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Hainish Cycle#7
Four Ways to Forgiveness
At the far end of our universe, on the twin planets of Werel and Yeowe, all humankind is divided into "assets" and "owners," tradition and liberation are at war, and freedom takes many forms. Here is a society as complex and troubled as any on our world, peopled with unforgettable characters struggling to become fully human. For the disgraced revolutionary Abberkam, the callow "space brat" Solly, the haughty soldier Teyeo, and the Ekumen historian and Hainish exile Havzhiva, freedom and duty both begin in the heart, and success as well as failure has its costs.
In this stunning collection of four intimately interconnected novellas, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to the great themes that have made her one of America's most honored and respected authors.
In this stunning collection of four intimately interconnected novellas, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to the great themes that have made her one of America's most honored and respected authors.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
975books26.3kfollowersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novelLavinia,an essay collection,Cheek by Jowl,andThe Wild Girls.She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness,The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling,The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" andThe Tellingbut even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness,The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling,The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" andThe Tellingbut even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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May 24, 2021
Un libro compuesto por 4 relatos maravillosos (especialmente los dos últimos) que están conectados por varios personajes y especialmente por los dos mundos en los que se ambientan las tramas.
Son historias muy del estilo de 'Los desposeídos' o 'La mano izquierda de la oscuridad', en el que hay enviados del Ekumen ejerciendo de embajadores y donde lo importante es conocer esos mundos, su cultura, sociedad y política.
En este caso son cuatro libros en los que la esclavitud es el tema central, pero que también abarca temas como la corrupción, las dinámicas de poder, el machismo sistémico o la colonización.
Como siempre con Ursula K Le Guin son obras pausadas, introspectivas, para saborear y reflexionar sobre todo lo que la autora nos quiere contar.
Desde luego imprescindible para todos los que amamos a esta autora y las novelas de ciencia ficción que están más centradas en conseguir que el lector se plantee determinadas cosas que seguir la acción.
Son historias muy del estilo de 'Los desposeídos' o 'La mano izquierda de la oscuridad', en el que hay enviados del Ekumen ejerciendo de embajadores y donde lo importante es conocer esos mundos, su cultura, sociedad y política.
En este caso son cuatro libros en los que la esclavitud es el tema central, pero que también abarca temas como la corrupción, las dinámicas de poder, el machismo sistémico o la colonización.
Como siempre con Ursula K Le Guin son obras pausadas, introspectivas, para saborear y reflexionar sobre todo lo que la autora nos quiere contar.
Desde luego imprescindible para todos los que amamos a esta autora y las novelas de ciencia ficción que están más centradas en conseguir que el lector se plantee determinadas cosas que seguir la acción.
October 30, 2010
I think I may have found a new girl crush in Ursula K. Le Guin and her collection of four short stories, Four Ways To Forgiveness.
I never did like weak, insipid damsels in distress.
[image error]
In fact, I think it is those very characteristics that cause me to pull away from and revile books like Fallen, Twilight and Hush Hush. It seems to me that in these books, nobody aspires to be anything more than Mrs. Cullen and to terrorize the local woodland creatures as some sort of gothic reverse of Snow White.
Fuck!
However, though I enjoy books like Bitten, The Mercy Thompson series, Chicagoland Vampires series and their ilk - I get annoyed that these chics have super strength and special powers etc. Do our chic heroines need super powers to be badass and totally incredible? Le Guin says not and shows you how awesome a chic can be without breaking out the shurikens and exploding powder even once.
So you can understand why I adored these four short stories about women so awesome that even awesome had to step back and appreciate them. Much like we might all want to appreciate Aunt Sarah who, like these women, marches to the beat of her own drum:
[image error]
I want to meet Aunt Sarah and give her a girl power hug!
I think my favourite story was the first one as I felt that Yass had such a beautiful, strong and loving heart that I fell completely in love with her.
I also loved Rakam for her strength of character in surviving where ever she was and thriving in conditions I couldn't even imagine. Her ability to find love again with Havzhiva was so beautiful.
I enjoyed Solly for her dignified, authoritarian and energetic ways.
All three of these women were strong, sexual, thoughtful women who took the circumstances that they had and filled their lives with passion - whether that was work, a career a cause or a man or all three at once.
The men in this book, Abberkam, Teyeo and Havzhiva were fantastic. They were all strong without dominating, encroaching on or crowding the brilliance that each of these women had in their spirits. Instead they came alongside them and helped them shine brighter. I cannot express how much I love Le Guin for this.
Maybe I'm just vulnerable to this. When I worked full time, people treated me differently. As an employee for a cruise line whose job it was to organize their charitable donations to certains organizations, I found people treated me with respect and were happy to talk to me on an intellectual level. Then I had my son and suddenly at parties or social situations, I wasn't an intellectual individual anymore, I was Mrs. Kennedy. Housewife and mother.
No, I do not want to know about your fucking bake sale!
Does it matter that I'm an editor of manusripts for authors looking to be published or that I'm writing a novel of my own? No, as soon as they ask what I do for a living and I tell them that I'm a mother, their eyes glaze over and they assume that I don't have a legitimate opinion on the criminal justice system or batman or whatever the hell they're talking about.
[image error]
I can contribute to the batman discussion, damnit!
Le Guin, I tip my hat to you! A spectacularly crafted read!
I never did like weak, insipid damsels in distress.
[image error]
In fact, I think it is those very characteristics that cause me to pull away from and revile books like Fallen, Twilight and Hush Hush. It seems to me that in these books, nobody aspires to be anything more than Mrs. Cullen and to terrorize the local woodland creatures as some sort of gothic reverse of Snow White.
Fuck!
However, though I enjoy books like Bitten, The Mercy Thompson series, Chicagoland Vampires series and their ilk - I get annoyed that these chics have super strength and special powers etc. Do our chic heroines need super powers to be badass and totally incredible? Le Guin says not and shows you how awesome a chic can be without breaking out the shurikens and exploding powder even once.
So you can understand why I adored these four short stories about women so awesome that even awesome had to step back and appreciate them. Much like we might all want to appreciate Aunt Sarah who, like these women, marches to the beat of her own drum:
[image error]
I want to meet Aunt Sarah and give her a girl power hug!
I think my favourite story was the first one as I felt that Yass had such a beautiful, strong and loving heart that I fell completely in love with her.
I also loved Rakam for her strength of character in surviving where ever she was and thriving in conditions I couldn't even imagine. Her ability to find love again with Havzhiva was so beautiful.
I enjoyed Solly for her dignified, authoritarian and energetic ways.
All three of these women were strong, sexual, thoughtful women who took the circumstances that they had and filled their lives with passion - whether that was work, a career a cause or a man or all three at once.
The men in this book, Abberkam, Teyeo and Havzhiva were fantastic. They were all strong without dominating, encroaching on or crowding the brilliance that each of these women had in their spirits. Instead they came alongside them and helped them shine brighter. I cannot express how much I love Le Guin for this.
Maybe I'm just vulnerable to this. When I worked full time, people treated me differently. As an employee for a cruise line whose job it was to organize their charitable donations to certains organizations, I found people treated me with respect and were happy to talk to me on an intellectual level. Then I had my son and suddenly at parties or social situations, I wasn't an intellectual individual anymore, I was Mrs. Kennedy. Housewife and mother.
No, I do not want to know about your fucking bake sale!
Does it matter that I'm an editor of manusripts for authors looking to be published or that I'm writing a novel of my own? No, as soon as they ask what I do for a living and I tell them that I'm a mother, their eyes glaze over and they assume that I don't have a legitimate opinion on the criminal justice system or batman or whatever the hell they're talking about.
[image error]
I can contribute to the batman discussion, damnit!
Le Guin, I tip my hat to you! A spectacularly crafted read!
January 26, 2018
Four (actually five now, in the edition I read) interlocking novellas by Ursula Le Guin, exploring the history of two planets, Werel and Yeowe, with an entrenched culture of slavery based largely on race. Here it's the black race that has enslaved the whites, although after a few thousand years of slaves being used and raped, many of the slaves are as dark-skinned as their masters.
When the Hainish spacefaring race rediscovers Werel, which they populated millions of years ago, the interactions between the master race on Werel and the Hainish envoys lead to all kinds of unforeseen consequences. Le Guin explores those events through the eyes of five different characters, including a female slave and three visiting envoys. Le Guin's anthropological version of science fiction is amazingly insightful and often deeply disturbing, but well worth reading.
Review to come. I received a free copy of this collection from the publisher for review, as part of the Library of America collection,Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories
When the Hainish spacefaring race rediscovers Werel, which they populated millions of years ago, the interactions between the master race on Werel and the Hainish envoys lead to all kinds of unforeseen consequences. Le Guin explores those events through the eyes of five different characters, including a female slave and three visiting envoys. Le Guin's anthropological version of science fiction is amazingly insightful and often deeply disturbing, but well worth reading.
Review to come. I received a free copy of this collection from the publisher for review, as part of the Library of America collection,Ursula K. Le Guin: Hainish Novels and Stories
October 6, 2010
Writing this review is hard, simply because I don't think I am equipped to adequately relayUrsula K. Le Guin's genius. She is one of the cleverest writers I have ever come across and her anthropological science fiction never ceases to amaze and distress me.
Of course, at the core of every sci-fi novel lies an alien world. The one depicted in this collection of 4 interconnected novellas is particularly gruesome IMO. This collection of stories is about slavery, freedom, and women's liberation. But even more, it is about understanding and forgiveness. Le Guin makes it possible: to understand and forgive a disgraced leader of the the War of Liberation who is accused of embezzlement and debauchery; for a Werelian officer, disgusted by a female representative's of Ekumen (the Envoy) childishness and loose behavior, and the Envoy, turned off by the officer's uptight, proprietary behavior towards her, to understand each other and fall in love with the very qualities they had thought off-putting; for a representative of a better, more peaceful world, to come to understand how a refusal of newly freed men to allow their women the same freedoms can be justifiable.
There are many profound things touched upon in this book: the destructive, alienating nature of slavery; the futility of just giving people freedom when they never dared to want it and never fully understood it; that freedom begins with sexual freedom, a freedom within our bodies; the wrongness of simply bringing one's ideas of liberty to force upon people without understanding the people's culture, no matter how right and humane these ideas are. I think Le Guin articulates the last argument very well in this quote:
"You can't change anything from the outside in. Standing apart, looking down, talking the overview, you see pattern. What's wrong, what's missing. You want to fix it. But you can't patch it. You have to be in it, weaving it. You have to be part of the weaving."
Truly, there are so many things that I loved about these 4 stories, I can't quite express it. Le Guin brings often under-appreciated genre of science fiction to a whole new level. I am in awe of her talent.
Of course, at the core of every sci-fi novel lies an alien world. The one depicted in this collection of 4 interconnected novellas is particularly gruesome IMO. This collection of stories is about slavery, freedom, and women's liberation. But even more, it is about understanding and forgiveness. Le Guin makes it possible: to understand and forgive a disgraced leader of the the War of Liberation who is accused of embezzlement and debauchery; for a Werelian officer, disgusted by a female representative's of Ekumen (the Envoy) childishness and loose behavior, and the Envoy, turned off by the officer's uptight, proprietary behavior towards her, to understand each other and fall in love with the very qualities they had thought off-putting; for a representative of a better, more peaceful world, to come to understand how a refusal of newly freed men to allow their women the same freedoms can be justifiable.
There are many profound things touched upon in this book: the destructive, alienating nature of slavery; the futility of just giving people freedom when they never dared to want it and never fully understood it; that freedom begins with sexual freedom, a freedom within our bodies; the wrongness of simply bringing one's ideas of liberty to force upon people without understanding the people's culture, no matter how right and humane these ideas are. I think Le Guin articulates the last argument very well in this quote:
"You can't change anything from the outside in. Standing apart, looking down, talking the overview, you see pattern. What's wrong, what's missing. You want to fix it. But you can't patch it. You have to be in it, weaving it. You have to be part of the weaving."
Truly, there are so many things that I loved about these 4 stories, I can't quite express it. Le Guin brings often under-appreciated genre of science fiction to a whole new level. I am in awe of her talent.
February 25, 2021
Uffff... qué libro más esperanzador acabo de leer. Ursula K. Le Guin coge la miseria, la injusticia, la violencia y los abusos de poder inherentes a las civilizaciones humanas, les da cuatro vueltas y se mea en todos esos libros feelgood con portada cuqui que nos venden por ahí.
