THE TELLING BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION)

 Hello! How are you doing? I'm still struggling with chronic pains. Yesterday was a particularly difficult day and I can only hope today will be better. On the brighter side, I'm back with a really cool book review. I promised you won't have to wait long for my other Le Guin's review so here it is. Today I will review The Telling, a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. The novel is set in Hainish Universe, but there is a strong connection with our planet Earth. My first novel by Le Guin was also from her Hainish Circle (The Left Hand of Darkness) as was the last novel of hers I reviewed (The Word for World is a Forest) here on my blog. My goal is to finish all the books in the series. I also started Ursula's Earthsea Circle by reading The Wizard of Earthsea (highly recommended) and I plan to finish that series as well. 

Zdravo! Kako ste? Ja se još uvijek se borim sa kroničnim bolovima. Jučer je bio posebno težak dan, mogu se samo nadati da će danas biti bolje.  Sa pozitivne strane, tu je novi ogled odlične knjige. Obećala sam da nećete morati dugo čekati na moj ogled još jednog romana romana Le Guin pa evo. Danas ću sa vama podijeliti ogled za Pričanje (The Telling u orginalu), roman Ursule K. Le Guin. Radnja romana smještena je u Hainish svemiru, ali postoji snažna povezanost s našom planetom Zemljom. Moj prvi roman Le Guin također je bio iz njezina Hainish kruga/ serijala knjiga (Lijeva ruka tame), kao i posljednji njezin roman za koji sam podijelila ogled (Svijet se kaže šuma) ovdje na svom blogu. Cilj mi je završiti sve knjige u serijalu. Započela sam i Ursulin Earthsea Circle čitajući Čarobnjaka Zemljomora (vrlo preporučljivo) i planiram završiti i taj serijal knjiga.

THE TELLING, A NOVEL  BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (4/5)

PLANET AKA, THE SETTING FOR THE NOVEL

 Set in Hainish Universe, The Telling is the eighth book in this series but like other Le Guin novels, it can be read independently from the others. The novel is set on planet Aka but its female protagonist Sutty is an Ekumen visitor from our own planet (Earth/Terra). Sutty's Ekumen mentor/diplomat is from another planet as well (the two of them are only representatives of the Ekumen planets on Aka). Sometimes the two of them have problems communicating (because of linguistic and cultural differences) but it is clearly they are on the same side. Nevertheless, Sutty is left on her own most of the time. Sutty, the Anglo-Indian protagonist that acts as an observer for Ekumen is faced with a hard task of exploring this planet while not compromising budding diplomatic relationships. That puts her in a rather difficult position sometimes. 

THE PROTAGONIST SUTTY ACTS AS OBSERVER FOR EKUMEN

A few words about the Ekumen to clear things up. The Ekumen (also known as the League of All Worlds ) is a future organization of humanoid governments, numbering many planets and willing to explore and discover new ones. Ekumen wants to share its knowledge/technology with Aka and it seems that in Aka society they are more than willing to take it. Nevertheless, the Ekumen is worried as there is proof that Aka's atheist and technologically hungry government is oppressing its own population, banning religion and philosophy in the name of progress and reducing people to closely monitored 'consumers'. Since Ekumen is helping planet Aka in their technological development, this is obviously a concern.

UNDERSTANDING SUTTY,  THE PROTAGONIST OF THIS NOVEL

Sutty has grown up in times of religious terror and wars, a fact that is relevant for understanding of her contradicted emotions while she serves as an Ekumen observer (as well as her motif for becoming Ekumen observer in the first place- she wanted to leave her native planet Earth). Sutty is named after an Indian goddess that walked into fire after her god husband, a fact that is clearly symbolical and references a horrible custom of burning woman alive. Religion can be used for good, but also for bad. Things have taken a turn for the better on her native Terra under the Ekumen Watch, but Sutty is often haunted by her past and sad memories. 

