THE WORD FOR WORLD IS A FOREST, A NOVELLA BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION)

 Today I'm back with a review for The Word for World is a Forest  a novella (or a short novel) by Ursula K. Le Guin. I first came across Ursula's writing back in 2013, when I read The Left Hand of Darkness, a novel that blew me away. Since then, I've been on a lookout for other works by Ursula Le Guin and I don't think I'll stop reading her any time soon.  The more I read from this author, the more I love her. I mentioned and quoted Le Guin on my blog at least a couple of times, for example I distinctly remember including two of her books in my IWD reading recommendations a while back. Fairly recently, I have read two science fiction novels by Le Guin, both from her Hainish circle and I loved them both.  Today I will share a review for one of those two recent reads. You won't have to wait long for the the other review either.  So far, I've always read Ursula's books in original language but I read these two books in Croatian translation because that's what I found in my local library. The Ursula K. Le Guin is widely translated, so many will be able to find a copy in their language. The photographs I'm sharing along with my book review were taken by my husband. I edited and inserted book covers from different editions myself, to enable readers to find them more easily in different languages. Buckle up, here we go. 

HR Danas se vraćam s recenzijom za novelu (ili kratki roman)The Word for World is a Forest  Ursule K. Le Guin. Prvi put sam se susrela s njenim pisanjem 2013., kada sam pročitala roman Lijeva  ruka tame, koji me oduševio. Od tada sam u potrazi za drugim djelima Ursule K. Le Guin i mislim da je neću prestati čitati uskoro. Što više čitam od ove autorice, više je volim. Spomenula sam  pa i  citirala Le Guin na svom blogu barem nekoliko puta, na primjer, jasno se sjećam da sam prije nekog vremena uključila dvije njezine knjige u svoje preporuke za čitanje povodom IDŽ-a. Nedavno sam pročitao dva znanstvenofantastična romana Le Guin, oba iz njezina Hainskog kruga i oba su mi se svidjela. Danas ću podijeliti recenziju za jedno od ta dva nedavna čitanja. Ni na drugu recenziju nećete morati dugo čekati. Do sada sam uvijek čitao knjige Ursule na izvornom jeziku, ali sam ove dvije knjige čitala u hrvatskom prijevodu jer sam na te naišla u svojoj lokalnoj knjižnici. Nemam nikakvih primjedbi na prijevod, dapače vrlo je poetičan i mislim da je prevoditeljica sjajno obavila posao. Čitala sam neke djelove i na engleskom pa mogu usporediti. Kada već spominjem prijevod, vrijedi napomenuti: Ursula K. Le Guin naširoko je prevedena, pa će brojni čitatelji moći pronaći primjerak na svom jeziku. Fotografije koje dijelim uz svoju recenziju knjige snimio je moj suprug. Sama sam uređivala fotografije i umetala naslovnice knjiga iz različitih izdanja kako bih čitateljima omogućio da ih lakše pronađu izdanja na različitim jezicima. Vežite se, idemo.

THE WORD FOR WORLD IS A FOREST, A NOVELLA BY URSULA K. LE GUIN (5/5)

This novella is an absolute masterpiece! Poetically written, profoundly serious and wonderfully imaginative, The Word for World is a Forest is an exceptional book. The story Le Guin created is a incredibly tragic and sad one, but it rings absolutely true in its sadness and tragedy. Wisdom is something I have come to expect in Ursula K.Le Guin's writing but this novella seems to be especially abundant in it. Wisdom is a big word, yet I cannot use another, for Le Guin's writing truly strikes me as wise.

This novella ( or a short novel, depending how you classify it) is a work of great complexity that can be studied on many levels and that raises many interesting questions, from psychological, social, political to linguistic ones. The Word for World is a Forest captures the harsh realities of any war or military conquest and stresses that it is often (if not always) the innocents that suffer and die. Once blood starts to flow, it is hard to stop it. Violence often breads more violence. The cycles of violence are hard to break, both on individual and social level. Heart-breaking and poignant, this story of colonization and conflict makes us face the darkness that exists in human kind.

