“there is thunder in our hearts/is there so much hate for the ones we love?/tell me we both matter”

[larryhammer]

DNF of sadness: When I was around 8, I was gifted a box set of the original Earthsea trilogy, and read them over and over—Tombs of Atuan the most, but all three regularly. I didn’t reread anything nearly as much until I discovered the Harperhall books.* My first teenage attempt at writing fantasy was Tolkein with serial numbers barely filed off, but my second one, the deep influence was The Farthest Shore with a coating of The Police’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger.”

And yet, now, I find myself giving up on A Wizard of Earthsea barely a third of the way in. It turns out, middle-aged me just doesn’t like young Ged.

And I am teh sad. 😢


* One especially memorable day when I was 16, I reread Dragonsong + Dragonsinger three times over, which made for a very long day. I maaaay have had a wee bit of a crush on Menoly. And certain woobie tropes.

---L.

Subject quote from Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), Kate Bush.

Comments

[thistleingrey]

Twenty-something me didn't like young Ged (original ~11yo me was ambivalent but read the trilogy), and I haven't retried since, which means I've also skipped Tehanu. If I tried again now, I might be able to figure out why, but perhaps it's enough (for me) to enjoy some of Le Guin's other work.

[larryhammer]

I hated Tehanu when it was first published (I was, what, 22? -- so not the target audience), but appreciated what it was trying to do, ten years later when I reread it to prepare for The Other Wind. I suspect I'll actively like it now.

[thistleingrey]

I disliked Tombs the most of the original trilogy, thus not trying Tehanu, but I probably was too young. Perhaps sometime.

[larryhammer]

Interesting ...

[cmcmck]

Read them as a teenager but don't know how I'd feel about them now.

[larryhammer]

There's a beautiful collected edition with illustrations by Charles Vess -- perfect for trying them out.

[ranunculus]

I tried Earthsea again about 10 years ago and gave up. Such a product of its own era, and as you say, our advancing age.

* We ALL had a crush on Menoly.

[larryhammer]

A couple years ago, Atuan and Shore still worked very well for me. But not this one.

* Heh.

[asakiyume]

Your quote from "Running Up that Hill" is my favorite line--such pathos.

I read only A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, and it was really Tombs that I liked--but not enough to reread past early teens. How did Ged seem to you when you were a teen, and how did he seem to you this time around?

[larryhammer]

I can't really remember what young!me thought of Ged in the first book, aside from liking his adventures, especially with dragons. His acts (especially his deeds) mattered more to me than his character.

Now, he's a twit of an especially pernicious variety.

[asakiyume]

I can remember so little of the book--I guess what I'm asking, and not to dispute, just out of curiosity and interest, is what twit-ish things does he do or think? ... And I can understand if you don't want to go into it--in that case, "Too many to go into" or "You'd have to reread it and see" are fine as answers. I'm just curious about what got your back up. And again, I have no intention or will to argue! I am uninvested in Ged ;-)

[larryhammer]

It was a couple weeks ago, actually, that I read as far as I did, so my memory of details is ... hazy. My reaction was basically "gods what a callow young twit," especially while a student at Roke. (I didn't make it to his departure.)

[asakiyume]

Got it ;-)

[oracne]

THE TOMBS OF ATUAN was my favorite. And TEHANU was a revelation to me - an author could change the angle of what she'd written before!

[larryhammer]

Heh. There is that.