Esta señora, que debería ser una de las santas patronas del feminismo con su pelito cortado a tazón y su profundo conocimiento en antropología social, es consciente de que no nos gusta que nos pongan un espejo delante, que los humanos aprendemos mejor con historias; así que aprovecha para inventarse un sistema planetario jerárquico para hablarnos de libertad, identidad, racismo, feminismo, lucha de clases, deseo sexual, educación, revolución... No está a la altura de Los Desposeídos porque al estar estructurado en cuatro relatos largos interconectados, no tiene margen para desarrollar tanto los personajes y lo compensa con las ideas: Werel y Yeowe son dos planetas con un sistema político, social y religioso basado en la esclavitud: propietarios y activos. Durante la novela ambos pasan, por separado, por revueltas locales, revoluciones y guerras. Asistimos sobre todo al final de ese proceso y el inicio de unas nuevas sociedades "democráticas" en las que van renqueando, arrastrando viejas creencias, rencores y costumbres.
Traicioneses el más sencillo porque no se mete mucho a desgranarnos el sistema político, religioso y social de Yeowe, es más íntimo y también el más breve. Una buena apertura."La paz era la verdadera vida; era educar a los niños en el trabajo y el aprendizaje. La guerra, que devoraba obras, enseñanza y niños, era la negación de la realidad."
El día del perdónes el más flojo de los cuatro, porque sirve para enseñarnos teoría sobre el sistema planetario y su relación con el Ecumen. No reseñé ninguna frase y la trama es más bien televisiva... un cinco pelao y pasas al siguiente.
Un hombre del pueblo:"Uno no puede cambiar nada desde el exterior. Manteniéndose aparte, viéndolo desde arriba, con una visión panorámica, uno ve el dibujo. Lo que está mal, lo que falta. Para arreglarlo no se pueden utilizar remiendos. Hay que meterse dentro, hay que tejerlo. Uno tiene que formar parte de la trama."Seguimos a Havzhiva desde su infancia en Hain hasta su asentamiento como un wereliano de adopción. Me encantan las reflexiones que hace sobre el conocimiento y la identidad.
EnLa liberación de una mujerse hace hincapié en la importancia de la alfabetización y la educación de la sociedad para alcanzar la auténtica libertad individual y realización personal:"Lo que yo descubrí en la historia es que la libertad se hace, no se da."Es el que mejor trata el tema del género.
Al final aparecen unas notas sobre los planetas, que como soy algo cotilla me leí justo después de "Traiciones" y me ayudó a entender mejor los otros relatos. Quizás estarían mejor como prólogo.
Esta señora, que debería ser una de las santas patronas del feminismo con su pelito cortado a tazón y su profundo conocimiento en antropología social, es consciente de que no nos gusta que nos pongan un espejo delante, que los humanos aprendemos mejor con historias; así que aprovecha para inventarse un sistema planetario jerárquico para hablarnos de libertad, identidad, racismo, feminismo, lucha de clases, deseo sexual, educación, revolución... No está a la altura de Los Desposeídos porque al estar estructurado en cuatro relatos largos interconectados, no tiene margen para desarrollar tanto los personajes y lo compensa con las ideas: Werel y Yeowe son dos planetas con un sistema político, social y religioso basado en la esclavitud: propietarios y activos. Durante la novela ambos pasan, por separado, por revueltas locales, revoluciones y guerras. Asistimos sobre todo al final de ese proceso y el inicio de unas nuevas sociedades "democráticas" en las que van renqueando, arrastrando viejas creencias, rencores y costumbres.
Traicioneses el más sencillo porque no se mete mucho a desgranarnos el sistema político, religioso y social de Yeowe, es más íntimo y también el más breve. Una buena apertura."La paz era la verdadera vida; era educar a los niños en el trabajo y el aprendizaje. La guerra, que devoraba obras, enseñanza y niños, era la negación de la realidad."
El día del perdónes el más flojo de los cuatro, porque sirve para enseñarnos teoría sobre el sistema planetario y su relación con el Ecumen. No reseñé ninguna frase y la trama es más bien televisiva... un cinco pelao y pasas al siguiente.
Un hombre del pueblo:"Uno no puede cambiar nada desde el exterior. Manteniéndose aparte, viéndolo desde arriba, con una visión panorámica, uno ve el dibujo. Lo que está mal, lo que falta. Para arreglarlo no se pueden utilizar remiendos. Hay que meterse dentro, hay que tejerlo. Uno tiene que formar parte de la trama."Seguimos a Havzhiva desde su infancia en Hain hasta su asentamiento como un wereliano de adopción. Me encantan las reflexiones que hace sobre el conocimiento y la identidad.
EnLa liberación de una mujerse hace hincapié en la importancia de la alfabetización y la educación de la sociedad para alcanzar la auténtica libertad individual y realización personal:"Lo que yo descubrí en la historia es que la libertad se hace, no se da."Es el que mejor trata el tema del género.
Al final aparecen unas notas sobre los planetas, que como soy algo cotilla me leí justo después de "Traiciones" y me ayudó a entender mejor los otros relatos. Quizás estarían mejor como prólogo.
July 8, 2024
„Четири пътя към прошката “е чудесен сборник, който съдържа свързани помежду си фантастични новели! Те са част от забележителния „Хейнски цикъл “и също като романите в поредицата притежават завладяваща атмосфера, емоционално поднесена история, силни хуманни послания и философски размисли. Урсула Ле Гуин силно ме впечатли със своята стойностна фантастика и определено се нареди сред любимите ми писатели!
„Всички те са богати със своята история. Светът е сакрален, Хавжива, космосът също. От знанието за това никога не ми се е налагало да се отказвам; то непрестанно се потвърждава. Няма нищо във вселената, което да не е свещено — Межа говореше бавно и тихо според обичая, възприет в пуебло. — Човек може да избере местната сакралност или сакралността на широкия свят. В края на краищата те са еднакви, обаче жребият на разумните същества е различен. Виждаш ли, да разполагаш с избор означава, че си длъжен да го направиш: да измениш съдбата си или да останеш на предишното място. Да бъдеш река или скала. “
„Светът на Роканон “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Планета за изгнаници “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Градът на илюзиите “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Лявата ръка на мрака “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Светът се нарича дъбрава “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Освободеният “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Всички те са богати със своята история. Светът е сакрален, Хавжива, космосът също. От знанието за това никога не ми се е налагало да се отказвам; то непрестанно се потвърждава. Няма нищо във вселената, което да не е свещено — Межа говореше бавно и тихо според обичая, възприет в пуебло. — Човек може да избере местната сакралност или сакралността на широкия свят. В края на краищата те са еднакви, обаче жребият на разумните същества е различен. Виждаш ли, да разполагаш с избор означава, че си длъжен да го направиш: да измениш съдбата си или да останеш на предишното място. Да бъдеш река или скала. “
„Светът на Роканон “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Планета за изгнаници “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Градът на илюзиите “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Лявата ръка на мрака “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Светът се нарича дъбрава “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
„Освободеният “:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 5, 2017
Four Ways to Forgiveness: Slavery, oppression, revolution, and redemption
Originally posted atFantasy Literature
Ursula K. Le Guin is hardly afraid to tackle difficult topics. In fact, she delves into them with a fearless but controlled approach that forces us to look at painful subjects we may prefer not to. This time she is going straight for the jugular, exploring the sensitive subjects of freedom, slavery, oppression, sexual politics, and revolution. In the wrong hands this could easily become a heavy-handed polemic that might be unreadable.
However, Le Guin is far too skilled a writer to wield a cudgel — instead, she uses her scalpel to peel away layer after layer of ingrained societal norms as she explores just how human societies are affected by these topics, and leaving no side free of sin but shows how even the slavers victimize themselves as they indoctrinate their own children into the system. There are no purely evil people in her stories, but much cruel and unthinking behavior.
As with her other Hainish stories, inFour Ways to Forgivenessshe uses the Envoys of the advanced space-faring Ekumen as the neutral observers of the more primitive native societies, determined to not take sides but forced to by circumstances. In these stories Envoys get kidnapped, tortured, and otherwise dragged into messy situations. In the end, we see just how cruel, damaging, and irrational slavery is, symbolized by reversing the usual pattern of our world with darker-skinned people enslaving lighter-skinned people.
Four Ways to Forgivenessintroduces a pair of worlds named Werel and Yeowe. Werel was first to be populated by the Hainish in antiquity, and many generations later when the Hainish come back in contact, they discover that the Werelians have a firmly entrenched system of slavery. In fact, the shock of encountering these space-faring “aliens” prompts the Werelians to colonize the planet of Yeowe using an-all male population of slaves (which they label “assets” ).
Though later female slaves are sent to join them, they have already developed an extremely masculine hierarchical and homosexual society, and the women are placed at the bottom of it. What is both surprising and upsetting is that even after the light-skinned Yeowe slaves stage a successful revolution, the women still find that their status of subservience does not change as much as hoped.
There are a lot of unpleasant and brutal scenes inFour Ways to Forgiveness— Le Guin really forces the reader to face the ugliness of societies built around oppression and abuse those unable to defend themselves. In the case of slaves, both men and women are abused and treated inhumanly, whereas among both slaves and slavers, women are victimized by men. The cycle of oppression leaves its psychological scars deep in people’s minds for generations. Approaching the issue from numerous angles, we see how it affects every individual in the story.
Eventually, each story comes to some form of resolution or rapprochement, and oftentimes individuals of very different backgrounds come to understand and even love others. While this can be properly labeled “understanding” or “empathizing,” I was a bit hard-put to identify “forgiveness” in an overt form in some cases. That would imply a victim forgiving a victimizer, I would think, and that didn’t seem to always be the case. Perhaps other readers can interpret the book’s title better than I can.
Of note, there is another story set in the same world of Werel and Yeowe called “Old Music and the Slave Women,” which fits very much into the same framework of the other stories and belongs together with them. It can be found inThe Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin,along with three of the stories fromFour Ways to Forgiveness,“Forgiveness Day,” “A Man of the People,” and “A Woman’s Liberation.” The first story, “Betrayals”, can be found inThe Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin.
I listened to the audiobook versions of both available from Recorded Books, with The Found and the Lost narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan and Jefferson Mays, and The Unreal and the Real narrated by Tandy Cronyn. All do an excellent job as Le Guin’s stories are perfectly suited for reading aloud. The narrators’ voices are strong, direct, and passionate, and the characters and dialogue take center stage, reflecting Le Guin’s love of story-telling and poetry.
Originally posted atFantasy Literature
Ursula K. Le Guin is hardly afraid to tackle difficult topics. In fact, she delves into them with a fearless but controlled approach that forces us to look at painful subjects we may prefer not to. This time she is going straight for the jugular, exploring the sensitive subjects of freedom, slavery, oppression, sexual politics, and revolution. In the wrong hands this could easily become a heavy-handed polemic that might be unreadable.
However, Le Guin is far too skilled a writer to wield a cudgel — instead, she uses her scalpel to peel away layer after layer of ingrained societal norms as she explores just how human societies are affected by these topics, and leaving no side free of sin but shows how even the slavers victimize themselves as they indoctrinate their own children into the system. There are no purely evil people in her stories, but much cruel and unthinking behavior.
As with her other Hainish stories, inFour Ways to Forgivenessshe uses the Envoys of the advanced space-faring Ekumen as the neutral observers of the more primitive native societies, determined to not take sides but forced to by circumstances. In these stories Envoys get kidnapped, tortured, and otherwise dragged into messy situations. In the end, we see just how cruel, damaging, and irrational slavery is, symbolized by reversing the usual pattern of our world with darker-skinned people enslaving lighter-skinned people.
Four Ways to Forgivenessintroduces a pair of worlds named Werel and Yeowe. Werel was first to be populated by the Hainish in antiquity, and many generations later when the Hainish come back in contact, they discover that the Werelians have a firmly entrenched system of slavery. In fact, the shock of encountering these space-faring “aliens” prompts the Werelians to colonize the planet of Yeowe using an-all male population of slaves (which they label “assets” ).
Though later female slaves are sent to join them, they have already developed an extremely masculine hierarchical and homosexual society, and the women are placed at the bottom of it. What is both surprising and upsetting is that even after the light-skinned Yeowe slaves stage a successful revolution, the women still find that their status of subservience does not change as much as hoped.
There are a lot of unpleasant and brutal scenes inFour Ways to Forgiveness— Le Guin really forces the reader to face the ugliness of societies built around oppression and abuse those unable to defend themselves. In the case of slaves, both men and women are abused and treated inhumanly, whereas among both slaves and slavers, women are victimized by men. The cycle of oppression leaves its psychological scars deep in people’s minds for generations. Approaching the issue from numerous angles, we see how it affects every individual in the story.