SVIJET SE KAŽE ŠUMA, NOVELA URSULE K. LE GUIN (5/5)

Ova novela je apsolutno remek djelo! Poetski napisana, duboko ozbiljna i predivno maštovita, Svijet se kaže šuma iznimna je knjiga. Priča koju je Le Guin stvorila je nevjerojatno tragična i tužna, ali potpuno istinita u svojoj tuzi i tragediji. Mudrost je nešto što sam navikla očekivati u pisanju Ursule K.Le Guin, ali čini se da je ova novela posebno bogata u njoj. Mudrost je velika i moćna riječ, ali ne mogu koristiti drugu, jer mi se Le Guinovo pisanje doista čini mudrim.

Ova novela (ili kratki roman, ovisno kako ga klasificirate) je djelo duboke složenosti koje se može proučavati na više razina i koje postavlja mnoga zanimljiva pitanja, od psiholoških, društvenih, političkih do jezičnih. Svijet se kaže šuma prikazuje surovu stvarnost svakog rata ili vojnog osvajanja i naglašava da često (ako ne i uvijek) pate i umiru nevini. Kada krv počne teći, teško ju je zaustaviti. Nasilje često proizvodi više nasilja. Cikluse nasilja teško je prekinuti, kako na individualnoj tako i na društvenoj razini. Srceparajuća i potresna, ova priča o kolonizaciji i sukobu tjera nas da se suočimo s tamom koja postoji u ljudskoj vrsti.

 I SIMPLY COULDN'T STOP READING THIS ENGAGING STORY

Once I started reading this novella, I simply couldn't stop. The story is very engaging and develops quickly. With a plot that is fast paced, there wasn't much space left for exploring the Universe and the greater scheme of things.  This novella mostly focuses on one planet and you don't have to know a lot of details about the rest of the Universe to be able to get it. The world building when it comes to this planet is well done, but don't expect too much details about the rest of the Universe.  This novella is  part of Le Guin's Hainish series, that is set in this future Universe of her creation where there are several humanoid races ( us humans, being just one of them and not the founding one). In fact, we humans were planted on Earth by the Hanish people. Many years into the future the Hainish come looking for their offsprings on different planets. These aliens have a role to play in this novella, but the story is mostly focused on one beautiful planet with unspoiled nature that is currently being colonized by people from Earth.  You don't have to know a lot about the Hainish Universe to be able to read this novel, though. It can be read as a separate work. I found that things are explained along the way pretty well, but reading more about The Hainish Cycle and its alternative history/future might help to shed more light. That being said, it is easy to get into the story even if you're not familiar with Le Guin's writing.  

JEDNOSTAVNO NISAM MOGLA PRESTATI ČITATI OVU ZANIMLJIVU PRIČU

Od kada sam počela čitati ovu novelu jednostavno nisam mogla stati. Priča je vrlo zanimljiva i brzo se razvija. Uz radnju koja se odvija ubrzanim ritmom, nije preostalo mnogo prostora za istraživanje svemira i drugih stvari. Ova se novela uglavnom fokusira na jedan planet i ne morate znati puno detalja o ostatku literarnog svemira kojeg je stvorila Le Guin da biste je mogli shvatiti. Izgradnja ovog literarng svijeta kada je u pitanju ovaj planet je dobro napravljena, ali ne očekujte previše detalja o ostatku svemira. Ova novela dio je Le Guinove serije Hainish, koja je smještena u njen  budući svemir u kojem postoji nekoliko humanoidnih rasa (mi ljudi, smo samo jedna od njih, a nikako osnivači humanoida). Zapravo, nas ljude na Zemlji su stvorili Haniši (Hainish). Mnogo godina u budućnosti Hainish bića dolaze tražiti svoje potomke na različitim planetima. Ovi izvanzemaljci imaju  ulogu u ovoj noveli, ali priča je uglavnom fokusirana na jedan prekrasan planet netaknute prirode koji trenutno koloniziraju ljudi sa Zemlje. Ipak, ne morate znati puno o Hainish svemiru da biste mogli pročitati ovaj roman. Može se čitati kao zasebno djelo. Rekla bih da su stvari usput prilično dobro objašnjene, ali naravno da bi više čitanja o ciklusu Hainish i njegovoj alternativnoj povijesti/budućnosti moglo bi pomoći da se baci više svjetla i na ovaj roman. No, lako se uživjeti u priču čak i ako niste upoznati s Le Guinovim pisanjem i ne znate ništa o njenoj seriji romana. 