AN ATHEIST TRYING TO SAVE A BANNED RELIGION

There is irony in the fact that someone who has grown up under religious terror now must examine communist/capitalist/technological terror. Religion is banned on planet Aka but its totalitarian atheist government is just as oppressing as a one composed of religious fanatics would be.  Our protagonist Sutty understands that atheism and religion can be used to manipulate people and can be equally oppressive. Militant communism/atheism fanaticism doesn't differ at all from the religious one. Sutty gayness is a factor as well, but perhaps mostly a symbolical one. Sutty's sexuality doesn't really play a key role in the novel, as she is grieving for an ex-lover and not romantically motivated in her actions (she's not falling in love any time soon). On planet Aka, homosexuality is banned because to them it doesn't make sense from a biological point of view. Apparently, science (and not just religion) can be used to oppress others. All in the name of progress. There is a wonderful irony in seeing an atheist trying to save a forbidden religion and criticizing militant atheism. 

PRIČAVANJE, ROMAN URSULE K. LE GUIN (4/5)

PLANET AKA, MJESTO RADNJE ROMANA

 Smještena u Hainish Universe, Pričanje (The Telling u orginalu) je osma knjiga u ovome književnom serijalu  Ursule K. Le Guin, ali kao i ostali može se čitati neovisno od ostalih. Radnja romana smještena je na planetu Aku, a njegova glavna junakinja Sutty je posjetiteljica Ekumene, a dolazi s našeg planeta Zemlje (Zemlja se često naziva Terra u ovom serijalu).  Ekumen mentor/diplomat dodijeljen Sutty također je s drugog planeta (njih dvoje su samo predstavnici Ekumene planeta na Aki). Ponekad njih dvoje imaju problema u komunikaciji (zbog jezičnih i kulturoloških razlika), no očito je da su na istoj strani. Ipak, Sutty je većinu vremena prepuštena sama sebi. Sutty, anglo-indijska protagonistica koja djeluje kao promatrač za Ekumenu, suočena je s teškim zadatkom istraživanja ovog planeta, a da pritom ne ugrozi diplomatske odnose u razvoju. To je ponekad stavlja u prilično težak položaj.

GLAVNI LIST SUTTY GLUBI KAO PROMATRAČ ZA EKUMEN

Nekoliko riječi o Ekumeni kako bi malo razjasnili stvari. Ekumena (također poznata i kao Liga svih svjetova) je buduća organizacija humanoidnih vlada, koja broji mnoge planete i voljna je istraživati ​​i otkrivati ​​nove. Ekumena želi podijeliti svoje znanje/tehnologiju s  plantom Aka i čini se da su stanovnici Ake više nego voljni prihvatiti to znanje. Ipak, Ekumena je zabrinut jer postoji dokaz da Akina ateistička i tehnološki gladna vlada tlači vlastitu populaciju, zabranjujući religiju i filozofiju u ime napretka i svodeći ljude na pomno nadzirane 'potrošače'. Budući da Ekumena pomaže planetu Aki u njihovom tehnološkom razvoju, to je očito zabrinjavajuće.

RAZUMIJEVANJE SUTTYJA, PROTAGONISTA OVOG ROMANA

Sutty je odrasla u vremenima vjerskog terora i ratova, što je činjenica koja je relevantna za razumijevanje njezinih proturječnih emocija dok ona služi kao promatračica Ekumena (to je ujedno i njezin izvorni motiv da postane promatrač Ekumena- htjela je napustiti svoju rodnu planetau Zemlju). Sutty je dobila ime po indijskoj božici koja je ušla u vatru za svojim božanskim mužem, činjenica koja je jasno simbolična i upućuje na užasan običaj spaljivanja žena udovica u Indiji. Religija se može koristiti za dobro, ali i za loše. Stvari su se okrenule na bolje na njezinoj rodnoj Zemlji (Terri) pod nadzorom Ekumene, ali Sutty često proganjaju njezina prošlost i tužna sjećanja.