Eventually, each story comes to some form of resolution or rapprochement, and oftentimes individuals of very different backgrounds come to understand and even love others. While this can be properly labeled “understanding” or “empathizing,” I was a bit hard-put to identify “forgiveness” in an overt form in some cases. That would imply a victim forgiving a victimizer, I would think, and that didn’t seem to always be the case. Perhaps other readers can interpret the book’s title better than I can.
Of note, there is another story set in the same world of Werel and Yeowe called “Old Music and the Slave Women,” which fits very much into the same framework of the other stories and belongs together with them. It can be found inThe Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin,along with three of the stories fromFour Ways to Forgiveness,“Forgiveness Day,” “A Man of the People,” and “A Woman’s Liberation.” The first story, “Betrayals”, can be found inThe Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin.
I listened to the audiobook versions of both available from Recorded Books, with The Found and the Lost narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan and Jefferson Mays, and The Unreal and the Real narrated by Tandy Cronyn. All do an excellent job as Le Guin’s stories are perfectly suited for reading aloud. The narrators’ voices are strong, direct, and passionate, and the characters and dialogue take center stage, reflecting Le Guin’s love of story-telling and poetry.
May 12, 2023
Los planetas gemelos Werel y Yeowe tienen una compleja y tirante relación, y es que el primero invadió y colonizó al segundo, esclavizando a todo el planeta a sus caprichos. Las personas de Werel se dividen en dos tipos: los propietarios y los activos, siendo estos últimos esclavos de los primeros. Werel encuentra en Yeowe la manera de convertir a todo un planeta en recursos que aprovechar, incluyendo a los propios humanos. En un mundo donde los propietarios son dueños de los esclavos, y las mujeres esclavas de los esclavos, la libertad es un bien tan preciado, que solo es cuestión de tiempo que la lucha por alcanzarla comience.
“Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón” está formado por cuatro relatos orientados en diferentes momentos, unas veces ubicados en Yeowe, otras en Werel, e incluso, algunas tomando como punto de partida otros lugares de la galaxia. Sin embargo, todos los relatos están íntimamente relacionados, y sirven para que el lector asista a la historia de estos dos planetas y descubra como evoluciona la relación entres ambos a lo largo de los siglos. Esta obra forma parte del ciclo "Hainish”, una serie de libros que comparten mundo, donde Ursula explora una infinidad de temas como el machismo, el racismo, el colonialismo o la esclavitud, mostrando una crítica tan clara y contundente, que se convierte en una de esas obras donde puedes enmarcar prácticamente cada frase.
Entre las muchas cosas que critica, me ha gustado especialmente ver como muestra el machismo, el funcionamiento de este y hasta que ridículos límites es capaz de llegar. Las mujeres, ya sean propietarias o esclavas, son a su vez esclavas de los hombres de su clase social, y pese a que son estas la que inician la gran rebelión, la lucha por derrocar el sistema donde unos son los dueños de otros, son sus propios hombres, los que después de aprovecharse de su lucha para aunar fuerzas y acabar con la esclavitud, las dejan a un lado, esclavizándolas una vez más. El oprimido alcanza el poder y oprime al que estaba aún más oprimido. Creo que hay una lectura bastante interesante, que incluso se puede trasladar a lo que vivimos en la actualidad real.
Ursula es una genia hablando sobre temas como el racismo o el colonialismo, la forma en la que muestra lo peor del ser humano, y como estos llegar a seguir sus más bajos instintos, pisoteando a quien sea con tal de sentirse por encima de otros. Me ha gustado especialmente ver que en este mundo, son los blancos los que pertenecen a la clase social más baja, haciendo gala de lo absurdo que es cualquier tipo de racismo. Siempre me gusta esa crítica tan presente en la ciencia ficción en general, en la que se muestra el abuso que hace el ser humano de la naturaleza, como este toma y destroza todo lo que encuentra y cuando agota los recursos, simplemente busca otro lugar que destrozar.
Siento que Ursula fue una adelantada a su época, es más, siento que si la comparamos con la actualidad sigue sintiéndose avanzada. Tocó temas y lo hizo de una manera tan directa, tan coherente, que mostraba una absoluta comprensión sobre asuntos que a día de hoy siguen sin quedar claro para gran parte de la sociedad. El primer libro que leí de la autora “El nombre del mundo es bosque” me encantó, y desde entonces todo lo que he leído ha ido creando en mi una ganas increíbles de leer toda la obra de esta mujer. Después de leer “Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón”, que se ha convertido en mi libro favorito de la autora, confirmo que Ursula K. Le Guin, se está convirtiendo en una de mis autoras imprescindibles.
“Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón” está formado por cuatro relatos orientados en diferentes momentos, unas veces ubicados en Yeowe, otras en Werel, e incluso, algunas tomando como punto de partida otros lugares de la galaxia. Sin embargo, todos los relatos están íntimamente relacionados, y sirven para que el lector asista a la historia de estos dos planetas y descubra como evoluciona la relación entres ambos a lo largo de los siglos. Esta obra forma parte del ciclo "Hainish”, una serie de libros que comparten mundo, donde Ursula explora una infinidad de temas como el machismo, el racismo, el colonialismo o la esclavitud, mostrando una crítica tan clara y contundente, que se convierte en una de esas obras donde puedes enmarcar prácticamente cada frase.
Entre las muchas cosas que critica, me ha gustado especialmente ver como muestra el machismo, el funcionamiento de este y hasta que ridículos límites es capaz de llegar. Las mujeres, ya sean propietarias o esclavas, son a su vez esclavas de los hombres de su clase social, y pese a que son estas la que inician la gran rebelión, la lucha por derrocar el sistema donde unos son los dueños de otros, son sus propios hombres, los que después de aprovecharse de su lucha para aunar fuerzas y acabar con la esclavitud, las dejan a un lado, esclavizándolas una vez más. El oprimido alcanza el poder y oprime al que estaba aún más oprimido. Creo que hay una lectura bastante interesante, que incluso se puede trasladar a lo que vivimos en la actualidad real.
Ursula es una genia hablando sobre temas como el racismo o el colonialismo, la forma en la que muestra lo peor del ser humano, y como estos llegar a seguir sus más bajos instintos, pisoteando a quien sea con tal de sentirse por encima de otros. Me ha gustado especialmente ver que en este mundo, son los blancos los que pertenecen a la clase social más baja, haciendo gala de lo absurdo que es cualquier tipo de racismo. Siempre me gusta esa crítica tan presente en la ciencia ficción en general, en la que se muestra el abuso que hace el ser humano de la naturaleza, como este toma y destroza todo lo que encuentra y cuando agota los recursos, simplemente busca otro lugar que destrozar.
Siento que Ursula fue una adelantada a su época, es más, siento que si la comparamos con la actualidad sigue sintiéndose avanzada. Tocó temas y lo hizo de una manera tan directa, tan coherente, que mostraba una absoluta comprensión sobre asuntos que a día de hoy siguen sin quedar claro para gran parte de la sociedad. El primer libro que leí de la autora “El nombre del mundo es bosque” me encantó, y desde entonces todo lo que he leído ha ido creando en mi una ganas increíbles de leer toda la obra de esta mujer. Después de leer “Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón”, que se ha convertido en mi libro favorito de la autora, confirmo que Ursula K. Le Guin, se está convirtiendo en una de mis autoras imprescindibles.
January 13, 2024
Колко много може да се каже в малко страници, ако е написано добре. Този по-скоро роман от четири (или почти пет) свързани истории е от хейнския цикъл на ле Гуин, който - от всичко нейно четено - е най-доброто от старата дама.
В четирите основни разказа, освен живописните светове и герои, основните теми са робството, расизмът, правата на жените да са хора, смисълът на свободата (която всеки си тълкува както му изнася), прогресът, и в - крайна сметка - прошката… Не знам дали някога ще успея да прочета “Прислужницата” на Атуд, но след четвъртата история тук, все повече започвам да оценявам краткия, стегнат като острие стил на Гуин пред страхотно отвлечения маниер на Атуд.
В”Предателства”двама души, оттеглили се за последен покой от своите две доста непресичащи се места в света, всъщност го преоткриват.
”Денят на прошката”е секваща дъха приключенско-любовна история с малко политика. Отново имаме двойка, малките открития водят до големите, и големите - до малките.
”Син на народа”и”Пътят на една жена към свободата”е диптих, дует от две свързани и допълващи се истории - едната за Него (бунтаря), другата за Нея (жертвата на робството). Двама неконформисти, смятащи себе си за конформисти - точно както и в предните две истории - намират пътя навън и един към друг. И творят история.
Петата част е псевдонаучна справка за двете планети, на които се развиват всички тези събития.
Ле Гуин борави умело с историзма и реализма, като просто сменя някои имена и намигва ту иронично, ту саркастично към травмите от историята и днешния ден. Те са вечни, както и лековете за тях, които все биват отричани или унищожавани. Точно затова хейнскивт цикъл на ле Гуин, освен че е сладкодумен, е реален почти на осезателно равнище. И много увлекателен.
4,5⭐️
————
▶️Цитати:
🪐 “Да живееш просто е най-сложното.”
🌒 “Човек може да избере местната сакралност или сакралността на широкия свят. В края на краищата те са еднакви, обаче жребият на разумните същества е различен. Виждаш ли, да разполагаш с избор означава, че си длъжен да го направиш: да измениш съдбата си или да останеш на предишното място. Да бъдеш река или скала.”
💫 “ние разбираме онова, което искаме да разберем”
✨ “хората са създали най-различни входове за загадките на битието…”
☄️ “Не можеше да има връщане назад, нито продължение. Ето защо се налагаше да свие встрани.”
⛅️ “Какво представляват нормите сами по себе си? Начин да се свързваме помежду си. Екология на чувствата.”
🌌 “Съществуват истини, които не носят на човека нищо добро”
🌑 “невежеството защитава позициите си най-остро и неграмотността е най-ловка.”
🌗 “Какво са любовта и желанието на един мъж, на една жена пред промените в два свята, върху фона на големите революции, развихрили се по времето на отделни съдби, върху ф��на на надеждата и несвършващата жестокост на човешкия род? Нещо съвсем дребно. Но ключът също е много малък в сравнение с вратата, която отключва. Ала ако го загубиш, тя може би никога няма да се отвори.”
July 12, 2019
Maravilloso. Cuatro historias que llegan al alma. Son relatos en que el amor llega a sanar y tranquilizar el corazón cuando no hay más esperanza que seguir caminando por los derroteros de la vida cargando pérdidas, traiciones, soledad, vergüenza, abandono… Las cuatro historias son independientes pero a la vez relacionadas entre sí, ya que todas transcurren en el mismo sistema planetario, en que la autora ha desarrollado todo un régimen económico, político, social y religioso complejísimo en menos de 300 páginas, y en el que el lector se va adentrando y comprendiendo sin mucho esfuerzo a través de estos cuatro relatos, magníficamente escritos. Nos habla de esclavitud, de destrucción del medio ambiente, de ritos de iniciación, guerras tribales, levantamientos, el sometimiento de la mujer, corrupción y mucho más, me quedo muy corta en esta enumeración.
Lo otro que me gustó muchísimo es que los relatos también se relacionan porque algunos de sus personajes aparecen en más de uno de ellos, pero en diferentes momentos de su vida, asumiendo tanto roles principales como secundarios e, incluso, a veces solo tangenciales al permitir que se produzca algún hecho o acontecimiento. Ursula K. Le Guin se ha transformado, en tan sólo unos pocos días, en mi autora favorita de ciencia ficción y, sin duda, seguiré incursionando en su obra.
Lo otro que me gustó muchísimo es que los relatos también se relacionan porque algunos de sus personajes aparecen en más de uno de ellos, pero en diferentes momentos de su vida, asumiendo tanto roles principales como secundarios e, incluso, a veces solo tangenciales al permitir que se produzca algún hecho o acontecimiento. Ursula K. Le Guin se ha transformado, en tan sólo unos pocos días, en mi autora favorita de ciencia ficción y, sin duda, seguiré incursionando en su obra.
June 4, 2010
Quintessential Le Guin. It's apparently part of the Hainish cycle, which I have never read. This seems like the "Tales from Earthsea" of the Hainish cycle: it's a collection of short stories that easily stand alone, but are part of the same universe as other books, and it's, most likely, the best book in the lot. I've heard, anyway, that people don't get that excited about the Hainish books, so I assume this one may stand out.