THE SETTING AND THE DIFFERENT HUMANOID RACES THAT APPEAR

This book is set on a planet Athshe, populated by peaceful humanoids who are small in size (as is expected from forest people). When a part of them is enslaved and treated in most cruel ways possible by human colonizers from Earth, they start to rebel. Le Guin pays as much attention to the language as you can expect from such a skilled writer. She inserts many words from the Athshe language and in this way (and in many others) makes their culture sound authentic. The Athsheans call to the human colonizers "yumens", while the Earth men/colonizers (much to their shame) most often use the derogatory term "creechie" for the natives. Even when the Athshe people start to question the humanness of 'yumens' based on their deeds of exceptional cruelty and violence, they still use the same term, not denying them their humanity, at least not on linguistic terms. Similarly, Earth (often referred as Terra in the novel) men use the offensive term creechie even when they find irrefutable evidence of native intelligence. So, the language these two humanoids use are important on many levels.

THE CONFLICT, THE OLD STORY OF COLONIZATION RETOLD IN A NEW WAY

Most of the novel focuses on the conflict between the peaceful Athshe dwellers and Earth colonizers (mostly men but a shipping of 500 young fertile women arrives soon into the story). The way these women are referred to by some is also quite shameful. The role these women will play will be a passive one. Why exactly has Le Guin decided to leave out women as protagonists is an interesting question. Maybe that was Le Guin's way of sending a message or even a few of them.

“But old women are different from everybody else, they say what they think.”, one character say complementing whether they were wrong not to bring any old women with them on this planet. I have no doubt they were wrong to do but there is so much wrong with the whole colonization - and that is what basically takes place, no matter how much everyone tries to be hush hush about it.

Trees have disappeared from Earth of future, so every log is worth its weight in gold (if not more), making it perfectly profitable to send a space ship on a remote planet. The human society of the future naturally doesn't allow for colonization of any kind, but as always where there is money, people find it easy to invent new names for old evils. As I already said this story is mostly about the conflict and bloodshed between Terra men (us Earthlings) and Athshe people but there is mention of other alien races and they have a small (but apparently important) role to play. Specifically, Hatians and Cetians appear as observers. “The most winning characteristic of the rather harsh Cetian temperament was curiosity, inopportune, and inexhaustible curiosity; Cetians died eagerly, curious as to what came next.” These humanoids from other planets at one point become worried observers of shameful human treatment of Athshe's natives.

MJESTO RADNJE I RAZLIČITE HUMANOIDNE RASE KOJE SE POJAVLJUJU U NOVELI

Radnja ove knjige smještena je na planet Athshe, naseljen malenim (kao što se može i očekivati od šumskih ljudi) i mirnim humanoidima veličine. Kada ljudski kolonizatori sa Zemlje porobe dio njih i prema njima postupaju na najokrutnije moguće načine, ti ljudi malena rasta počinju se buniti. Le Guin obraća onliko pažnje na jezik koliko možete očekivati ​​od tako vještog pisca. Ona ubacuje mnoge riječi iz jezika Athshe i na taj način (i u mnogim drugim) čini da njihova kultura zvuči autentično. Athsheani nazivaju ljudske kolonizatore "yumenima", dok zemaljski ljudi/kolonizatori (na njihovu sramotu) najčešće koriste pogrdni izraz "creechie" za domoroce. Čak i kada ljudi Athshe počnu dovoditi u pitanje ljudskost  zemljana tj. 'yumena' na temelju njihovih djela iznimne okrutnosti i nasilja, i dalje koriste isti izraz, ne uskraćujući im njihovu ljudskost, barem ne u jezičnom smislu. Slično, ljudi sa Zemlje (koje se u romanu često nazivaju zemljani to jest Terrani) koriste uvredljiv izraz creechie čak i kada pronađu nepobitne dokaze njihove inteligencije. Dakle, jezik koji koriste ova dva ljudska roda (humanoida) važan je na mnogim razinama.

