnia vs. Earthsea debate, bringing up religion several times.
Not that I would ever actually do that...
I don't spread my picnic at such threads, WC. I mean, sure, I love violence, but even I have my limits...
And as far as subtitles go, Jade, yeah, I can live with them, and I'm sure I watch more subtitled films than the average American, but it's a different experience than just watching a film in a language you understand, especially when you lose lots of subtleties with animation that you have in a traditional film (facial expressions, gesture, body language, and so on).
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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I adored that book at age 12. Perhaps it's the age at which you came to it. Otherwise, diff'rent strokes and all that...
Yeah I read it as part of my English Reading Curriculum in Year 7, so I was either 12 or 13 (20 years ago... can't remember yesterday... I'm lucky to remember that).
I enjoyed it then I must say. I have thought about picking it up again since but never got around to it, that and I am so far behind in my reading as it is (I mean I have a backlog of 10-15 unread books sitting in a pile waiting).
I don't spread my picnic at such threads, WC. I mean, sure, I love violence, but even I have my limits...
And as far as subtitles go, Jade, yeah, I can live with them, and I'm sure I watch more subtitled films than the average American, but it's a different experience than just watching a film in a language you understand, especially when you lose lots of subtleties with animation that you have in a traditional film (facial expressions, gesture, body language, and so on).
Yep. Looking up and down definitely makes you miss a few things. Luckily I have subtitled films on my DVR and so I can always just hit rewind. I keep hoping I'll pick up more languages through osmosis, but as of yet, itta no happena.
I adored that book at age 12. Perhaps it's the age at which you came to it. Otherwise, diff'rent strokes and all that...Yeah I read it as part of my English Reading Curriculum in Year 7, so I was either 12 or 13 (20 years ago... can't remember yesterday... I'm lucky to remember that).
I enjoyed it then I must say. I have thought about picking it up again since but never got around to it (that and I am so far behind in my reading as it is (I mean I have a backlog of 10-15 unread books sitting in a pile waiting).
All this talk has me wanting to revisit the book.
Contributor
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I read this book before I read any of the Narnia books, or the Hobbit, or pretty much any other major fantasy novel or series. Possibly I had read The Book of Three by then. A Wizard of Earthsea affected me deeply and has stayed with me always, but honestly, my memory of it may be coloured by time.
The copy I read had the same cover as Tarren's, and I remember getting not to far into it and getting angry, because clearly the illustrator hadn't figured out that the characters were dark-skinned. I think the artwork is good, otherwise, but I have continued to be frustrated in that regard in every rendition of the Earthsea books I've ever seen.
It was a few more years before I read the Tombs of Atuan, and I was likewise blown away. In fact, more so in some ways. In high school I started reading The Farthest Shore but couldn't get into it. I'm not sure why.
I think that what got me in these books was that they weren't action books. They were thought-provoking, and at least for a kid my age, they didn't pull punches. I liked that the big evil was the consequences of the main character's pride, not some monstrosity of Eeevil. There are also specific images that really stick out in my mind, some for their fantastic nature, like the sea turning to sand, some for their blunt brutality (although that more from Tombs of Atuan).
I really need to go back and read them again. Maybe to my daughter, she's almost as old as I was when I read the first one, and she's already read far more fantasy than I had, and much of it at a higher level.
I read this book before I read any of the Narnia books, or the Hobbit, or pretty much any other major fantasy novel or series. Possibly I had read The Book of Three by then. A Wizard of Earthsea affected me deeply and has stayed with me always, but honestly, my memory of it may be coloured by time.
To this day I remember otak, the little pet creature Ged kept in his hood, and the woodcuts that introduced each chapter. The book touched me quite deeply as well.
The sci-fi channel thing was an abomination. The first ten minutes anyway. After that I loved myself enough to stop watching.
You guys are crazy... the book sucked...
Is that flammable enough?
Said the guy who didn't even bring enough o's to spell his own name.
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Said the guy who didn't even bring enough o's to spell his own name.You guys are crazy... the book sucked...
Is that flammable enough?
Actually.. there is a long story about that..
It is 1996 (Maybe 95), my Mother gets AOL, I decide to make a Log on... I picked Dragonmoon, one problem, AOL at the time had a limit of 9 letters for your Nic.. So I shortened it to Dragnmoon. I have used it ever since..
So to make a long story short...
A Wizard of Earthsea still sucks :-p
Actually.. there is a long story about that..It is 1996 (Maybe 95), my Mother gets AOL, I decide to make a Log on... I picked Dragonmoon, one problem, AOL at the time had a limit of 9 letters for your Nic.. So I shortened it to Dragnmoon. I have used it ever since..
So to make a long story short...
A Wizard of Earthsea still sucks :-p
It's a good story. Nevertheless I'm willing to you one box of Alphabits cereal and a economy size can o' alphabet soup. Gotta be some o's in there somewhere.
Maybe you'd like the book better if you weren't so miserably misspelled.
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Actually.. there is a long story about that..It is 1996 (Maybe 95), my Mother gets AOL, I decide to make a Log on... I picked Dragonmoon, one problem, AOL at the time had a limit of 9 letters for your Nic.. So I shortened it to Dragnmoon. I have used it ever since..
So to make a long story short...
A Wizard of Earthsea still sucks :-p
It's a good story. Nevertheless I'm willing to you one box of Alphabits cereal and a economy size can o' alphabet soup. Gotta be some o's in there somewhere.
Maybe you'd like the book better if you weren't so miserably misspelled.