It's four, tangential stories that surround a slave rebellion and a war for independence. Le Guin beautifully and articulately (with her anthropologist's lens) describes the tension of different cultures trying to understand each other: local truths for each culture that conflict each other, but are all still equally true. She delves deep into the feelings of hatred, confusion, disgust, and possible empathy and love that can take place across these borders.
She focuses on specific kinds of relationships: slave and owner, colonized and colonizer, between generations, and, of course, between genders. Le Guin argues that all relationships across cultures are akin to the sexual relationship between two people, and that all larger freedoms begin with the freedom of one's own body. Having a sexual relationship is akin to crossing a border between nations, between cultures, and all the same issues of colonialism, of oppression and freedom, are manifest.
It's classic Le Guin. An amazing feat of anthropology, as well as just heartwrenchingly beautiful and human. She manages to address huge sociological issues, and the intimate lives of lovers, seamlessly, with gorgeous detail that all rings very true.
It's four, tangential stories that surround a slave rebellion and a war for independence. Le Guin beautifully and articulately (with her anthropologist's lens) describes the tension of different cultures trying to understand each other: local truths for each culture that conflict each other, but are all still equally true. She delves deep into the feelings of hatred, confusion, disgust, and possible empathy and love that can take place across these borders.
She focuses on specific kinds of relationships: slave and owner, colonized and colonizer, between generations, and, of course, between genders. Le Guin argues that all relationships across cultures are akin to the sexual relationship between two people, and that all larger freedoms begin with the freedom of one's own body. Having a sexual relationship is akin to crossing a border between nations, between cultures, and all the same issues of colonialism, of oppression and freedom, are manifest.
It's classic Le Guin. An amazing feat of anthropology, as well as just heartwrenchingly beautiful and human. She manages to address huge sociological issues, and the intimate lives of lovers, seamlessly, with gorgeous detail that all rings very true.
April 8, 2021
Este ha sido mi segundo acercamiento a la autora y me ha vuelto a dejar sin palabras.
El libro se compone de cuatro relatos narrados por distintos personajes, espaciados en el tiempo, pero íntimamente relacionados. De este modo veremos que algunos de los personajes principales de unos relatos son secundarios en otros o simplemente han dejado huella en su historia, y es interesante ver cómo cambia la perspectiva según el narrador. Y es que el héroe de una historia puede ser perfectamente el villano de otra.
La ambientación transcurre entre los planetas Werel y Yeowe, en un mundo donde las poblaciones se dividen en propietarios y activos (esclavos), en los que las mujeres son esclavas de esclavos. Y son estas mismas mujeres la llama que da pie a lo que será el inicio de la rebelión.
A pesar de ser relatos Ursula no necesita demasiado para ofrecernos una visión muy rica del mundo que ha creado y sus sistemas de clases, cuidando sobre todo de ahondar en los personajes, en lo que les ha tocado vivir según su lugar de nacimiento, cultura y creencias. La autora aprovecha las vivencias de estos para hacer una fuerte crítica social y hacernos reflexionar sobre temas como la esclavitud, el racismo, el feminismo, los derechos humanos o la naturaleza.
Todos los relatos son maravillosos pero los dos últimos han sido mis favoritos, sobre todo el último, narrado por una esclava desde su niñez. Brutal.
Quizá no sea el mejor libro para empezar con Le Guin, o quizá sí lo sea. Qué más da. Leedlo si os llama la atención. Leedlo si os gustan las historias con mensajes, llenas de belleza y crueldad, de enseñanzas. Leedlo si no teméis escuchar voces que han sido silenciadas salvajemente durante años y años. Leedlo, aunque duela. La verdad, casi siempre lo hace.
Deseando leer más libros de la autora.
El libro se compone de cuatro relatos narrados por distintos personajes, espaciados en el tiempo, pero íntimamente relacionados. De este modo veremos que algunos de los personajes principales de unos relatos son secundarios en otros o simplemente han dejado huella en su historia, y es interesante ver cómo cambia la perspectiva según el narrador. Y es que el héroe de una historia puede ser perfectamente el villano de otra.
La ambientación transcurre entre los planetas Werel y Yeowe, en un mundo donde las poblaciones se dividen en propietarios y activos (esclavos), en los que las mujeres son esclavas de esclavos. Y son estas mismas mujeres la llama que da pie a lo que será el inicio de la rebelión.
A pesar de ser relatos Ursula no necesita demasiado para ofrecernos una visión muy rica del mundo que ha creado y sus sistemas de clases, cuidando sobre todo de ahondar en los personajes, en lo que les ha tocado vivir según su lugar de nacimiento, cultura y creencias. La autora aprovecha las vivencias de estos para hacer una fuerte crítica social y hacernos reflexionar sobre temas como la esclavitud, el racismo, el feminismo, los derechos humanos o la naturaleza.
Todos los relatos son maravillosos pero los dos últimos han sido mis favoritos, sobre todo el último, narrado por una esclava desde su niñez. Brutal.
Quizá no sea el mejor libro para empezar con Le Guin, o quizá sí lo sea. Qué más da. Leedlo si os llama la atención. Leedlo si os gustan las historias con mensajes, llenas de belleza y crueldad, de enseñanzas. Leedlo si no teméis escuchar voces que han sido silenciadas salvajemente durante años y años. Leedlo, aunque duela. La verdad, casi siempre lo hace.
Deseando leer más libros de la autora.
July 22, 2021
What is one man's and one woman's love and desire, against the history of two worlds, the great revolutions of our lifetimes, the hope, the unending cruelty of our species? A little thing. But a key is a little thing, next to the door it opens. If you lose the key, the door may never be unlocked. It is in our bodies that we lose or begin our freedom, in our bodies that we accept or end our slavery. So I wrote this book for my friend, with whom I have lived and will die free.
These are four interlinked stories about slavery and oppression of women, and also about desires: sexual, desire for freedom and for a connection to another human. Great themes and all, topics I'm interested in, but unfortunately their implementation left me cold. And maybe I’ve read too much of Toni Morrison, because on the whole they felt underdeveloped, exhausted and uninspired especially since they were written in 1994, not 60s. Also for some reason characters failed to come to life, I was never feeling for them and they've been through a lot and I should've. I don’t think these are the stories that will stay with me for a long time.
Still, it’s Ursula and she is better than most, she is a great writer and there were thoughts that I liked. So don't let me dissuade you from picking up this collection. Maybe I'll reread them one day and will discover that I missed something.
January 28, 2024
A fabulous book, though at times also a frustrating one. I actually read the more recent Five Ways to Forgiveness, with an additional novella added; you can find the whole collection on ebook, or do as I did and get it in hard copy inHainish Novels & Stories, Vol. 2.The collection, or “story suite” as Le Guin called it, consists of a novelette and four novellas, following the disintegration of a slave-based society on two planets.
By far my favorite story was the first one, “Betrayals,” which is absolutely perfect. It follows an older woman in retirement in a remote village, and it is beautiful and poignant and strangely devastating for a story that, in the end, has a lot of hope. It is vivid in its sense of place and culture, the characters come powerfully to life as unique and believable people who would rarely get a leading role in fiction, it is wise and generous and, as I said, perfectly crafted. This set an extremely high bar.
The next story, “Forgiveness Day,” doesn’t quite measure up, but it’s still excellent. It follows a young diplomat—a woman of looser habits than the patriarchal slaveholding society in which she’s posted is comfortable with—and her rigid ex-military bodyguard, and what happens when a complex political situation explodes into violence. Le Guin does a masterful job of crafting these characters and their viewpoints and the way they bounce off each other, the story is exciting and we see more of the wider world.
Then comes “A Man of the People,” which was the nadir of the collection for me. It also features a diplomat, and half the novella follows his life story on his home planet before he even arrives, and when he does show up and become an ally to the women’s movement on the post-liberation slave planet, his remains the least interesting perspective from which this story could be told. Perhaps because the story rushes through so much material in so little time, I didn’t get a strong sense of anyone in it as people, either.
This is followed by “A Woman’s Liberation” —these two novellas being much more closely linked than anything else in the collection—in which a former slave turned activist writes a first-person account of her life story. There’s something dutifully virtuous about its trudge through all the abuse the protagonist receives, all the abused and dead women around her, and little sense of personality to any of them. The story is also very invested in her coming back around to sex and getting into a long-term relationship, when I would’ve been more interested in seeing her other relationships explored. Some strong moments, but left me much colder than it should have.
The collection ends with “Old Music and the Slave Women” (Le Guin had an idea for a sixth story, but it never came to fruition), in which an aging intelligence officer is held hostage first by one side, then the other, in what seem to be the final weeks of a war for liberation. This one is good—the smaller scope serves it well, the messiness of war and politics and the clash between ideals and reality all well-drawn—though it never fully gripped me.
Overall, there’s a lot to love about this collection. The settings are complex and richly-drawn. I didn’t really need the worldbuilding notes at the end, and only skimmed them, as what we need to know is woven into the text, but it’s clear a lot of thought and knowledge of the world went into this. It was simultaneously frustrating and amazing to have moments (and this happened multiple times) where I felt I didn’t fully understand character reactions due to my lack of familiarity with their cultures and religions—well, of course I shouldn’t, foreign cultures are far more complex than can be fully grasped in a novel, and the usual over-simplification of invented societies in fiction is what makes most of them feel so artificial. These feel real. I loved everything about the use of language, the different speech patterns, the existence of multiple languages in the setting, the way vocabulary and grammatical structure at times became relevant to the story. The politics, likewise, feel genuinely realistic and complex—Le Guin is clearly someone familiar with real-world politics and history, and also wears that knowledge lightly, unlike the typical author of speculative fiction who invents amateur nonsense and expects us to be impressed. She understands both humans and human systems and that is a rare and amazing thing in the genre.
So, I wish I’d loved the collection as a whole a little more. I wish half of it hadn’t been told from the perspective of diplomats from elsewhere, when I wanted to dig deep into this world rather than reflecting on the role of the outsider and ally, no matter how meritorious those reflections may be. I wish there had indeed been five ways to forgiveness rather than sex and romance being repeated so much! (I say this only half-seriously, these are complex stories and so there is a lot more to them than that, but nevertheless every woman’s story ends with her pairing off.) I could have done without some very over-the-top instances of violence against women in “A Man of the People” and “A Woman’s Liberation”: even by the standards of this type of milieu, several of these are really extreme and beyond what I thought necessary to make the point (this being the one thing—other than outdated tech which is in no way the point of the book anyway—that I think might be different had the stories been written in the 2020s and not the 1990s). And I found the time-travel aspects of space travel disturbing (as was likely intended) and not fully explored in the lives of the off-worlders.
Nevertheless, it is such a well-written collection overall that its virtues outweigh its faults, in the end. I am definitely planning to read more Le Guin.
By far my favorite story was the first one, “Betrayals,” which is absolutely perfect. It follows an older woman in retirement in a remote village, and it is beautiful and poignant and strangely devastating for a story that, in the end, has a lot of hope. It is vivid in its sense of place and culture, the characters come powerfully to life as unique and believable people who would rarely get a leading role in fiction, it is wise and generous and, as I said, perfectly crafted. This set an extremely high bar.
The next story, “Forgiveness Day,” doesn’t quite measure up, but it’s still excellent. It follows a young diplomat—a woman of looser habits than the patriarchal slaveholding society in which she’s posted is comfortable with—and her rigid ex-military bodyguard, and what happens when a complex political situation explodes into violence. Le Guin does a masterful job of crafting these characters and their viewpoints and the way they bounce off each other, the story is exciting and we see more of the wider world.
Then comes “A Man of the People,” which was the nadir of the collection for me. It also features a diplomat, and half the novella follows his life story on his home planet before he even arrives, and when he does show up and become an ally to the women’s movement on the post-liberation slave planet, his remains the least interesting perspective from which this story could be told. Perhaps because the story rushes through so much material in so little time, I didn’t get a strong sense of anyone in it as people, either.
This is followed by “A Woman’s Liberation” —these two novellas being much more closely linked than anything else in the collection—in which a former slave turned activist writes a first-person account of her life story. There’s something dutifully virtuous about its trudge through all the abuse the protagonist receives, all the abused and dead women around her, and little sense of personality to any of them. The story is also very invested in her coming back around to sex and getting into a long-term relationship, when I would’ve been more interested in seeing her other relationships explored. Some strong moments, but left me much colder than it should have.
The collection ends with “Old Music and the Slave Women” (Le Guin had an idea for a sixth story, but it never came to fruition), in which an aging intelligence officer is held hostage first by one side, then the other, in what seem to be the final weeks of a war for liberation. This one is good—the smaller scope serves it well, the messiness of war and politics and the clash between ideals and reality all well-drawn—though it never fully gripped me.
