Recent reading
Jan. 8th, 2024 01:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaThe Farthest Shore by Ursula K Le Guin (1972)
Oh, I think this is possibly my favorite of the three. Gah, it's so beautifully written! I want to give it to tech bros who are trying to live forever. I'd forgotten how royalist it was, though (is it possibly Le Guin's only royalist book?) In a very LotR way, return of the king and all, with the health of the land tied not only to Cob's door between life and death, but to the lack of a king. I do like the relationship between Ged and Lebannen, which feels quite old-fashioned in that Lebannen thinks of "that first romantic ardor and adoration" he felt for Ged without it being in the least sexualized. I like that.
Not sure whether to go on with Tehanu? I remember reading it too young, and that I didn't like Ged and Tenar having sex. There's just no sex or romance in the first trilogy, and it felt wrong to me then to introduce it (I guess you could argue that Tombs of Atuan is an extended metaphor for sex, with the man (with a staff, even) penetrating the dark cave of the woman. But I prefer not to, and obviously I didn't think of that as a kid.) I think I've also read Tehanu as an adult, but it was long ago. *searches journal* Oh wait, apparently I reread all the Earthsea books in 2015. *facepalm*
Sylvester by Georgette Heyer (1957, audiobook)
I have no deep thoughts about this one--it's been years since I read a Heyer, and this one was great entertainment! It's the one with the eyebrows and the in-universe gothic novel. Also a good Heyer to read if you want to avoid her problematic/annoying tendencies. The audiobook reader was excellent.
In other news, I have discovered that this site ships books from the UK to Sweden that somehow don't get stuck in customs! : D I mean, I don't mind paying Swedish VAT, but I do mind that you otherwise always get stuck paying 1) the wrong, higher VAT, and 2) an administrative fee which is often way more than the VAT. I have now bought far too many books, ahem.
Oh, I think this is possibly my favorite of the three. Gah, it's so beautifully written! I want to give it to tech bros who are trying to live forever. I'd forgotten how royalist it was, though (is it possibly Le Guin's only royalist book?) In a very LotR way, return of the king and all, with the health of the land tied not only to Cob's door between life and death, but to the lack of a king. I do like the relationship between Ged and Lebannen, which feels quite old-fashioned in that Lebannen thinks of "that first romantic ardor and adoration" he felt for Ged without it being in the least sexualized. I like that.
Not sure whether to go on with Tehanu? I remember reading it too young, and that I didn't like Ged and Tenar having sex. There's just no sex or romance in the first trilogy, and it felt wrong to me then to introduce it (I guess you could argue that Tombs of Atuan is an extended metaphor for sex, with the man (with a staff, even) penetrating the dark cave of the woman. But I prefer not to, and obviously I didn't think of that as a kid.) I think I've also read Tehanu as an adult, but it was long ago. *searches journal* Oh wait, apparently I reread all the Earthsea books in 2015. *facepalm*
Sylvester by Georgette Heyer (1957, audiobook)
I have no deep thoughts about this one--it's been years since I read a Heyer, and this one was great entertainment! It's the one with the eyebrows and the in-universe gothic novel. Also a good Heyer to read if you want to avoid her problematic/annoying tendencies. The audiobook reader was excellent.
In other news, I have discovered that this site ships books from the UK to Sweden that somehow don't get stuck in customs! : D I mean, I don't mind paying Swedish VAT, but I do mind that you otherwise always get stuck paying 1) the wrong, higher VAT, and 2) an administrative fee which is often way more than the VAT. I have now bought far too many books, ahem.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-10 02:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-10 02:52 pm (UTC)ETA: I mean, feel free to elaborate if you want, or not, if you're short on time. I do like it and find it interesting, but I can definitely see how people might want to argue with it.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-10 10:18 pm (UTC)I've never got over the handling of the attempted rape scene. I just don't think she managed to say what she wanted to say there (power relations under capitalism producing pathological sexual relations, I assume), and to me it cheapens pretty much all the other theming around sexism in the book. Vea is simply… not a person in the narrative, and I don't think it flies that "it's because Shevek himself doesn't see her as a person;" I have always felt it was a very Doylist failure to make a political point about the objectification of women under patriarchy without just objectifying some women about it. I find it upsetting and counter-productive.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-11 03:19 pm (UTC)