ATEIST KOJI POKUŠAVA SPASITI ZABRANJENU RELIGIJU

Postoji ironija u činjenici da netko tko je sada odrastao pod vjerskim terorom mora ispitati komunistički/kapitalistički/tehnološki teror. Religija je zabranjena na planeti Aka, ali njezina totalitarna ateistička vlada jednako je tlačiteljska kao što bi bila ona sastavljena od vjerskih fanatika. Naša protagonistica Sutty razumije da se ateizam i religija mogu koristiti za manipulaciju ljudima i da mogu biti jednako opresivni. Militantni komunizam/ateizam fanatizam se nimalo ne razlikuje od religijskog. Sutty homoseksualnost također je faktor u romanu, ali možda uglavnom simboličan. Suttyina seksualnost zapravo ne igra ključnu ulogu u romanu, budući da tuguje za bivšom ljubavi i nije romantično motivirana u svojim postupcima (jasno je kako se neće zaljubiti). Na planeti Aka homoseksualnost je zabranjena jer za njih to nema smisla s biološke točke gledišta. Očito se znanost (i ne samo religija) može koristiti za ugnjetavanje drugih. Sve u ime napretka. Čudesna je ironija vidjeti ateista kako pokušava spasiti zabranjenu religiju i kritizira militantni ateizam.

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EVENTS ON PLANET AKA  WERE BASED ON CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN CHINA 

Set in the future, like all of Le Guin's Hainish novels, The Telling explores many interesting sociological themes. However, it is closely bound with our recent history. You could say this is Ursula Le Guin's take on the Chinese Cultural Revolution set in the Hainish Universe. So much so that I felt at times like I was reading about Chinese Cultural Revolution and not about another planet. What was going on on planet Aka seemed at times like a detailed description of Chinese Cultural Revolution. The persecution of past traditions, philosophies and religion  as described in the novel is something based on Chinese Cultural Revolution. This novel is, however, quite universal in questions it asks. Why are we (as human race) often so eager to throw away our past in the name of process? Even today, those who keeps to past traditions, are often looked down on. 

 PERHAPS TOO STRONG OF AN ANALOGY

Nevertheless, the analogy was a bit too strong for my taste at times, in the sense that this novel didn't seem as imaginative as her other works. While I fully understand Le Guin's need to criticize fanatical and oppressing governments and to warn us of perils of cultural assimilation/colonization, the close parallels with the Cultural Revolution made it harder for me to enjoy this novel as a work of fiction. Don't get me wrong. There is plenty of food for the thought in this novel. The author often presents her arguments in an intelligent way (even if the writing leaves something to be desired at times). Nevertheless, I found that The Telling was not nearly as imaginative and well crafted as other works by Le Guin. The book is at times too close an analogy.

SUTTY FINDS A PLACE FOR HERSELF ON THIS PLANET
The Telling was my first Le Guin novel that didn't feel like science fiction at times. I had to remind myself that it was set on another planet. I could swear that its Anglo-Indian female protagonist Sutty was in fact visiting China during the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward. When Sutty recounted her growing up in India and arriving to Canada, I could imagine her our contemporary, a investigating journalist setting off to China. Her emotions would certainly match that scene. When she explores planet Aka, she is mistaken for a native. Sutty is fluent in the local language and can read the ancient script. So, the native population often accepts her as one of their own, even when Sutty struggles mimicking their customs (both the modern and the old ones), you can still imagine her as being a native of the planet. While Sutty's research was certainly interesting, it could have possibly happened on our planet as well. Again, it is not necessarily a bad thing, as it makes the analogy more clear and accessible to the reader. However, it's not what I expected. 

DOGAĐAJI NA PLANETU AKA BILI SU TEMELJENI NA KULTURNOJ REVOLUCIJI U KINI

Smješten u budućnost, kao i svi Hainish romani Ursule K. Le Guin, Pričanje (The Telling) istražuje mnoge zanimljive sociološke teme. Međutim, usko je vezan uz našu noviju povijest. Moglo bi se reći da je ovaj roman svojevrsni komentar Ursule Le Guin na kinesku kulturnu revoluciju, to jest analogija smještena u Hainish svemir. Roman je u tolikoj mjeri analogija da sam se onekad osjećala kao da čitam o kineskoj kulturnoj revoluciji, a ne o nekom drugom planetu. Ono što se događalo na planeti Aka ponekad se činilo kao detaljan opis kineske kulturne revolucije. Progon prošlih tradicija, filozofija i religije kako je opisano u romanu nešto je temeljeno na kineskoj kulturnoj revoluciji. Ovaj je roman, međutim, prilično univerzalan u pitanjima koja postavlja. Zašto smo (kao ljudska rasa) često toliko željni da odbacimo svoju prošlost u ime procesa? Čak i danas, na one koji se drže prošlih tradicija često se gleda s visoka.