SUKOB, STARA PRIČA O KOLONIZACIJI ISPRIČANA NA NOV NAČIN

Većina romana usredotočena je na sukob između mirnih stanovnika Athshea i zemaljskih kolonizatora (uglavnom muškaraca, ali brod od 500 mladih plodnih žena uskoro stiže u priču). Način na koji eki likovi govore o tim ženama je također sramotan. Žene sa zemlje igrati će pasivnu ulogu. Zanimljivo je zašto je Le Guin odlučila isključiti ženske likove kao glavne. Možda je tima htjela nešto poručiti pa možda i više toga.

 “Ali starice su drugačije od svih ostalih, govore što misle.” jedan lik kaže pitajući se jesu li pogriješili što nisu doveli nijednu staricu s planete zemlje sa sobom na ovaj planet. Ne sumnjam da su pogriješili što su učinili, ali u cijeloj kolonizaciji je toliko toga pogrešnog - a to se u osnovi događa, grozna kolonijalizacija, bez obzira koliko svi pokušavaju šutjeti o tome.

Drveće je nestalo sa Zemlje budućnosti, tako da je svaki komad drva zlata vrijedan u svoj težini (ako ne i više), a to znači da je savršeno isplativo poslati svemirski brod na udaljeni planet samo zbog drva. Ljudsko društvo budućnosti naravno ne dopušta kolonizaciju bilo koje vrste, ali kao i uvijek gdje ima novca, ljudima je lako izmišljati nova imena za stara zla. Kao što sam već napisala, ova priča je uglavnom o sukobu i krvoproliću između ljudi s planeta Zemlje/Terre (nas Zemljana) i ljudi Athshe, ali se spominju i druge izvanzemaljske rase i one imaju malu (ali naizgled važnu) ulogu. Konkretno, Haićani i Cetijani se pojavljuju kao promatrači. “Najpobjednička karakteristika prilično oštrog cetijanskog temperamenta bila je radoznalost, neprikladna i nepresušna radoznalost; Cetijani su željno umirali, znatiželjni što slijedi.” Ti humanoidi s drugih planeta u jednom trenutku postaju zabrinuti promatrači sramotnog ljudskog postupanja prema Athsheinima tj. domorocima planete bogate šumom.

CAPTAIN DAVISON AND RAY LYUBOV, THE PROTAGONIST AND THE ANTAGONIST

When it comes to Earth/Terra men,  right from the start of the novella, there is a definite and serious conflict between these two men. You could call them the protagonist and antagonist of this novel. While Selver is the representative of the forest humanoids, Captain Davison and Raj Lyubov ( the anthropologist in the colony) are perhaps the representatives of our Earth/Terra humanoids. The two men hate each other and I found their contrasting very interesting.

The story opens with a human character, captain Davison who is an especially shameful specimen of human kind. Some might think him a cardboard villain (for how anyone can be so vile?), but I think people like him actually exist and what is worse they often have a terrible influence on others. Good people often close their eyes on what captain Davisons of this world do, letting them do their dirty work (and sadly perhaps it will be always be so, or at least as long as profit rules). While Captain Davison is enough to make you feel ashamed to be a human being and to 'root' for the aliens, there is one scientist/anthropologist Raj Lyubov, who does all he can in a terrible situation and understands the complexity and the intelligence of the native aliens. Ray Lyunov makes us believe in humankind, but unfortunately he is clearly an exception in wanting to help the natives. “But to the Athsheans soil, ground, earth was not that to which the dead return and by which the living live: the substance of their world was not earth, but forest.” He understands their connection to the forest and what exactly the men from Earth are destroying . “A forest ecology is a delicate one. If the forest perishes, its fauna may go with it. The Athshean word for world is also the word for forest.”

