Tehanu : The Earthsea Cycle

Rating:
Summary: I fail to see the point
Review: Tehanu can only be described in one simple word: boring. It takes a very long time for the plot to thicken in this book; the characters are so deeply developed that the author leaves little room for an actual plot. The ending of the book is very unsatisfying, it left me asking "Now what?" I also found the dialog of the characters choppy, and difficult to comprehend. However, I do like how deeply the characters WERE developed, despite the terrible plot. I also really enjoyed the concept of there being a central character that is actually female. (Rarely does a science fiction book dare do this.) Tehanu is a book not about setting and external circumstances (like most sf) but of the deep, emotional conflicts of human nature. It's really too bad that this awesome concept was presented in such a boring, pointless way.

Rating:
Summary: "Feminist" manifesto?
Review: I don't know about other readers, but I found this book to be incredibly antifeminist. Forget about what Le Guin did to poor Ged. What is feminist about taking the character of Tenar--a former priestess and student of magic--and sticking her in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant? Let's not assume that every book that deals with women is automatically a feminist work.

Besides that, Le Guin seems almost embarassed about the Earthsea books. If that's the case, why not just leave the trilogy as it is?

Rating:
Summary: Poststructuralist Revisioning of Earthsea
Review: In this last book of Earthsea, Le Guin answers many of her critics who found the first three books entirely chauvinistic, which they are, though delightful all the same. She has revsioned her world of Earthsea and the archetypes that support it. If you are into heros that dominate then you will find this tale strained and unheroic. Le Guin does more than answer critics, however, she attempts to project a future for our world in which women aren't just equal with strong heroic masculine types, the heroism itself is redefined and the strength is spread out evenly between the genders. Symbolically the child Therru has been maimed by the "evil" aspects of patriarchy as represented by her father and his friends--even her mother is complicit showing how far the sway of the patriarchy reaches, so far that even women are part of their own maiming. The child is blinded, her one hand is burned into a useless ball and her voice is taken from her. Symbolically the blindness represents the dominant discourse's way of making people, in this case women, blind to its ruling power (think of John Carpenter's "They Live"; bad movie, but similar symbolism). The voice is taken so that they cannot speak out against this and the hand mutilated so that they may not manipulate their environs and free themselves. By the end of the book we see that the child can actually see with the blind eye, and in a way that reveals the true nature of people, a way that sees through the patriarchy to the root of her bondage. This parallels feminist and racial fights for equality here in the US where those most abused over time become the most aware of that abuse. The book shows three generations of women, the eldest, Aunty Moss, supports status quo, Tenar, the middle-aged protagonist questions it, and the youngest, Therru, changes it. Unfortunately her method of change, a dragon flying in and burning the evil aspects of the patriarchy to cinders, is still another form of violent domination. Moreover, the dragon, a worm, is just another phallic symbol, much the same as Arren's sword or Ged's staff. It's a difficult book to read, particularly if you are fully indoctrinated in the hero-tale, the central archetype of our culture, as most of us are. Where the earlier books had wings afforded by this archetype, Tehanu plods along searching for wings all its own. Matt Clara [e-mail] Feel free to write me on the subject!

Rating:
Summary: Of course it's not for children
Review: The original Earthsea trilogy was probably a reach for most children. I would guess it appeals more to teens than younger people. Of the three, I liked the Tombs of Atuan best. It was a pleasure to meet Tehanu again, and see how her life turned out. This novel was darker and more realistic than the first three. Reviewers who say that it doesn't really 'belong' with the trilogy are probably right, just as The Hobbit doesn't really belong with The Lord of the Rings. In each case, the earlier work or set of works was written well, but on a more accessible level. The later works reflect the authors' more mature effort. I tend to like LeGuin's darker work. My other favorite of her novels is The Disposessed.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent. Excellent.
Review: I read the original three Earthsea books in college, and enjoyed them greatly (particularly the second book -- Tombs of Atuan -- whose main character returns here.) That was fifteen years ago, so my memory was spotty on the details.

As it turned out, that was just the right place to be for Tehanu. Le Guin picks up the story years later, so the interval between my reading put me in the perfect frame of mind. Le Guin paints wonderfully detailed characters, and this book is no exception. I VERY highly recommend Tehanu for anyone who read the previous three earlier in their life. It's a beautiful revival, and a wonderful story in its own right. Not to be missed if you read the first three.

Rating:
Summary: Have you ever seen the Lifetime Channel?
Review: This book reminded me from beginning to end of a Lifetime (Channel for Women) movie. It's not that I don't like the occasional Lifetime movie, being a woman myself, but the way the book harped (and whined) on and on about women and how wonderful it was to be a woman was annoying. There was no action, just 200+ pages of a widow and her struggle to come to terms with the choices she's made in her life. It was a struggle for me to finish the book, and I'm one of those people who can happily read encyclopedias.

