2011 Reading #21: The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

[snurri]

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.

21. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Re-read). As I noted in talking about A Wizard of Earthsea, I failed to get much out of the Earthsea books when I read them as a young adult. In the case of this, the second book, reading it now was pretty much like reading it the first time--I have some memory of the maps and illustrations, but pretty much none of the story. What struck me as I was finishing it up was how much it reads like a story about battling and surviving depression; I have some small discomfort with Ged's role as Tenar's deliverer from her dark and joyless existence, but I was also very moved by her transformation and her move into the light. I'm beginning to think that I was a particularly shallow and clueless adolescent (and if I told you what I was reading and re-reading during that period you'd probably agree), since I know how big these books were and are for so many people at that age.

Comments

[ombriel.livejournal.com]

This is one of my most favorite books ever. I love the contemplation of naming and the importance of names, for one thing, and its claustrophobic, smothering feel up until the end always strikes me.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how the reader feels just as trapped and weighted down by the Labyrinth as Tenar is, and how much of a physical relief the escape is.