 MOŽDA PREJAKA ANALOGIJA

Ipak, analogija je ponekad bila previše jaka za moj ukus, u smislu da ovaj roman nije djelovao toliko maštovito kao njezina druga djela. Iako u potpunosti razumijem Ursulinu potrebu da kritizira fanatične i ugnjetavačke vlade i da nas upozori na opasnosti kulturne asimilacije/kolonizacije, bliske paralele s Kulturnom revolucijom otežale su mi uživanje u ovom romanu kao djelu fikcije. Nemojte me krivo shvatiti. U ovom romanu ima dosta prostora za razmišljanje i promišljanje. Autorica svoje argumente često iznosi na inteligentan način (čak i ako tekst ponekad ostavlja nešto za poželjeti). Ipak, čini mi se da ovaj roman  nije ni približno tako maštovit i dobro napisan kao druga Le Guinova djela. Knjiga je ponekad možda doista previše bliska analogija.

SUTTY LAKO PRONALAZI MJESTO ZA SEBE NA OVOM PLANETU

Pričanje je bio moj prvi Le Guin roman koji se ponekad nije doimao znanstvenom fantastikom. Morala sam se podsjetiti da je radnja smještena na drugom planetu. Mogala bih se zakleti da je njegova anglo-indijska protagonistica Sutty zapravo bila u posjeti Kini tijekom Kulturne revolucije i takozvanog Velikog skoka naprijed. Kad je Sutty pričalao tome kako je odrastala u Indiji i stigla u Kanadu, mogla sam je zamisliti našom suvremenicom, istraživačkom novinarkom koja odlazi u Kinu. Njezine bi emocije sigurno odgovarale tomu. Kada istražuje planet Aka, svi je smatraju jednom od njih. Sutty tečno govori lokalni jezik i može čitati drevno pismo. Dakle, domaća populacija je često prihvaća kao svoju, čak i kada se Sutty muči s oponašanjem njihovih običaja (i modernih i starih) i dalje je možete zamisliti kao rođenu na istoj planeti. Iako je istraživanje glavne junakinje svakako bilo zanimljivo, moglo se dogoditi i na našem planetu. Opet, to nije nužno loša stvar, jer čini analogiju jasnijom i pristupačnijom čitatelju. Međutim, nije ono što sam očekivala kao čitatelj.

THE TELLING - LE GUIN'S TAKE ON TAOISM

On the other hand, there were times when cultural parallels were well explored. The Telling in the novel's title is actually a philosophy (or a religion if you will) based n Taoism. I loved Le Guin's take on Taoist inspired Aka's religion/philosophy know as 'The Telling' in the novel. It seems to me that Le Guin is well acquainted with Taoism and Buddhism, so well acquainted she is able to summon some of the complexity of Asian theologies, myths and philosophy in this novel, something I imagine is not easy to do. Sutty's sincere devotion to discovering and saving the forbidden semi-religion known as The Telling is very convincing, but Sutty as a protagonist sometimes falls short.

I WISH WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN TO KNOW SUTTY BETTER

 I enjoyed Sutty's thoughts, reflections and observations. Nevertheless, the character of Sutty remained something of a mystery. At times Sutty seemed a bit preachy, as when she verbally attacked another character (a native called Monitor) and showed poor self-restraint. This combined with convenient plot developments seemed to weaken her character somewhat. I wanted to know more about Sutty and to see more character development. When Sutty finally shares her personal tragedy with the Monitor (an important character), their connection seems a bit unconvincing. I didn't feel like that relationship was explored as well as it could have been. Perhaps I just wanted Sully to be a stronger presence in the novel. Maybe it is not supposed to be like that. Perhaps 'The Telling' is the central point of the novel. It is certainly a beautifully explored concept but still I wanted a protagonist that would feel like a part of its all. I'm not sure I felt that in the end, that the observer Sutty was fundamentally changed by her experience. Not in the way I felt the protagonist of The Left Hand of Darkness was changed, if you know what I mean. Basically, I felt that Sutty lacked character development to be more approachable and believable. 