I will say that the book had some valueable insights. Tenar's internal struggle was thought provoking at some points, and when I put the book down I found myself thinking about life and the choices people make, and what makes a person decide they can live with those choices.

All in all, if you are picking up the book because you just HAVE to know what happened to Ged after the last book, email someone who's read it ([e-mail] if you want to email me). If you're looking for something deeper and slower than a typical fantasy book, this may be the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: grinds the feminist axe...
Review: ...by chopping down the male heroes, Ged in particular, rather than (as [another] reviewer ...said it so well) showing women as strong feminine presences standing shoulder to shoulder with strong male ones.

I originally wrote an even less favorable review for this book, but since then I've reread it and liked it a bit better. I still think the message gets in the way of the story. But how does an author go about reworking what for her was a classic hero-rescues-girl story, especially given what the feminists have shared with us about the patriarchal context, assumptions, and impact of such a tale?

LeGuin gave us a splendid original trilogy. If she wants a bit of vengeance (or whatever it is--one shouldn't psychoanalyze via fictional characters!) on old Ged, or at least to take him down a peg or two, that's certainly understandable. At the same time, there's a realization in this book that the hero needs to refashion himself once his younger heroic days are over. Ged accepted the risks of becoming normal and mortal, and now his dilemma is: how does an aging man, warts and all, find ways to live a meaningful life and find some kind of realistic intimacy with women?

Rating:
Summary: Tehanu
Review: I found this book thought-provoking but not very enjoyable. It has some intense, unpleasant scenes (physical and sexual abuse of a child) that do not fit in well with the trilogy. I am uncomfortable classifying this as a children's book; I would not mind recommending the trilogy to 10-12 year olds, but Tehanu is not suitable for anyone under 15. It also would not be good for anyone seeking an escapist novel.

Rating:
Summary: No plot, no magic--no nothin'!
Review: I am sick and tired of hearing about how liberating this book was for women. If that is truly the case, then I'm embarrassed. Do men have to be broken-down weaklings in order for us to prove our strength? Thank you, but I think I'll distance myself from the feminist frenzy surrounding this book.

Or of course one can be accused of being too immature to understand the book's deep message. There is no way to misunderstand the book's deep message--it does nothing but ramble on and on about various deep messages and philosophical problems for 100+ pages. This would have been fine, if there had been a plot. But 'kitchen sink drama' makes this book sound too dramatic. Occasionally the 'bad guy' with the brown cap walks by, and he and Tenar get to stare at each other--that is the sole source of tension, and how paltry it is. Then, after pages and pages meandering and rambling in the kitchen, suddenly there is a slam-bang ending, and everything that DIDN'T happen in the earlier two hundred or so pages suddenly happens all at once in the last five, and is resolved neatly without any logic or even any suspense. It is simply resolved, so that Tenar could finally stop philosophizing and the book could end.

Tenar is a nice strong woman, but set beside the drained and indignified shell of Ged and the dying Ogion, her strength looks like a cheap shot for feminism. Wouldn't it make sense that the ideal way to portray feminine strength would be to show how it can hold its own ALONG with masculine strength? To triumph over an already-dead body is a self-deceiving victory at best. Ged was a great character--ruining him to prove a point is a sorry waste.

As for Earthsea itself, which used to sing in my veins with its magic--now it has been stripped of all semblance of itself, though the outer trappings remain. The magic is gone. Neither dragons nor wizardry can revive it, for in this book these devices are automatic, born of little inspiration. It is as if the fantasy elements are meant to coat the capsule of feminism so it'll go down more easily.

I loved the trilogy, and this was lousy in comparison. Standing on its own, it is just as bad, unless it's required reading for a course in feminist literature. Even then it's pretty bad, having no structure whatsoever. The one extra star is for LeGuin's poetic prose, which is the only thing this book has retained from the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Slow down, get over your big old self, and enjoy
Review: I love this book. I read it at least once a year. It doesn't bother me that the characters aren't omnipotent, or that they are middle-aged, or that they think a lot, or that they have sex lives. They are still filled with and surrounded by magic, and so is every page of the book. After a careful rereading of the books of the Earthsea Trilogy, you'll see that they too are about learning and power, loss and redemption, pride and humility, a door closing and a door opening...

If you need magic wands and mysterious characters in wizards' cloaks in your sci-fi/fantasy, skip Tehanu and go rent Star Wars. If you liked LeGuin's other books like The Dispossessed or The Left Hand of Darkness, I think you'll like Tehanu.