Overall, there’s a lot to love about this collection. The settings are complex and richly-drawn. I didn’t really need the worldbuilding notes at the end, and only skimmed them, as what we need to know is woven into the text, but it’s clear a lot of thought and knowledge of the world went into this. It was simultaneously frustrating and amazing to have moments (and this happened multiple times) where I felt I didn’t fully understand character reactions due to my lack of familiarity with their cultures and religions—well, of course I shouldn’t, foreign cultures are far more complex than can be fully grasped in a novel, and the usual over-simplification of invented societies in fiction is what makes most of them feel so artificial. These feel real. I loved everything about the use of language, the different speech patterns, the existence of multiple languages in the setting, the way vocabulary and grammatical structure at times became relevant to the story. The politics, likewise, feel genuinely realistic and complex—Le Guin is clearly someone familiar with real-world politics and history, and also wears that knowledge lightly, unlike the typical author of speculative fiction who invents amateur nonsense and expects us to be impressed. She understands both humans and human systems and that is a rare and amazing thing in the genre.
So, I wish I’d loved the collection as a whole a little more. I wish half of it hadn’t been told from the perspective of diplomats from elsewhere, when I wanted to dig deep into this world rather than reflecting on the role of the outsider and ally, no matter how meritorious those reflections may be. I wish there had indeed been five ways to forgiveness rather than sex and romance being repeated so much! (I say this only half-seriously, these are complex stories and so there is a lot more to them than that, but nevertheless every woman’s story ends with her pairing off.) I could have done without some very over-the-top instances of violence against women in “A Man of the People” and “A Woman’s Liberation”: even by the standards of this type of milieu, several of these are really extreme and beyond what I thought necessary to make the point (this being the one thing—other than outdated tech which is in no way the point of the book anyway—that I think might be different had the stories been written in the 2020s and not the 1990s). And I found the time-travel aspects of space travel disturbing (as was likely intended) and not fully explored in the lives of the off-worlders.
Nevertheless, it is such a well-written collection overall that its virtues outweigh its faults, in the end. I am definitely planning to read more Le Guin.
May 23, 2018
Το βιβλίο αυτό αποτελείται από 4 διηγήματα τα οποία διαπραγματεύονται την ίδια ιδέα. Την απελευθέρωση. Την απελευθέρωση της γυναίκας και των υπόδουλων ανθρώπων.
Οι ιστορίες επικεντρόνονται στους πλανήτες Βερέλ και Γεοβέ όπου υπάρχει ακόμα δουλεία και οι γυναίκες θεωρούνται κτήματα των αντρών. Όπως πάντα, οι ηρωίδες της le Guin είναι δυναμικές, ανεξάρτητες και ασυμβίβαστες. Δε δέχονται να υποταχθούν σε κανέναν και μάχονται για την ισότητα και τα δικαιώματά τους. Και φυσικά αγαπάνε με πάθος! Μέχρι τώρα η le Guin είναι η μόνη συγγραφέας που έχει καταφέρει να με κάνει να ευχαριστηθώ love story επειδή είναι η μόνη που έχει γράψει για γυναίκες με τις οποίες μπορώ να ταυτιστώ.
Κάτι εξίσου υπέροχο στις ιστορίες αυτές αλλά και γενικά στα βιβλία της le Guin είναι ότι πάντα υπάρχουν lgbt χαρακτήρες και σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις μας ταξιδεύει σε πολιτισμούς που σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις οι ομόφυλες σχέσεις θεωρούνται περισσότερο αποδέκτες από τις ετερόφυλες.
Μακάρι να παραδειγματίζονταν όλοι οι συγγραφείς από τον τρόπο που χρειάζεται τους χαρακτήρες της. Έχουμε πήξει στους ματσό άντρακλες και τις αδύναμες γυναικούλες.
Οι ιστορίες επικεντρόνονται στους πλανήτες Βερέλ και Γεοβέ όπου υπάρχει ακόμα δουλεία και οι γυναίκες θεωρούνται κτήματα των αντρών. Όπως πάντα, οι ηρωίδες της le Guin είναι δυναμικές, ανεξάρτητες και ασυμβίβαστες. Δε δέχονται να υποταχθούν σε κανέναν και μάχονται για την ισότητα και τα δικαιώματά τους. Και φυσικά αγαπάνε με πάθος! Μέχρι τώρα η le Guin είναι η μόνη συγγραφέας που έχει καταφέρει να με κάνει να ευχαριστηθώ love story επειδή είναι η μόνη που έχει γράψει για γυναίκες με τις οποίες μπορώ να ταυτιστώ.
Κάτι εξίσου υπέροχο στις ιστορίες αυτές αλλά και γενικά στα βιβλία της le Guin είναι ότι πάντα υπάρχουν lgbt χαρακτήρες και σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις μας ταξιδεύει σε πολιτισμούς που σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις οι ομόφυλες σχέσεις θεωρούνται περισσότερο αποδέκτες από τις ετερόφυλες.
Μακάρι να παραδειγματίζονταν όλοι οι συγγραφείς από τον τρόπο που χρειάζεται τους χαρακτήρες της. Έχουμε πήξει στους ματσό άντρακλες και τις αδύναμες γυναικούλες.
December 7, 2019
One of the best books from Ursula Le Guin I read which is sazing something since she has some prettz wonderful books.
December 24, 2018
I already adored Ursula Le Guin, and yet this book raised her pedestal even higher for me. Four Ways to Forgiveness is a beautiful collections of stories that underscore her skill as a storyteller and a master of speculative fiction. These four tales are set on other worlds, but they are very simply about people and relationships. The SF locale isn't all laser guns and spaceships, but a mirror to our own contemporary realities and conflicts. Le Guin deals with themes of slavery, intergenerational trauma, and individual power bravely, and with wisdom. I rank this collection near the top of her Hainish Cycle, but then again, I loved nearly every title in this series.
April 7, 2023
4.5 stars
Prepárense para sufrir con estos cuatro relatos (o cinco, ya que hay una versión con cinco caminos-Five Ways to Forgiveness), ya que son duros. Cómo no podría ser así cuando hablan de esclavitud, guerra civil, violaciones, torturas, de dolor y sufrimiento indecible.
Racismo, libertad y educación enmarcan estas cuatro novellas que transcurren en los mundos de Yeowen y Werel (también descendientes de los Hanish), donde los de Werel de piel negra crearon un sistema de propietarios y esclavos (activos) que duró varios siglos, en un sistema de castas donde la mujer ocupa el último lugar.
Le bajo un poco porque que manía de emparejar, no hay necesidad.
Me encantó saber más de Hain, por momentos no sabia si era el pasado. Un lugar tan bucólico y básico, con ideas ritualizadas, es a la vez es el sitio de los observadores y diplomáticos que van a las estrellas. Me encanto igual sus ideas acerca de la Historia.
La 'ultima historia me mató.
Prepárense para sufrir con estos cuatro relatos (o cinco, ya que hay una versión con cinco caminos-Five Ways to Forgiveness), ya que son duros. Cómo no podría ser así cuando hablan de esclavitud, guerra civil, violaciones, torturas, de dolor y sufrimiento indecible.
Racismo, libertad y educación enmarcan estas cuatro novellas que transcurren en los mundos de Yeowen y Werel (también descendientes de los Hanish), donde los de Werel de piel negra crearon un sistema de propietarios y esclavos (activos) que duró varios siglos, en un sistema de castas donde la mujer ocupa el último lugar.
Le bajo un poco porque que manía de emparejar, no hay necesidad.
Me encantó saber más de Hain, por momentos no sabia si era el pasado. Un lugar tan bucólico y básico, con ideas ritualizadas, es a la vez es el sitio de los observadores y diplomáticos que van a las estrellas. Me encanto igual sus ideas acerca de la Historia.
La 'ultima historia me mató.
October 22, 2020
"Los hombres creen que tienen que ser jefes. Tienen que dejar de pensar eso. Una cosa que he aprendido en la vida es que no se cambia la forma de pensar a golpe de pistola. Matas al jefe y te conviertes en el jefe. Tenemos que cambiar esa mentalidad. Es la mentalidad del esclavo, la mentalidad del jefe."
Werel y Yeowe son dos planetas del mismo sistema. En ambos se ha establecido un sistema político capitalista basado en el esclavismo, un sistema de propietarios y siervos, donde estos últimos apenas son considerados personas, y en el que la mujer tiene un papel absolutamente irrelevante, aún dentro de la casta propietaria. Con el primer contacto con el Ecumen, las cosas empezarán a cambiar poco a poco, pero aún queda un largo camino hacia la libertad...
En "Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón", Úrsula explora estos dos planetas y su historia a través de cuatro relatos interrelacionados. Con sus distintos puntos de vista, personajes diversos, y diferentes momentos históricos, la visión global y el conjunto es tremendamente rico. A pesar de ser relatos, la impresión final es de novela, ya que todo guarda una estrecha relación entre sí.
A pesar de que Úrsula suele dar muchísima importancia al mundo en sí, a la estructura política y social, y las consecuencias que esto provoca, en estos relatos he sentido a los personajes algo más profundos y humanos que en otras de sus novelas. Siento que ganan más peso, que su historia personal y sus sentimientos también importan, y no solo el mundo que les rodea, y lo he sentido en los cuatro relatos. Para mi esto es un plus muy importante, ya que soy consciente de que, a pesar de que adoro a la autora, a veces peca un poco de descuidar a sus personajes en favor de un worldbuilding muy interesante que tira un poco de todo lo demás. Creo que en esta historia no pasa, con lo cual pienso que es uno de los libros más redondos que he leído de Úrsula hasta ahora. Y sí, para mi gusto está incluso por encima de "La mano izquierda de la oscuridad" y "Los desposeídos".
Como siempre Le Guin aprovecha la historia para introducir crítica social y reflexiones, en este caso muy variadas. Desde la importancia de la educación, de la Historia, de los derechos fundamentales del ser humano, más concretamente de las mujeres, de la xenofobia... Y gran parte de la novela hace una referencia muy clara a la esclavitud en Estados Unidos.
A mi me ha fascinado de principio a fin. La estructura de los relatos hace para mi algo más fácil y rica la comprensión de la situación, ya que se puede analizar desde distintos puntos de vista muy diferentes: desde una enviada del Ecumen, acostumbrada a una civilización mucho más avanzada, pasando por un soldado, hijo de propietarios, hasta una esclava de Werel. Todo ello contado con esa forma tan poética que tiene Úrsula de narrar.
Un libro redondo, qué más puedo decir.
"Lo que yo descubrí en la historia es que la libertad se hacía, no se daba."
Werel y Yeowe son dos planetas del mismo sistema. En ambos se ha establecido un sistema político capitalista basado en el esclavismo, un sistema de propietarios y siervos, donde estos últimos apenas son considerados personas, y en el que la mujer tiene un papel absolutamente irrelevante, aún dentro de la casta propietaria. Con el primer contacto con el Ecumen, las cosas empezarán a cambiar poco a poco, pero aún queda un largo camino hacia la libertad...
En "Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón", Úrsula explora estos dos planetas y su historia a través de cuatro relatos interrelacionados. Con sus distintos puntos de vista, personajes diversos, y diferentes momentos históricos, la visión global y el conjunto es tremendamente rico. A pesar de ser relatos, la impresión final es de novela, ya que todo guarda una estrecha relación entre sí.
A pesar de que Úrsula suele dar muchísima importancia al mundo en sí, a la estructura política y social, y las consecuencias que esto provoca, en estos relatos he sentido a los personajes algo más profundos y humanos que en otras de sus novelas. Siento que ganan más peso, que su historia personal y sus sentimientos también importan, y no solo el mundo que les rodea, y lo he sentido en los cuatro relatos. Para mi esto es un plus muy importante, ya que soy consciente de que, a pesar de que adoro a la autora, a veces peca un poco de descuidar a sus personajes en favor de un worldbuilding muy interesante que tira un poco de todo lo demás. Creo que en esta historia no pasa, con lo cual pienso que es uno de los libros más redondos que he leído de Úrsula hasta ahora. Y sí, para mi gusto está incluso por encima de "La mano izquierda de la oscuridad" y "Los desposeídos".
Como siempre Le Guin aprovecha la historia para introducir crítica social y reflexiones, en este caso muy variadas. Desde la importancia de la educación, de la Historia, de los derechos fundamentales del ser humano, más concretamente de las mujeres, de la xenofobia... Y gran parte de la novela hace una referencia muy clara a la esclavitud en Estados Unidos.