SATNIK DAVISON I RAY LYUBOV, PROTAGONIST I ANTAGONIST

Kada je riječ o ljudima s planete Zemlje (koja se u romanu često naziva  Terra), od samog početka postoji definitivan i ozbiljan sukob između njih dvojice. Mogli biste ih nazvati protagonistom i antagonistom ovog romana. Dok je Selver predstavnik šumskih ljudi (humanoida), satnik Davison i Raj Lyubov (antropolog u koloniji) su možda predstavnici nas zemljana.   Njih dvojica se mrze i njihov kontrast mi je bio vrlo zanimljiv.

Priča počinje naracijom iz pespektive satnika Davisona koji je posebno sramotan primjerak ljudske vrste. Neki bi ga mogli smatrati kartonskim negativcem (jer zar netko može biti tako podao?), ali ja mislim da ljudi poput njega zapravo postoje i što je još gore, često imaju užasan utjecaj na druge. Dobri ljudi često zatvaraju oči pred onim što satnici Davisoni ovoga svijeta radi, puštajući ih da rade svoj prljavi posao (a nažalost, možda će tako biti uvijek  ili barem dok vlada profit). Dok je Davison dovoljan da se sramite što ste ljudsko biće i zapravo u velikoj mjeri čini da kao čitatelj 'navijate' za izvanzemaljce, postoji jedan znanstvenik/antropolog Raj Lyubov, koji čini sve što može u strašnoj situaciji i razumije složenost i inteligenciju domaći stanovnika planeta. Takav lik vraća povjerenje u našu ljudsku vrstu, ali opet je jasno da je on nažalost iznimka u svojim željama da pomogne šumskim stanovnicima. “Ali Atšejcima tlo, zemlja, zemlja nije bila ono na što se mrtvi vraćaju i po čemu živi žive: tvar njihova svijeta nije bila zemlja, već šuma.” Razumije njihovu povezanost sa šumom i što točno ljudi sa Zemlje uništavaju. „Šumska ekologija je osjetljiva. Ako šuma propadne, s njom može otići i njezina fauna. Athsheanska riječ za svijet je također riječ za šumu.”

HUMANOIDS - BUT ALMOST AS DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER AS IMAGINABLE

Who are the natives from whose perspective we are aliens? They are humanoids  (as human as us) that live perfectly in accordance with nature, are non violent by nature and besides being a dream for local ecology, they also have some wild talents that make them mysterious and fascinating such as (seemingly supernatural) ability of magic dreaming. These forest humanoids practice 'dreaming' in ways the men who set to colonize this planet cannot dream of. They dream wake, they can do things Earthlings cannot even imagine. The treatment humans give them is shameful. In this sense, Le Guin takes after Stanislaw Lem, in that she nurtures a similarly depressive first contact theory that advocates that humans will face alien life form with disgust. In Lem's case the first contact is often impossible to make, while in Le Guin's case it is challenging but not impossible. However, in Lem's novel, human space explorers are often ashamed when they don't recognize an advanced life form and they are sorry when they cannot make proper contact or when they didn't treat the advanced life forms as they should have. The Earth colonizers in this novella, with the exception of one character, don't feel sorry for their actions until it is too late (and even then it is not clear whether they are genuinely sorry or just sorry they didn't get away with it). It's mostly the closeness of human mind, xenophobia and plain greed that makes contact almost impossible in this novel.

You could say that Le Guin even goes a step further because she paints us humans from Earth as someone who shows utter disregard to alien life despite being made aware of its intelligence. Earth men who come to colonize Athshe's are made aware that the creatures living there are as human as they (from a genetic point of view) but most of them to choose to ignore that and treat them worse than animals. Profit rules as always but there is more at work there. Le Guin digs into some shameful events of human history (genocides and colonization) and perhaps even warns us of how easy it will be to repeat those violent patterns in the future, for have we ever been truly free of them? “For if it's all the rest of us who are killed by the suicide, it's himself whom the murderer kills; only he has to do is over, and over, and over."

