231 pages
English language
Published Feb. 5, 2003
The Telling is a 2000 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin set in her fictional universe of Hainish Cycle. The Telling is Le Guin's first follow-up novel set in the Hainish Cycle since her 1974 novel The Dispossessed. It tells the story of Sutty, a Terran sent to be an Ekumen observer, on the planet Aka, and her experiences of political and religious conflicts between a corporatist government and the indigenous resistance, which is centered on the traditions of storytelling, locally referred to as "the Telling" (for which the book is named).
I had difficulty reading parts of this book (I blame me, not the author) and rage read other parts. However, the themes and lessons to be learned are valuable and relevant today.
It is fitting that a story about storytelling is so beautifully told.
Out of several Hainish Cycle books that I've read this one is the most exquisitely written. Others might be more immediately thought provoking, or include more elaborate sci-fi elements. The Telling, on the other hand, is laser focused on its theme of suppression of a culture. Everything supports and complements this.
The main protagonist, Sutty, is the only character that we really get to know deeply. And her backstory and entire personality molds here into a perfect vessel for exploring the world of the book. The story focuses on her reflections and the atmosphere of the place and the people she interacts with, instead of plot points. Even the rarest instances of paranormal occurrences are not mysteries to be unraveled, but simply add to the mystique of the world.
I fullheartedly recommend reading this wonderful book.
The Word for world is Forest
Short and bitter-sweet. Le Guin's tale of abuse of technologically iron-age forest dwellers by space-faring Earthlings captures the horrors and of colonial rule and their causes. The technological disparity is easily understood as necessary and widely recognised but another essential factor is isolation. In Le Guin's case there's a 54 year communications turn-around, making the colony commander an effective despot. As soon as technology reduces this turn-around time to nil, the colonial system colapses because there is effective oversight. Looking instead to actual history, the Viceroy of India could do as he pleased, because the Empress Victoria was months away by the fasted communication method and therefore orders and policy were always behind reality. Add in assumed cultural superiority and the recipe for extreme abuse is complete.
Now, why do I say the book is bitter-sweet? After all the conclusion is that the colony …
The Word for world is Forest
Short and bitter-sweet. Le Guin's tale of abuse of technologically iron-age forest dwellers by space-faring Earthlings captures the horrors and of colonial rule and their causes. The technological disparity is easily understood as necessary and widely recognised but another essential factor is isolation. In Le Guin's case there's a 54 year communications turn-around, making the colony commander an effective despot. As soon as technology reduces this turn-around time to nil, the colonial system colapses because there is effective oversight. Looking instead to actual history, the Viceroy of India could do as he pleased, because the Empress Victoria was months away by the fasted communication method and therefore orders and policy were always behind reality. Add in assumed cultural superiority and the recipe for extreme abuse is complete.
Now, why do I say the book is bitter-sweet? After all the conclusion is that the colony is completely withdrawn and the natives are left to themselves. All is as it was before the arrival of men from Earth, or will be when the trees grow back. But not really - the cultural contact has changed the native people forever - they know what murder and war are now. Cultures can't come into contact without being changed - and in the case of colonial rule, one might be severely damaged or utterly destroyed.
