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May, 2005. Bought in a German Train Station.
This book is composed of 15 short descriptions of various dimensions, (or Planes, in this book.) Each is given by a different person, who gives a relation of their time and experience of such and such a plane. None of these characters are very well developed, but really, they are just mouth pieces, to tell of the different worlds.
None of the tales were boring, which means that I could say they were all interesting to varying degrees. Which ones stick in my mind now? Well, there were the avians... which had a mutation in every thousand or so populants, where they grew wings and were able to fly... but lost their ability to concentrate, and live normal lives. And so, each that developed this way, had a choice to make, of weather they would remain a part of society, or throw it all away and take to the skies.
There was one which explored collective dreaming, where a telepathic link joined a species in their dreams. And there was one where genetic engineering led to a group who didn't dream, but ended up never being truly awake either: they were in a permanent state of semi- or un- consciousness. They led simple lives, but were never... Self Aware. -And this brought up the question of their happiness, and wether they were better off than all us "thinking" humans.
There was also a small thought on Immortality. (which was bordering on dark and disturbing.) As well as a strange, mmmmm... instinct... to build. Perhaps... I mean species specific habits. It's hard to explain. But, it was a good tale, which moved about on levels beyond my understanding.
To be certain, there are others, but they are even harder to explain, and simplify. They are thought provoking though. And open the mind to un-thought-of possibilities.
SO, GOOD SF BOOK!
And it was just perfect whenever I wanted a short bit of a read.November 20, 2006 Found in a second hand book store in Lüneburg in October.
It's a short book, only 87 pages, and not of the Science Fiction style that I think of when I hear the author's name. I guess though, that she didn't need an alien planet, or dimension shifting; The protagonist in this book feels plenty alienated enough. He's a teenager, who doesn't fit in. -As nearly all teenagers, perhaps, fail to fit in. I guess that's what the story is about: The psychological side of being an out of place teenager. But it touches on being an out of place human. An out of place soul. And suggests that we are all, all alone. It is only with rare luck that we can feel any sort of connection with someone else... that is a real, honest connection, and not just a mutual wish to both believe that you've connected. I feel dissatisfied with my words here, because they have no hope of expressing things a quarter as well as the book I've just finished.
The loneliness, and the feeling of going through year after year of life... without hope of being truly understood by someone, is a theme I can relate too. I've felt isolated from society, -or from the laughing groups of friends that I see, to a greater or lesser extent for most of my life. I feel it then, to a greater or lesser extent, a loss (of such easy friends,) or pride (of having deeper worth than that,) or indifference (because something else filled my life at the moment, and kept me from feeling lonely.) But anyhow, the point was that this book... spoke to me. -And it spoke as me. I hope that there are others, many others, who have read this story, and have identified, and have felt hope; Hope that there are indeed others in the world who are like them, and who they would like, and... that life must not continue for ever, so alone.
I fought back my tears, because the character fought back his. I was confused, and uncertain about his future, because he was confused himself. And the writing style is so... simple. But masterfully done. It's... somewhat like how I picture this website to be; Just the telling of a piece of my life, to someone else. I don't shy away from the use of "You" or "I". It's told essentially as I would communicate it orally, over a cup of tea.
And I love the... timeless effect that is created by it being left so open. -No, not open. Incomplete? No, not that either. Or perhaps that. It's written from the perspective of being perhaps 20 years old. So the character's life is only beginning. And his friendship with the other main character -hasn't been defined, beyond close friends. There's an entire life time stretching out in front of both of them for their position to each other to be defined. The story of how the two met, and how they helped each other through the end of school is clear, and complete. But there's nothing else after that... which is finished yet, so there's nothing after that to tell.
Perhaps what I'd like to say, is that it's clearly one story. A complete story, but only a single story out of an entire life.
And the book has me thinking about myself. (Which I think is usually a sign of a good book, if not one of the very definitions of one.) First it was the remembrance of my being so... isolated. This was combined with thinking about how the characters in the book deal with it, as compared to me. Then I started thinking about my own writing. You may have noticed that I Like to write? Or that I Want to write, anyhow. -And I was wondering about writing that well. That led me to think about poetry, which I might be better at writing. And to life in general.
If I get into that theme now though, -I don't know what I'll say. But it probably wouldn't be related to this book. This good book. This fine, honest, open, and true book. -That I think I may read again sometime soon. -And which I'll be recommending to others to read.
End of July, 2007 Borrowed from my Brother.
And I notice that I'm not able to form any coherent paragraph organisation.
The very ending of the book is clear; Cut and clear. But even then it's not clear what happened in the preceding pages. Why was our Protagonist so content? If he'd been worried and disturbed by his responsibility for the rest of the book, why does he get to a place where... he's just confident that all will work out? Is it from talking with the Others? (I'm trying not to spoil any surprises in the book.) But the reader is privy to the entire dialogue, and I didn't notice a single thing telling him "No worries. All your troubles are being looked after." I can see No reason for the sudden... freedom from all the issues he has for the rest of the book.
The book was harder to get into than expected. This was largely due to my Brother's praise for the novel, giving me an expectation of enjoying it from the first few pages. Instead of plunging right into the fine, detailed, reality-exploring nuances from the first page, Leguin builds credibility, does character development, and sets up the world scene in the first quarter of the book. This is needed later on though, because the world and the central characters go through a roller-coaster of a ride, making that first orientation of great importance.
At the beginning of the last paragraph I was meaning to say that I was disappointed, because of my expectation of an immediate roller-coaster ride. I was even a little bored. I now see that was silly of me.
I wonder if Leguin read a great deal of other SF, and took her realities from them, or if she thought of each new little world her self. (Because This book touches on quite a few parallel universes. They are not all deeply explored though; most having just a couple sentences giving an outline of how it differs from our own. But... this is the author of Changing Planes, which suggests to me that Leguin has no trouble at all, coming up with parallel universes at the drop of a hat. I wonder if she even uses some of the same ideas in that book as she does in this one... (Quick read through my little review...) No, it doesn't look like similar worlds were used. But there WAS also a fascination with dreaming in two of the short, short stories. That's a bit interesting.
The "Villain" of this book was interesting. He was... simply not all that evil. Not at all. He was devoted to improving the world. He found it practical that he should be comfortable doing it, and that he should wield a certain power, but the power was mostly to give him more effectiveness in improving the lives of others, right? In most books, even those who are doing great things for "The People" have a darker side of pride and personal gain. This one was only convinced that he could fix everything in the world. (And honestly didn't plan the new world order, where all men are equal and in peace... under his supreme authority. He truly seemed to see his authority as secondary to social perfection.) He ends up with other problems, and brings up the questions of "Who can say what would make people truly happy? Who can say what is truly 'Best' for people?" But he doesn't become a typical greedy ego-centrist. That was refreshing, but at the same time a little confusing; (I kept expecting him to be... more the typical villain.)
The Protagonist, and the Love interest were also fresh, and interesting to "meet." They were unique, and showed a lot of character to reflect upon once the book was closed. Would the absolute Average Guy truly... feel no animosity? No Annoyance from how others behave? No wish to climb the social ladder? The way this one was presented, the answers are all "Yes."
It's a nice book, with interesting characters, and a great, twisting story, once it gets moving. For my life at this point, I still like Very Far Away from Anywhere Else better.