I can Move a o around and call myself Dragonmon
I can Move a o around and call myself Dragonmon
Sounds like a Jamaican drug lord's name. I like it.
It reminds me of 'Jive Turkey' for some reason...
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I can't even remember Wizard of Earthsea, and I'm pretty sure I read the whole trilogy as a kid. (My mom had a huge selection of sci-fi and fantasy, and there seemed to be a boom of fantasy by female authors like LeGuin, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffery, Linda Bushyager, Tanith Lee, etc. I remember the other author's stuff a lot better than LeGuins...)
The only fairly recent stuff I remember is that the author was terribly disappointed that a white actor was cast for Ged in the Sci-Fi channel Earthsea movie, and recounted how she'd received fan-mail over the decades about how her Earthsea books were the first fantasy (and sometimes the *only* fantasy) read by children of hispanic, asian or african origin where they could identify with the main characters, since they weren't the traditional white Europeans of most 'fantasy' literature (or movies, etc.). Being white, I'd never really noticed it, and, indeed, don't remember the Earthsea characters as non-white, but I didn't have to read a dozen fantasy novels before finally finding a single one with a caucasian protagonist, so I'm sure I'm less aware of race-based inclusion / exclusion.
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Ok... I decided to check out the book 'A Wizard of Earthsea' By Ursula K. Le Guin, and I have to say... it was terrible! Why is this such a popular novel?
Why is this book a classic? A 40 year old novel does not make it a 'Classic'
** spoiler omitted **
I would not recommend this novel to anyone.
This is the first novel I have read by Ursula K. Le Guin, do they get any better?
Edit: I should make something clear.. I did not actually 'Read' this book, I listened to it. I bought it in Audio form, listening to it during my long drives. There is a chance *But doubtful* that the poor narrating of the novel may also be effecting my opinion. It was narrated by Harlan Ellison another author who did not do a very good job at the narrating. I have listened to other novels that were poorly narrated but that I have liked.
Having thought about it more, I can see where you are coming from. Le Guin's other books tend to ramble a bit, and she is less heavily plot-driven than some other writers. The other Earthsea books range from pretty good to god-awful (including no. 4, where NOTHING happens). So if it is not your cup of tea, that's is probably fair enough. That said, I really enjoyed A Wizard of Earthsea, but I'm aware that her traits as a writer can irritate others, and she loses me more often than she doesn't.
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Having thought about it more, I can see where you are coming from. Le Guin's other books tend to ramble a bit, and she is less heavily plot-driven than some other writers. The other Earthsea books range from pretty good to god-awful (including no. 4, where NOTHING happens). So if it is not your cup of tea, that's is probably fair enough. That said, I really enjoyed A Wizard of Earthsea, but I'm aware that her traits as a writer can irritate others, and she loses me more often than she doesn't.
That could be it.. I Love Epic Novels that go into great detail of what is happening... And this did not fit that.
I adored that book at age 12. Perhaps it's the age at which you came to it. Otherwise, diff'rent strokes and all that...
What he said. Blasted through the whole trilogy at that age. Might have done it twice.
I adored that book at age 12. Perhaps it's the age at which you came to it. Otherwise, diff'rent strokes and all that...What he said. Blasted through the whole trilogy at that age. Might have done it twice.
HEY! I was just thinking boutcha. :) How goes it?
I liked it, though it's true his son was in charge. I wish it had an English dubbing, but due to rights issues with SciFi channel, it may not happen. It's hard to compare it to, say, HM's latest three English releases, since it's an exercise in reading and watching.I'm all right by subtitles.
For some reason my conversational hearing isn't all that good but I can hear a mouse pee ten meters off. I wouldn't have heard a complete phrase go by in Deadwood if I didn't put on close captioning. All that iambic pentameter... that got me used to reading while watching almost as easily as hearing dialog while watching.
Not to mention that the subtitled versions of the Miyazaki movies is different. There are a lot of little bridging and scenery scenes in them, and the pacing and dialogue tends to make more sense. I appreciate Disney getting the movies over here, but as a rule, I'm not too crazy about the changes they make.
p.s. I'm doing pretty good. Things might be getting a little less insane round here, so hopefully I can catch up with the Paizo fun more often. It's been so long, I actually forgot the URL, but I figured if I googled "mouse pee" it would bring up one of your posts.
It worked!
p.s. I'm doing pretty good. Things might be getting a little less insane round here, so hopefully I can catch up with the Paizo fun more often. It's been so long, I actually forgot the URL, but I figured if I googled "mouse pee" it would bring up one of your posts.
It worked!
LOL. Well whatever gets you here. I just caught a mouse in my house the other day, jammed it in an aquarium (sans water) with fluff and mouse toys. Oh boy, a new slave pet! I will hug it and squeeze it and name it *George.
* And by George I mean Wilhemina Mousington, by George!
Ursula K. LeGuin is my absolute favorite fantasy author, and I'm frankly flabbergasted that someone could read her books and not love them. But then I also know that some of my friends don't like the Lord of the Rings books because they feel like it reads like a laundry list of what the main characters had for breakfast every day.
I guess it just goes to show that different people like different styles. So no harm, no foul. If the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.
If the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.
Persistent charismastic bullying.
No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
I haven't even started yet! Give a man time to hit second gear and spike your coffee, wouldja?
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.
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Implied insults about reading ability and literary taste.No amount of Persistent charismastic bullying will get me to enjoy this book or get me to understand why others would. :-pIf the book itself couldn't win you over, how can anyone else hope to change the original poster's mind.Persistent charismastic bullying.
Hey wait...I read just Fine!!!