Raj Lyubov saves the life of one native- Selver and makes friends with him. They teach each other about one another and their cultures. While Selver's people immediately recognize Earthlings as humans, they cannot possibly grasp while Earth men treat them so cruelly and finally Selver starts to question 'our' humanity. Sever makes the following argument: “I don’t know. Do men kill men, except in madness? Does any beast kill its own kind? Only the insects. These yumens kill us as lightly as we kill snakes. The one who taught me said that they kill one another, in quarrels, and also in groups, like ants fighting. I haven’t seen that. But I know they don’t spare one who asks life. They will strike a bowed neck, I have seen it! There is a wish to kill in them, and therefore I saw fit to put them to death.”

When Ray Lybov says: “I like Selver, respect him; saved him; suffered with him; fear him. Selver is my friend.”, he is perhaps already aware that theirs will be a bitter sweet friendship, one covered in blood and tears, for there is much that separates them.

LJUDSKA BIĆA, ALI POSVE RAZLIČITA JEDNA OD DRUGIH

Tko su stanovnici planete iz čije smo perspektive mi izvanzemaljci? Oni su humanoidi (ljudska bića kao i mi) koji žive savršeno  u skladu s prirodom, po prirodi su nenasilni i osim što su san za lokalnu ekologiju, imaju i neke divlje talente koji ih čine tajanstvenima i fascinantnima kao što je (naizgled nadnaravnu) sposobnost magičnog sanjanja. Ovi šumski humanoidi prakticiraju 'sanjanje' na načine o kojima ljudi koji su krenuli kolonizirati ovaj planet ne mogu ni sanjati. Oni sanjaju budni, mogu učiniti stvari koje Zemljani ne mogu ni zamisliti. Tretman koji im ljudi pružaju je sramotan. U tom smislu, Le Guin slijedi Stanislawa Lema, u tome što njeguje sličnu depresivnu teoriju prvog kontakta koja zagovara da će se ljudi s gađenjem suočiti s izvanzemaljskim oblikom života. U Lemovom slučaju prvi kontakt je često nemoguće ostvariti, dok je u Le Guinovom slučaju izazovan, ali ne i nemoguć. No, u Lemovim romanima ljudima je obično žao kada shvate da se nemogu doista povezati s drugim oblikom života ili ih je sram jer nisu prepoznali da se radi o napredom obliku životu. U ovom romanu ljudi imaju dokaze ali ne žele vjerovati i nije im žao sve dok nije prekasno (a i onda je upitno je li im doista žao ili im je samo žao što se nisu izvukli s tim). Ponajviše su zatvorenost ljudskoga uma, ksenofobija i obična pohlepa ono čine prvi kontakt gotovo nemogućim u ovom romanu.

Moglo bi se reći da Le Guin ide čak i korak dalje jer nas ljude sa Zemlje slika kao nekoga tko pokazuje potpuno zanemarivanje izvanzemaljskog života unatoč tome što je svjestan njegove inteligencije. Zemljani tj. ljudi koji dolaze kolonizirati Athshe svjesni su da su stvorenja koja tamo žive jednako ljudska bića kao i oni (sa genetske točke gledišta), ali većina njih odlučuje to ignorirati i ponašati se prema njima gore od životinja. Profit vlada kao i uvijek, ali možda će tako uvijek i biti. Le Guin mogli bi se reći kopa po nekim sramotnim događajima ljudske povijesti (kao što su genocidi i kolonizacija) i možda nas čak upozorava na to kako će biti lako ponoviti te nasilne obrasce u budućnosti, jer jesmo li ih se ikada uistinu oslobodili? 

Raj Lyubov spašava život jednog stanovnika šume Selvera i sprijatelji se s njim. Ova dvojica uče jedno o drugom, a ujedno prenose znanje  i o svojim kulturama. Dok Selverovi šumski ljudi odmah prepoznaju Zemljane kao ljude, nikako ne mogu shvatiti kako se ljudi sa Zemlje tako okrutno ponašaju prema njima i konačno Selver počinje ispitivati ​​'našu' ljudskost. Sever iznosi sljedeći argument: “Ne znam. Ubijaju li ljudi ljude, osim u ludilu? Ubija li neka zvijer svoju vrstu? Samo insekti. Ovi yumeni nas ubijaju lagano kao što mi ubijamo zmije. Onaj koji me učio rekao je da  ubijaju jedni druge, u svađama, a i u grupama, kao što se mravi tuku. Nisam to vidio. Ali znam da ne štede onoga tko pita život. Udarit će pognuti vrat, vidio sam! U njima postoji želja za ubijanjem, pa sam smatrao prikladnim da ih ubijem.”