A mi me ha fascinado de principio a fin. La estructura de los relatos hace para mi algo más fácil y rica la comprensión de la situación, ya que se puede analizar desde distintos puntos de vista muy diferentes: desde una enviada del Ecumen, acostumbrada a una civilización mucho más avanzada, pasando por un soldado, hijo de propietarios, hasta una esclava de Werel. Todo ello contado con esa forma tan poética que tiene Úrsula de narrar.
Un libro redondo, qué más puedo decir.
"Lo que yo descubrí en la historia es que la libertad se hacía, no se daba."
July 11, 2022
He vuelto a leer este libro muchos años después de haberlo leído y muchos años después de habérmelo regalado. La vez anterior lo leí con ganas pero un poco por obligación, no tenía contexto suficiente delCiclo Hainishy aunque se puede disfrutar en sí mismo creo que gana coma parte de ese conjunto de libros. Así que voy a hacer varias recomendaciones.
Primero que leas este libro después de otros del ciclo Hainish o al menos buscar info en la wikipedia para saber de qué va ese rollo de que haya "homínidos" en otros planetas que no sean la Tierra y cómo llegaron allí y porque hay alienígenas también homínidos.
Segundo, es que creo que los 4 relatos que componen el libro se podrían disfrutar más en otro orden. Empezar por leer o al menos ser consciente de que hay un resumen de historia y geografía de los planetas en que transcurre los relatos al final del libro "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe". Werel y Yeowe que son el 4º y 3º planeta de un sistema solar lejano, también es importante saber que este Werel es distinto delPlaneta de exilioy es que aUrsula K. Le Guinsegún ella misma reconoció se le había olvidado que ya usó ese nombre en otra novela.
Tercero, de los cuatro relatos (los cuatro caminos) tres están conectados entre sí que son el 2º, 3º y 4º y además transcurren antes en el tiempo que el primero. Así que mi recomendación es leerlos en otro orden pero que es una recomendación qué podéis pasar por alto como si nada, que no soy nadie para enmendar a editores y menos a autores como Ursula. Aún así allá va:
► (5) "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe" la parte dedicada a Werel.
► (2) El día del perdón, de 1994, publicado por primera vez en Asimov´s
► (5) "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe" la parte dedicada a Yeowe.
► (3) Un hombre del pueblo, de 1995 y publicado originalmente en Asimov´s
► (4) La liberación de una mujer, de 1995 y publicado por primera vez en Asimov´s
► (1) Traiciones, escrito en 1994 y publicado originalmente en Blue Motel.
Tras esta lectura he decidido darle4 estrellas ****y lo recomiendo como continuación de los otros libros del Ciclo Hainish. Resulta impactante y duro la forma en que muestra su visión de un lugar donde sigue habiendo un fuerte racismo (de negros sobre blancos), machismo extremo y esclavitud sin escrúpulos tratando a personas peor que a bestias. Y a pesar de todo dar cierta esperanza de que mucho de lo que leemos es una metáfora y una advertencia de que cualquier situación pasada puede repetirse en el futuro o en otro planeta, o lo que es peor aquí mismo.
Esta es la reseña original de la lectura anterior.
Otro dela lista de 2004-2005.Este libro de ciencia-ficción me lo regaló «la lectora que se ríe de la ciencia-ficción» y como además tarde algo así como 6 años en leérmelo desde que me lo habían regalado, no contribuyó a que hubiese muchos más libros de ese género.
Los libros tienen eso, tienen su momento, empiezas a leerlo y no te engancha, lo ves en la estantería y dejas pasar el tiempo, y de repente un día lo coges y lo lees del tirón.
Este libro no es ninguna obra maestra, le doy 3 estrellas, y lo mismo lo puede leer un amante de laciencia-ficciónque uno que no lo sea, es más bien lo que podría llamarse una «novela alegórica», ya que la tecnología o ciertos aspectos que podrían definir esta obra como perteneciente a ese género casi no están presentes.
El libro es una recopilación de cuentos largos, o de relatos cortos, que tratan los temas de la libertad y la mujer que tienen ese toque femenino que siempre se echa en falta en la ciencia-ficción. Los títulos de los cuatro relatos hablan por si mismos: Traiciones, El Día del perdón, Un hombre del pueblo y La liberación de la mujer. El ambiente de las historias me recordó aLa quinta cabeza de Cerberode Gene Wolfey me dejaron con ganas de más, así que cualquier día tendré que hacerme con el volumenrecopilatorio de sus novelas premiadas.
*Ursula K. Le Guin en wikipedia
*Doce moradas web dedicada a Ursula K. Le Guin
ver reseña en mi blog
Primero que leas este libro después de otros del ciclo Hainish o al menos buscar info en la wikipedia para saber de qué va ese rollo de que haya "homínidos" en otros planetas que no sean la Tierra y cómo llegaron allí y porque hay alienígenas también homínidos.
Segundo, es que creo que los 4 relatos que componen el libro se podrían disfrutar más en otro orden. Empezar por leer o al menos ser consciente de que hay un resumen de historia y geografía de los planetas en que transcurre los relatos al final del libro "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe". Werel y Yeowe que son el 4º y 3º planeta de un sistema solar lejano, también es importante saber que este Werel es distinto delPlaneta de exilioy es que aUrsula K. Le Guinsegún ella misma reconoció se le había olvidado que ya usó ese nombre en otra novela.
Tercero, de los cuatro relatos (los cuatro caminos) tres están conectados entre sí que son el 2º, 3º y 4º y además transcurren antes en el tiempo que el primero. Así que mi recomendación es leerlos en otro orden pero que es una recomendación qué podéis pasar por alto como si nada, que no soy nadie para enmendar a editores y menos a autores como Ursula. Aún así allá va:
► (5) "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe" la parte dedicada a Werel.
► (2) El día del perdón, de 1994, publicado por primera vez en Asimov´s
► (5) "Notas finales sobre Werel y Yeowe" la parte dedicada a Yeowe.
► (3) Un hombre del pueblo, de 1995 y publicado originalmente en Asimov´s
► (4) La liberación de una mujer, de 1995 y publicado por primera vez en Asimov´s
► (1) Traiciones, escrito en 1994 y publicado originalmente en Blue Motel.
Tras esta lectura he decidido darle4 estrellas ****y lo recomiendo como continuación de los otros libros del Ciclo Hainish. Resulta impactante y duro la forma en que muestra su visión de un lugar donde sigue habiendo un fuerte racismo (de negros sobre blancos), machismo extremo y esclavitud sin escrúpulos tratando a personas peor que a bestias. Y a pesar de todo dar cierta esperanza de que mucho de lo que leemos es una metáfora y una advertencia de que cualquier situación pasada puede repetirse en el futuro o en otro planeta, o lo que es peor aquí mismo.
Esta es la reseña original de la lectura anterior.
Otro dela lista de 2004-2005.Este libro de ciencia-ficción me lo regaló «la lectora que se ríe de la ciencia-ficción» y como además tarde algo así como 6 años en leérmelo desde que me lo habían regalado, no contribuyó a que hubiese muchos más libros de ese género.
Los libros tienen eso, tienen su momento, empiezas a leerlo y no te engancha, lo ves en la estantería y dejas pasar el tiempo, y de repente un día lo coges y lo lees del tirón.
Este libro no es ninguna obra maestra, le doy 3 estrellas, y lo mismo lo puede leer un amante de laciencia-ficciónque uno que no lo sea, es más bien lo que podría llamarse una «novela alegórica», ya que la tecnología o ciertos aspectos que podrían definir esta obra como perteneciente a ese género casi no están presentes.
El libro es una recopilación de cuentos largos, o de relatos cortos, que tratan los temas de la libertad y la mujer que tienen ese toque femenino que siempre se echa en falta en la ciencia-ficción. Los títulos de los cuatro relatos hablan por si mismos: Traiciones, El Día del perdón, Un hombre del pueblo y La liberación de la mujer. El ambiente de las historias me recordó aLa quinta cabeza de Cerberode Gene Wolfey me dejaron con ganas de más, así que cualquier día tendré que hacerme con el volumenrecopilatorio de sus novelas premiadas.
*Ursula K. Le Guin en wikipedia
*Doce moradas web dedicada a Ursula K. Le Guin
ver reseña en mi blog
February 13, 2021
Ursula K. Le Guin era una maestra creando analogías entre sus mundos imaginarios y el nuestro propio. Y hacía uso de estos mundos para reflejar el comportamiento de nuestros propios sistemas sociales y económicos con un ojo analítico envidiable. Escudada tras la ficción, cargaba de fuerte crítica social sus obras, de una manera que oscila entre lo sutil y lo evidente; y todas las reflexiones que se pueden sacar, las deja en exclusiva para el lector, haciendo que con cada libro que leas de ella te conviertas en alguien que es capaz de ver el mundo desde diferentes perspectivas para que lo comprendas en profundidad.
Cuatro Caminos Hacia El Perdónes un buen ejemplo de esto. Ubicado en dos planetas vecinos, conoceremos una sociedad dividida entre propietarios y activos (esclavos) donde se intenta llegar a un mundo más justo tras la llegada del Ekumen y para poder formar parte de él. Dividido en cuatro relatos interrelacionados, iremos adentrándonos en su historia, sus diferentes culturas y tradiciones a través de personajes de cada condición.
Es un libro que va mucho más allá de la crítica hacia la esclavitud o a los sistemas de castas, toca temas muy diversos y se pueden sacar lecturas de todo tipo. Tiene especial importancia el papel de la mujer, mostrando de manera muy clarificadora el lugar al que es relegada en la sociedad. Aquí (como sucede en la nuestra propia) da igual que sea propietaria o activa, a la mujer se le considera un ser inferior.
Decir que me ha encantado, es quedarme corta. Me ha parecido terriblemente complejo (no de leer, sino por todo lo que trata) y a la vez hermosísimo. Toca con crudeza todo lo malo y lo mezquino que quiere denunciar pero a la vez es un alegato al amor, al amor de todo tipo. Pues, a pesar de que somos diferentes, tanto cada ser como cada cultura de la que procedemos, al final estas diferencias no son tan importantes ni significativas como todo lo que nos hace iguales.
Recomendadísimo e imprescindible.
Cuatro Caminos Hacia El Perdónes un buen ejemplo de esto. Ubicado en dos planetas vecinos, conoceremos una sociedad dividida entre propietarios y activos (esclavos) donde se intenta llegar a un mundo más justo tras la llegada del Ekumen y para poder formar parte de él. Dividido en cuatro relatos interrelacionados, iremos adentrándonos en su historia, sus diferentes culturas y tradiciones a través de personajes de cada condición.
Es un libro que va mucho más allá de la crítica hacia la esclavitud o a los sistemas de castas, toca temas muy diversos y se pueden sacar lecturas de todo tipo. Tiene especial importancia el papel de la mujer, mostrando de manera muy clarificadora el lugar al que es relegada en la sociedad. Aquí (como sucede en la nuestra propia) da igual que sea propietaria o activa, a la mujer se le considera un ser inferior.
Decir que me ha encantado, es quedarme corta. Me ha parecido terriblemente complejo (no de leer, sino por todo lo que trata) y a la vez hermosísimo. Toca con crudeza todo lo malo y lo mezquino que quiere denunciar pero a la vez es un alegato al amor, al amor de todo tipo. Pues, a pesar de que somos diferentes, tanto cada ser como cada cultura de la que procedemos, al final estas diferencias no son tan importantes ni significativas como todo lo que nos hace iguales.
Recomendadísimo e imprescindible.
July 6, 2024
This is a book made of four separate stories, each one with its own protagonists and setting. Yet, these four stories feed each other into a larger, more encompassing, and expanding narrative. I found myself rereading the book immediately after finishing it the first time. A desire born from wanting to reinterpret each story after having collected all the clues I’ve found in the ones coming behind. The exercise proved wholeheartedly satisfactory.
These are, in ways that may not seem obvious at first, stories about letting go and forgive, but also about not forgetting.
They are colored by a sense of longing and wisdom that can only come from age. In that sense, in these stories Le Guin is much subtle in her assertions, letting us, the reader, make our own minds about what she may be trying to show us and why.
Le Guin’s prose, as always, is juicy and rich and so worth reading, not only for its beauty but also its rhythm and taste.