CONCLUSION-  THE TELLING IS STILL A PRETTY AMAZING NOVEL 
In some ways, this was the weakest Le Guin's novel that I have read so far. It is still pretty amazing, though. Le Guin was an accomplished writer and based on what I have read of her so far it seems that she couldn't do no wrong when it came to writing. I'm happy I had the chance to read this novel. On overall, The Telling is possibly not one of her best works but it is still a very interesting and educating read. It is a novel that will stay with me. I highly recommend it. 

 

PRIČANJE- URSULIN PREGLED TAOIZMA

S druge strane, bilo je trenutaka kada su kulturne paralele bile dobro istražene. Pričanje u naslovu romana zapravo je filozofija (ili religija ako hoćete) utemeljena na taoizmu. Svidio mi se Le Guinin pogled na Akinu religiju/filozofiju inspiriranu taoizmom, poznatu kao 'Pričanje' / 'The Telling' u romanu. Čini mi se da je Le Guin dobro upoznata s taoizmom i budizmom, toliko dobro upoznata da je sposobna prizvati dio složenosti azijskih teologija, mitova i filozofije u ovom romanu, nešto što mislim da nije lako učiniti. Suttyina iskrena predanost otkrivanju i spašavanju zabranjene polu-religije polu-filozofije poznate kao Pričanje vrlo je uvjerljiva, ali Sutty kao glavna junakinja ponekad ne uspijeva biti uvjerljiva.

VOLJELA DA SMO (KAO ČITATELJI) BOLJE UPOZNALI SUTTY

 Uživao sam u  mislima, razmišljanjima i zapažanjima glavne junakinje Sutty. Ipak, lik Sutty ostao je pomalo misterij. Sutty se na trenutke činila pomalo propovjedničkom, kao kada je verbalno napala drugi lik (stanovnika Aka planeta po imenu Monitor) i pokazala kako se ne može lako suzdržati. Činilo mi se da je to, a u kombinaciji s previše prikladnim to je slabim razvojem radnje donekle oslabilo njezin lik. Htjela sam saznati više o Sutty i vidjeti više njenog razvoja karaktera. Kad Sutty konačno podijeli svoju osobnu tragediju s Monitorom (važan lik), njihova se povezanost čini pomalo neuvjerljivom. Nisam osjećao da je taj odnos istražen onako dobro koliko je mogao biti. Možda sam samo željela da Sully bude jače prisutna u romanu. Možda to i ne bi trebalo biti tako. Možda je 'Pričanje' središnja točka romana. To je svakako lijepo istražen koncept, ali ipak sam željela doživjeti glavni lik koji bi se osjećao kao dio svega. Nisam siguran da sam to na kraju osjetjetila, da je promatračica Sutty temeljno promijenjena svojim iskustvom. Ne na način na koji sam osjećao da je protagonist romana Lijeva ruka tame promijenjen, ako razumijete na što mislim. Čini mi se je glavnom junakinji nedostajalo razvoja kako bi njena karakerizacija bila posve uvjerljiva i kako bi nam bila bliža kao lik. 

ZAKLJUČAK- PRIPOVIJEDANJE JE JOŠ UVIJEK PRILIČNO NEVEROVATAN ROMAN

Na neki način, ovo je bio najslabiji Le Guinov roman koji sam do sada pročitala. No, ipak je ovaj roman još uvijek prilično sjajan. Le Guin je bila uspješna spisateljica i na temelju onoga što sam do sada čitala od nje (pa i o njoj) čini se da nije mogla pogriješiti kada je u pitanju pisanje. Sretna sam što sam imala priliku pročitati ovaj roman. Sve u svemu, Pričanje možda i nije jedno od njezinih najboljih djela, ali je i dalje vrlo zanimljivo i poučno štivo. To je roman koji će ostati sa mnom. Toplo ga preporučam.

As always, thank you for stopping by. Have a nice day and take car!