Kad Ray Lybov kaže: “Sviđa mi se Selver, poštujem ga; spasio sam ga; patio s njim; bojim ga se. Selver je moj prijatelj.”, možda je već svjestan da će njihovo biti gorko slatko prijateljstvo, natopljeno krvlju i suzama, jer ima mnogo toga što ih razdvaja.

THE CONCLUSION- A TRAGIC BUT BRILLIANT NOVELLA WHOSE MESSAGES ARE STILL RELEVANT

Novella The Word for World is Forest broke my heart, but I loved it. Eventful but emotional, filled with poetic descriptions, it aims straight for the heart. This is a short book but it is very eventful. I felt for the characters and was engrossed in the story. The characters aren't developed in length because of the shortness of this book, but they are well portrayed.

 I read this novella in one breath, I simply couldn't put it down once I started reading it. This is the kind of science fiction book that I love to read. Educating, intelligent and complex book. The kind that makes you ask questions and keeps you guessing. It's still very much a relevant read. There is one quote from the Dune series (by Frank Herbert) that kept hunting me while I was reading this novel: " There is no escape, we pay for the violence of our ancestors. " Is there any escape? Will there ever be any escape from violence? This novella doesn't give any clear answers on the future.

"What is, is. There is no use pretending, now, that we do not know how to kill one another.”, says Selver, one of the principal characters and the principal Athshean protagonist. Interpret is as you want. I would like to think there is some hope for us all after all. I would like to think we can choose how to not kill another, even if we cannot completely unlearn killing. I highly recommend this novel!

ZAKLJUČAK- TRAGIČNA ALI ODLIČNA NOVELA ČIJE SU PORUKE JOŠ UVIJEK AKTUALNE 

Svijet se kaže šuma novela je koja mi je slomila srce, ali mi se veoma svidjela.  Puna događanja ali i emocija, obiluje poetičnim opisiva i cilja pravo u srce. Ovo je kratka knjiga, ali je vrlo bogata događajima. Povezala sam se s likovima i zadubila se u čitanje. Likovi nisu veoma razvijeni jer se radi o kraćem proznom djelu ali smatram da su dobro prikazani. 

 Pročitala sam ovu novelu u jednom dahu, jednostavno nisam mogla prestati jednom kada sam je počela čitati. Ovo je vrsta znanstvenofantastičnih knjiga kakve volim čitati. Edukativna, inteligentana i složena, ova novela je štivo vrijedno pažnje. Ona vrsta knjige koja vas tjera da postavljate pitanja i da nagađate. Još uvijek je vrlo relevantna knjiga sa svojim temama ekologije i kolonijalizacije. Postoji jedan citat iz serije romana Dina (od Franka Herberta) koji mi je padao na pamet dok sam čitala ovaj roman: "Nema bijega, mi plaćamo za nasilje naših predaka." Ima li bijega? Hoće li ikada biti bijega od nasilja? Ova novela ne daje jasne odgovore o budućnosti.

"Ono što jest, jest. Nema svrhe pretvarati se, sada, da ne znamo kako  ubijati jedni druge.", kaže Selver, jedan od glavnih likova i glavni protagonist/predstavnik šumskih ljudi. Tumačite njegove riječi kako želite. Željela bih vjerovati kako ipak postoji neka nada za sve nas. Voljela bih misliti da možemo birati i odabrati ne ubiti jedan drugoga, čak i ako se od ubijanja ne možemo  posve odučiti. Preporučavam ovaj roman!

HOW I SHOPPED MY CLOSET FOR THIS LOOK? WHITE VINTAGE BLAZER HERE, AMADEUS PASTEL BLUE DRESS HERE,  PINK HEELS HERE.

As always, thank you for stopping by, reading and commenting. How are you doing? Take care!