Each story introduces a new world, but each new world is also connected to worlds we know well, worlds from previous books. It’s that connection, that translucid link, given by a phrase here and a piece of dialogue there, that helps these stories feel grounded in the immensity of the universe Ursula K. Le Guin created along her Hainish Cycle. Interestingly, these stories also fill gaps left in other books, hence constantly transporting us back and forth among places and the moods those places may have created in us.
These are, in ways that may not seem obvious at first, stories about letting go and forgive, but also about not forgetting.
They are colored by a sense of longing and wisdom that can only come from age. In that sense, in these stories Le Guin is much subtle in her assertions, letting us, the reader, make our own minds about what she may be trying to show us and why.
Le Guin’s prose, as always, is juicy and rich and so worth reading, not only for its beauty but also its rhythm and taste.
Each story introduces a new world, but each new world is also connected to worlds we know well, worlds from previous books. It’s that connection, that translucid link, given by a phrase here and a piece of dialogue there, that helps these stories feel grounded in the immensity of the universe Ursula K. Le Guin created along her Hainish Cycle. Interestingly, these stories also fill gaps left in other books, hence constantly transporting us back and forth among places and the moods those places may have created in us.
February 3, 2018
Four interconnected love stories between people from different and difficult backgrounds. All of them end up finding their way to -don't say forgiveness. don't...- to forgiveness, which clearly consists in an understanding partner and an useful occupation. It's settled in many planets, but it's mainly about one, Yeowe, that joins the narrative advantages of having just freed itself from a colonial, pro-slavery regime and being ruled by chauvinistic assholes. Luckily, none of the characters are native of wherever they end up finding their particular brand of happiness. It's manicheistic; all things Ekumen are very likely to be good, and all things patriot are probably bad. I don't mind. There probably is much to be gained of the contact of others, specially if they are older, academically better and have a working peaceful system of govern, but I'm a worried about how the ideology at work might translate in real life.
The stories are slow to pick up, and end on the satisfying natural conclusion wholly invented by fiction. Frankly, slavery and male chauvinism are rather tired themes, specially on this planet with no history. It has to rediscover all from scratch. On the good side:
The first story's characters are old people, and the orthodoxally interesting part of their lives is over. Is that politically incorrect? The fact is that the only thing going on is the romance; and it's a fairly common one, contrived by the oldest, really really old, ancient, tricks in the book.
I might have found it sweet, but it info dumped me to boredom. I might have liked the male protagonist, only I didn't, because I don't have pity to spare for corrupt politicians. And she was strong and independent, but only by omission, because we didn't know that much about her. On the whole, it's a shame, because I'm usually a sucker for willful old people.
I did care for the main character of the third one, but the story focused on his relationships with women and glossed over his involvement in the feminist movements of Yeowe. I find that I enjoy reading about a man who chooses to defend the rights of women. I would object if he created the movement, but he's just willing to participate, and it's curiously moving.
The fourth one... happens... and its plot is very contrived and the main character is a bit too perfect and I should have skipped it, even though it's the longest.
The second story I liked. It was about two people made enemies by their upbringing, their experience, their beliefs, and most of all their temperament, locked up in one room, but who canthink.It's about how difficult it is to understand one another, and it's a love story between flawed grown ups whose flaws are also their virtues. They dislike, then love each other for the same reasons.
There also seems so be some thinking about personal semi philosophical concepts and individual mottos, specially for the male characters: hold fast to the one noble thing, global and regional truths, and I can't remember the others (or even if there were any) but it's a great way to build a distinct character in a story so short and so focused in sci-fi's social problems.[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>
The stories are slow to pick up, and end on the satisfying natural conclusion wholly invented by fiction. Frankly, slavery and male chauvinism are rather tired themes, specially on this planet with no history. It has to rediscover all from scratch. On the good side:
The first story's characters are old people, and the orthodoxally interesting part of their lives is over. Is that politically incorrect? The fact is that the only thing going on is the romance; and it's a fairly common one, contrived by the oldest, really really old, ancient, tricks in the book.
I might have found it sweet, but it info dumped me to boredom. I might have liked the male protagonist, only I didn't, because I don't have pity to spare for corrupt politicians. And she was strong and independent, but only by omission, because we didn't know that much about her. On the whole, it's a shame, because I'm usually a sucker for willful old people.
I did care for the main character of the third one, but the story focused on his relationships with women and glossed over his involvement in the feminist movements of Yeowe. I find that I enjoy reading about a man who chooses to defend the rights of women. I would object if he created the movement, but he's just willing to participate, and it's curiously moving.
The fourth one... happens... and its plot is very contrived and the main character is a bit too perfect and I should have skipped it, even though it's the longest.
The second story I liked. It was about two people made enemies by their upbringing, their experience, their beliefs, and most of all their temperament, locked up in one room, but who canthink.It's about how difficult it is to understand one another, and it's a love story between flawed grown ups whose flaws are also their virtues. They dislike, then love each other for the same reasons.
There also seems so be some thinking about personal semi philosophical concepts and individual mottos, specially for the male characters: hold fast to the one noble thing, global and regional truths, and I can't remember the others (or even if there were any) but it's a great way to build a distinct character in a story so short and so focused in sci-fi's social problems.[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>[ "br" ]>
May 13, 2019
8/10. Media de los 23 libros leídos de la autora: 7/10
La casi siempre efectiva Le Guin no suele ser nunca una mala opción de lectura. Te podrá sorprender más o menos, pero suele ser interesante leerla.
Recordemos que escribió mucho, mucho, tiene varios Hugo, Nébula, Locus y demás y fue la primera Gran Maestra de la CF.
La casi siempre efectiva Le Guin no suele ser nunca una mala opción de lectura. Te podrá sorprender más o menos, pero suele ser interesante leerla.
Recordemos que escribió mucho, mucho, tiene varios Hugo, Nébula, Locus y demás y fue la primera Gran Maestra de la CF.
December 16, 2015
There is just no denying it: Ursula le Guin is one of the greatest writers of the last 50 years (at least), and I firmly believe that the only reason she does not get more recognition for her commentary on race, politics, and - especially - gender - is because she sets much of that discussion off world. But, as I've mentioned before, this makes the discussion both easier to read - it's not my society being critiqued! - and harder-hitting, because when we see our faults in aliens... it hurts more, somehow. Or maybe that's just le Guin's genius.
So. Here we have four interconnected short stories (although if we're being technical I think the last two are probably closer to novellas). We have two planets, Werel and Yeowe. Yeowe was uninhabited until the Owners on Werel decided to start mining and farming it, for which they used the labour of their assets. Yes, Werel is a slave-owning society, and a capitalist one (I see what you did there, le Guin - very nice indeed - Marx needs a little chastising sometimes). And within the hierarchy of owner/owned there's a gender hierarchy as well, with women being firmly the lowest section of each caste. Sounding familiar? Well yes, except that here lovely onyx skin is the most prized, and the paler you are - the more 'dusty' - the more obvious your slave status.
Me, I'm one of the palest of the pale whitefellas around. No way can I presume to comment on how people of colour would react to this inversion. For myself, I'll admit that reading the derogatory term 'dusty' did not at first make sense (I thought it was referring to them living in the dirt and dust); and while it was uncomfortable in the context of slave/free, it's awesome to read stories wherein black is desirable and beautiful... and it's not a big deal.
The four stories all deal with the same basic issue and time: the consequences of a revolt of the 'assets' on Yeowe against the Corporation who owned them: consequences for the Owners and the assets, for men and women, and for the alien Ekumen observers (this fits into le Guin's Hainish cycle). For me, while revolutions are interesting and all, it's the aftermath that's really the meat of history. What difference does it actually make? How long do changes take and how long do they hang around? Changing the world is one thing; changing attitudes and desires and beliefs quite another.
The first story, "Betrayals," is set some time after the Liberation, in a nowhere town on Yeowe. It's the story that has least to do with the Liberation itself, although it comes about as a result of it. It's a tale of two old people - and how refreshing is that? - dealing with being old, and the changes in their world, and how frustrating the world can be when you're not able or allowed to make big changes yourself any more... but you can still make small ones, that do make a difference. Bitterness and growth and love. Also gossip, and the downfall of heroes.
"Forgiveness Day" comes first from the perspective of a 'space brat' - a worldly (hmm, or not; she doesn't really have a world) woman of the Ekumen sent to Werel to act as an observer there. Being an observer on tight-knit, inward-facing and closed-mouth Werel was always going to be a difficult task, but having a woman in that position - going out, rather than staying in the beza (woman's side); her own property, rather than a man's; speaking to men as their equal - is yet another kettle of proverbial. Solly deals with it rather bullishly, which is perfectly fair and understandable. What puts le Guin at the pinnacle is that she writes Solly completely sympathetically for maybe a quarter? of the story, and then relates the next section from the perspective of Teyeo, her bodyguard, of whom Solly has a very dim view but who again comes across as immensely sympathetic, and casts some shade on Solly; and then the rest is the two of them in rather a pickle. It's a commanding story of attitudes and cultural perspectives, and change in the face of necessity. It also starts opening up Werel society to the reader, giving hints and clues about how and why it works, which while not making it likeable begins to make it comprehensible.
"A Man of the People" begins on Hain, with a young boy growing up in a sheltered, insular pueblo... who eventually gets impatient with the local knowledge available and longs for something bigger. Nearly half of the story takes place on Hain as Havzhida learns about universal knowledge and eventually becomes a member of the Hainish delegation to Yeowe. While the previous story showed Werel from an outsider's perspective, seeing Yeowe post-Liberation from such a view is revealing too, not least because the gender hierarchy has been replicated. The rhetoric of freedom, of liberation, is a complex one, and le Guin makes some offerings on how to understand it in this and the next story in particular. I think this story is my favourite, at least partly because it shows how power doesn't have to come from violence, and subversion doesn't have to involve deceit. And the characters are wonderful and varied, and Havzhida is a willing observer - not insistent on participation where that might not be appropriate. Which is something that some activists might do well to understand.
Finally, "A Woman's Liberation" is probably the most difficult to read of the lot. The first is post-Liberation Yeowe, so at least the theory of freedom is present; the second is Werel, where there is no freedom for 'assets' but Solly and Teyeo move freely (mostly); the third is post-Liberation Yeowe too, with Havzhida moving freely and women beginning to do so. "A Woman's Liberation," though, is from the perspective of a bondswoman - an asset - on Werel. She is thus doubly bonded, doubly enslaved, both to her Owner and to the men of her caste. This makes for a sometimes-painful reading experience - not gratuitous, not unnecessary, but painful nonetheless. Things do change, as the name suggests, but le Guin does not hide the fact that changing official status is difficult, and indeed is only one step in losing the 'slave-mind'. Rakam is a glorious character who grows and struggles and is unrelentingly honest with the reader. She's inspirational.
These stories are complex and challenging and absorbing and frustrating because they do not fill in all of the gaps. By the end a general sweep of the history and society of Werel and Yeowe has been revealed, but there is so much more that could be written! This is one of the peculiar gifts of le Guin, I think - she does not tell us everything. Only what we need to know. Which is about liberation, and freedom, and individuality, and community, and love.
So. Here we have four interconnected short stories (although if we're being technical I think the last two are probably closer to novellas). We have two planets, Werel and Yeowe. Yeowe was uninhabited until the Owners on Werel decided to start mining and farming it, for which they used the labour of their assets. Yes, Werel is a slave-owning society, and a capitalist one (I see what you did there, le Guin - very nice indeed - Marx needs a little chastising sometimes). And within the hierarchy of owner/owned there's a gender hierarchy as well, with women being firmly the lowest section of each caste. Sounding familiar? Well yes, except that here lovely onyx skin is the most prized, and the paler you are - the more 'dusty' - the more obvious your slave status.
Me, I'm one of the palest of the pale whitefellas around. No way can I presume to comment on how people of colour would react to this inversion. For myself, I'll admit that reading the derogatory term 'dusty' did not at first make sense (I thought it was referring to them living in the dirt and dust); and while it was uncomfortable in the context of slave/free, it's awesome to read stories wherein black is desirable and beautiful... and it's not a big deal.
The four stories all deal with the same basic issue and time: the consequences of a revolt of the 'assets' on Yeowe against the Corporation who owned them: consequences for the Owners and the assets, for men and women, and for the alien Ekumen observers (this fits into le Guin's Hainish cycle). For me, while revolutions are interesting and all, it's the aftermath that's really the meat of history. What difference does it actually make? How long do changes take and how long do they hang around? Changing the world is one thing; changing attitudes and desires and beliefs quite another.
The first story, "Betrayals," is set some time after the Liberation, in a nowhere town on Yeowe. It's the story that has least to do with the Liberation itself, although it comes about as a result of it. It's a tale of two old people - and how refreshing is that? - dealing with being old, and the changes in their world, and how frustrating the world can be when you're not able or allowed to make big changes yourself any more... but you can still make small ones, that do make a difference. Bitterness and growth and love. Also gossip, and the downfall of heroes.
"Forgiveness Day" comes first from the perspective of a 'space brat' - a worldly (hmm, or not; she doesn't really have a world) woman of the Ekumen sent to Werel to act as an observer there. Being an observer on tight-knit, inward-facing and closed-mouth Werel was always going to be a difficult task, but having a woman in that position - going out, rather than staying in the beza (woman's side); her own property, rather than a man's; speaking to men as their equal - is yet another kettle of proverbial. Solly deals with it rather bullishly, which is perfectly fair and understandable. What puts le Guin at the pinnacle is that she writes Solly completely sympathetically for maybe a quarter? of the story, and then relates the next section from the perspective of Teyeo, her bodyguard, of whom Solly has a very dim view but who again comes across as immensely sympathetic, and casts some shade on Solly; and then the rest is the two of them in rather a pickle. It's a commanding story of attitudes and cultural perspectives, and change in the face of necessity. It also starts opening up Werel society to the reader, giving hints and clues about how and why it works, which while not making it likeable begins to make it comprehensible.
"A Man of the People" begins on Hain, with a young boy growing up in a sheltered, insular pueblo... who eventually gets impatient with the local knowledge available and longs for something bigger. Nearly half of the story takes place on Hain as Havzhida learns about universal knowledge and eventually becomes a member of the Hainish delegation to Yeowe. While the previous story showed Werel from an outsider's perspective, seeing Yeowe post-Liberation from such a view is revealing too, not least because the gender hierarchy has been replicated. The rhetoric of freedom, of liberation, is a complex one, and le Guin makes some offerings on how to understand it in this and the next story in particular. I think this story is my favourite, at least partly because it shows how power doesn't have to come from violence, and subversion doesn't have to involve deceit. And the characters are wonderful and varied, and Havzhida is a willing observer - not insistent on participation where that might not be appropriate. Which is something that some activists might do well to understand.
Finally, "A Woman's Liberation" is probably the most difficult to read of the lot. The first is post-Liberation Yeowe, so at least the theory of freedom is present; the second is Werel, where there is no freedom for 'assets' but Solly and Teyeo move freely (mostly); the third is post-Liberation Yeowe too, with Havzhida moving freely and women beginning to do so. "A Woman's Liberation," though, is from the perspective of a bondswoman - an asset - on Werel. She is thus doubly bonded, doubly enslaved, both to her Owner and to the men of her caste. This makes for a sometimes-painful reading experience - not gratuitous, not unnecessary, but painful nonetheless. Things do change, as the name suggests, but le Guin does not hide the fact that changing official status is difficult, and indeed is only one step in losing the 'slave-mind'. Rakam is a glorious character who grows and struggles and is unrelentingly honest with the reader. She's inspirational.
These stories are complex and challenging and absorbing and frustrating because they do not fill in all of the gaps. By the end a general sweep of the history and society of Werel and Yeowe has been revealed, but there is so much more that could be written! This is one of the peculiar gifts of le Guin, I think - she does not tell us everything. Only what we need to know. Which is about liberation, and freedom, and individuality, and community, and love.
March 20, 2021
La reseña completa enhttp://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/2...
«Todo conocimiento es parcial, infinitamente parcial… Todo conocimiento humano es local. Toda vida, toda vida humana, es local y arbitraria, el momentáneo e infinitesimal centelleo de un reflejo».
Una de las alegrías de este año es que editorial Minotauro finalmente está reeditando los libros de la grandísima Ursula K. Le Guin. Así que hoy me gustaría hablarles de Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón, el libro con el que se inaugura la colección Bibliotecas de Autor dedicada a la escritora de Terramar, La mano izquierda de la oscuridad y Los desposeídos. Con la traducción de Ana Quijada, incluye cuatro historias independientes (aunque más relacionadas de lo que en un primer momento podemos pensar), ambientadas en el Ekumen ese universo ficticio del «Ciclo de Hainish» en el que Le Guin desarrolló muchas de sus novelas de ciencia ficción.
«Todo conocimiento es parcial, infinitamente parcial… Todo conocimiento humano es local. Toda vida, toda vida humana, es local y arbitraria, el momentáneo e infinitesimal centelleo de un reflejo».
Una de las alegrías de este año es que editorial Minotauro finalmente está reeditando los libros de la grandísima Ursula K. Le Guin. Así que hoy me gustaría hablarles de Cuatro caminos hacia el perdón, el libro con el que se inaugura la colección Bibliotecas de Autor dedicada a la escritora de Terramar, La mano izquierda de la oscuridad y Los desposeídos. Con la traducción de Ana Quijada, incluye cuatro historias independientes (aunque más relacionadas de lo que en un primer momento podemos pensar), ambientadas en el Ekumen ese universo ficticio del «Ciclo de Hainish» en el que Le Guin desarrolló muchas de sus novelas de ciencia ficción.
October 7, 2019
Four tales of in the Hainish 'cycle', of the planets Werel and Yeowe and the end of racial slavery there.
These stories are more along the lines ofThe Dispossessed,more character driven and less plot driven, and they have taken me forever to get through (just because they never truly gripped me).
These stories are more along the lines ofThe Dispossessed,more character driven and less plot driven, and they have taken me forever to get through (just because they never truly gripped me).
Read
March 22, 2021Le Guin readers will be better served by reading the larger but more selective collectionThe Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories, Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands(which does contain the first story from this collection) and the novelsThe Left Hand of Darkness,The Lathe of Heaven,andThe Tombs of Atuan.
February 4, 2017
Along with Lathe of Heaven, one of my most favorite works by her.
April 18, 2020
4.3/5
Taking place on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe where slavery is ingrained deep in the fibre of the society,Four Ways to Forgivenessis a book about agency and reconciliation.
Out of all Hainish books I've read, I feel that this is Le Guin's most feminist book so far. While her older books focused on male heroes, this book follows more central female characters from different backgrounds with varying degrees of agency. And rather than exploring hard empirical science in a single story with different POVs, this book explores in-depth social sciences and anthropology in a collection of loosely connected novellas where everything sort of converges in the last one.
The first part,Betrayalsis a very cosy rural tale about past, loyalty, freedom, and growing old. While it reminds me a lot toTehanu,this one has very little science fiction and fantasy element. It tells the story of Yoss, a retired teacher, who meets Abberkam, a retired radical politician. Rather than digging into heavy societal themes, this story kinda serves as the appetiser, slowly introducing the world of Yeowe and Werel to the reader along with their cultural and historical quirks. The mention of Ekumen and Hain in the background is neat. I like how Le Guin kinda deconstructed how Ekumen worked from an indigenous perspective. Despite all the goodwill and pacifist approach, Ekumen is still a foreign force that shakes the cultural foundation of Werel and Yeowe.
Forgiveness Dayis a fascinating story about a pair of polar opposites and cultural clash. Following Solly, a young and aspiring Terran Envoy, this narrative witness the political turmoil and revolutionary change. Again, the story deconstructs Ekumen as a meddling being, an invader despite its noble intention and ethical practices. Solly is obviously competent and educated, but her lack of tact in reading the complex social clues and dynamics of Werel results in friction with Teyeo, her assigned guardian. I feel this story is more of a character study of the unlikely pair, where opposing values of different worlds clash. A pity that the last bit of the story is way too rushed.
A Man of the Peopleis yet again a fascinating study and worldbuilding on anthropology, tradition, gender and societal roles. This story follows the perspective of Havzhiva, a Hain academic aspiring to be work as an Ekumen Envoy to Werel and Yeowe. I think Havzhiva is the first Hain person we truly follow from childhood to adulthood. And since the majority of Hainish Cycle actually are told from the perspective of a Terran, this story gives an interesting insight. The story also offers a meta-commentary on Ekumen's history and bureaucracy. However progressive and peaceful Ekumen is, as an outsider-observer, there's only so much you can do to help to progress a society without regressing into a tyrant with a messiah complex. Especially considering that Ekumen come from a more privileged and technologically advanced society.
A Woman's LiberationI think is the strongest story in the book, containing the meat of the story: of agency, social progress, and reconciliation. This part follows the story of Rakam, an asset/slave on Werel. The narrative follows her progress from a naive and disenfranchised young girl to fledgling academia and finally social activist. It is very much story of empowerment of the less privileged, and also a commentary on how even in slavery, there is the pariah of the pariah, the slave of the slave. It is a critique against patriarchal democracy where men have voice and presence, while women are often erased or ignored, even when they are the ones who start the movement, to begin with.
Conclusion
I thinkFour Ways to Forgivenessis an excellent banquet of flavours. This book toHainish Cycleis likeTehanutoEarthsea Cycle,where Le Guin updated her already compelling worlds with the voice and agency of mature women characters. LikeThe Dispossessedthis collection of stories also digs deep to the anthropological aspect of social architecture. And yet, despite the brilliant scholarly perspective, ultimately what makes Le Guin (and especiallyHainish Cycle) so compelling is her uncompromisingly humane storytelling.
Taking place on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe where slavery is ingrained deep in the fibre of the society,Four Ways to Forgivenessis a book about agency and reconciliation.
Out of all Hainish books I've read, I feel that this is Le Guin's most feminist book so far. While her older books focused on male heroes, this book follows more central female characters from different backgrounds with varying degrees of agency. And rather than exploring hard empirical science in a single story with different POVs, this book explores in-depth social sciences and anthropology in a collection of loosely connected novellas where everything sort of converges in the last one.
The first part,Betrayalsis a very cosy rural tale about past, loyalty, freedom, and growing old. While it reminds me a lot toTehanu,this one has very little science fiction and fantasy element. It tells the story of Yoss, a retired teacher, who meets Abberkam, a retired radical politician. Rather than digging into heavy societal themes, this story kinda serves as the appetiser, slowly introducing the world of Yeowe and Werel to the reader along with their cultural and historical quirks. The mention of Ekumen and Hain in the background is neat. I like how Le Guin kinda deconstructed how Ekumen worked from an indigenous perspective. Despite all the goodwill and pacifist approach, Ekumen is still a foreign force that shakes the cultural foundation of Werel and Yeowe.
Forgiveness Dayis a fascinating story about a pair of polar opposites and cultural clash. Following Solly, a young and aspiring Terran Envoy, this narrative witness the political turmoil and revolutionary change. Again, the story deconstructs Ekumen as a meddling being, an invader despite its noble intention and ethical practices. Solly is obviously competent and educated, but her lack of tact in reading the complex social clues and dynamics of Werel results in friction with Teyeo, her assigned guardian. I feel this story is more of a character study of the unlikely pair, where opposing values of different worlds clash. A pity that the last bit of the story is way too rushed.
A Man of the Peopleis yet again a fascinating study and worldbuilding on anthropology, tradition, gender and societal roles. This story follows the perspective of Havzhiva, a Hain academic aspiring to be work as an Ekumen Envoy to Werel and Yeowe. I think Havzhiva is the first Hain person we truly follow from childhood to adulthood. And since the majority of Hainish Cycle actually are told from the perspective of a Terran, this story gives an interesting insight. The story also offers a meta-commentary on Ekumen's history and bureaucracy. However progressive and peaceful Ekumen is, as an outsider-observer, there's only so much you can do to help to progress a society without regressing into a tyrant with a messiah complex. Especially considering that Ekumen come from a more privileged and technologically advanced society.
A Woman's LiberationI think is the strongest story in the book, containing the meat of the story: of agency, social progress, and reconciliation. This part follows the story of Rakam, an asset/slave on Werel. The narrative follows her progress from a naive and disenfranchised young girl to fledgling academia and finally social activist. It is very much story of empowerment of the less privileged, and also a commentary on how even in slavery, there is the pariah of the pariah, the slave of the slave. It is a critique against patriarchal democracy where men have voice and presence, while women are often erased or ignored, even when they are the ones who start the movement, to begin with.
Conclusion
I thinkFour Ways to Forgivenessis an excellent banquet of flavours. This book toHainish Cycleis likeTehanutoEarthsea Cycle,where Le Guin updated her already compelling worlds with the voice and agency of mature women characters. LikeThe Dispossessedthis collection of stories also digs deep to the anthropological aspect of social architecture. And yet, despite the brilliant scholarly perspective, ultimately what makes Le Guin (and especiallyHainish Cycle) so compelling is her uncompromisingly humane storytelling.
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