The Tombs of Atuan
Ratings243
Average rating4
I enjoyed this. It felt like an original world-setting, it was nice to encounter a fantasy world that didn't lean on well established tropes. I want to learn more about the world, so I'll probably read the other 2 books at some point. The story was quite... limited? Felt like a short story more than a full novel. Not that it felt like it was dragged out, but just that it was a very simple plot.
But that makes way for good themes, setting, and the development of the main character. LeGuin packs in a sense of time passing and emotional maturing to this short novel. There's a tender and realistic demonstration of what loss of hitherto-unshakable faith is like, and mixed into that a critique of dogma and religion as well. It's nice to see deeper themes like this in YA fiction.
As well as being, to a lesser extent, a journey of events, people, and places, it's also an emotional journey from darkness into light, with Tenar ending up a very different person at the end; less sure of herself, wounded by her past, but free and more whole. One thing I really love to see is complex, flawed characters, and Tenar feels real and alive in this book. It's my first time reading LeGuin, but I can tell already they have a way of capturing the human spirit, and I look forward to exploring more of their work.
This story is simple (in fact, it's for kids) but like the first EarthSea book it filled up my heart. Something about it rang true. I'll return to this story and it's many images when I need a reminder of how and why we climb up out of the dark.
Another great story from Earthsea.
This story follows Tenar, later Arha, then later again Tenar in a fascinating entry in The Earthsea Cycle. The story is gripping, the world is beautifully developed, and the writing is once again fantastic.
Dang that was the longest cave exploration ever.
Excellent commentary on the sad reality of religious zealotry, and the cruelty of involving children before they are able to choose for themselves.
“The Tombs of Atuan” est le deuxième tome du cycle d'Earthsea d'Ursula K. Le Guin, également connu en français sous le nom de cycle de Terremer.
On y retrouve Ged, le héros du premier tome, mais dans un rôle secondaire, d'autant qu'il n'apparaît que dans la seconde moitié du roman. L'héroïne est une jeune fille arrachée à sa famille à l'âge de cinq ans pour servir de Grande Prêtresse d'une religion très ancienne, après la mort de la prêtresse précédente, dont elle serait la réincarnation.
Comme le premier roman, celui-ci peut appaître comme un roman d'apprentissage très classique, mais Ursula K. Le Guin nous propose un très beau récit servi par une écriture empreinte de poésie. L'autrice explore parfaitement la psychologie de sa protagoniste et la question de la religion, du culte, de la foi, et de l'emprise.
Je continue à être séduit par ce cycle, je comprends qu'il soit devenu un classique de la fantasy. Je vais poursuivre directement avec le troisième roman !
Brain capacity for a teacher is somewhat reduced at the end term, so I opted for an audio reread while doing chores.
In The Tombs of Atuan we meet Tenar, who is taken from her parents at five years old to become Arha, high priestess to the eaten ones. We will also meet Ged, the protagonist from A Wizard of Earthsea, again. This is atmospheric and sort of creepy. Le Guin portrays a culture that is both ancient and sort of stagnant. Tenar is a believable girl and young woman without some of the annoyingness such characters sometimes get in fiction. I love this book.
Another beautiful piece from Le Guin! This was an incredibly atmospheric story and such a breath of fresh air, as the Wizard of Earthsea had been. Short though this book was, I find it difficult to summarize the story, which was both simple and complex at the same time. Suffice it to say that I was thoroughly enthralled by the plot and the characters.
Tenar is the central protagonist of this book. She's flawed, she's striving to be better, she's confident, she doubts herself and her value systems. She's both relatable and yet a protagonist that we can root for and hope that she comes out the other end okay. I also particularly liked her personal assistant, Manan, cringingly subservient though he may be sometimes.
A large part of this story takes place in a maze of pitch-black underground tunnels, and it is testament to Le Guin's writing that I almost felt claustrophobic just reading about these. I couldn't imagine how any of these characters could be walking around in the complete darkness, in a labyrinth of tunnels, without going mad with fear. I really felt what it meant when it was said that the Nameless Ones have power in that domain there.
Thoughts about the ending: Did Ged really just promise Tenar all these things about leaving the Tombs and then left her there alone? That kinda feels like a shitty thing to do. I'm hoping that that's not really the end of her story because that would be really shitty, and that's the reason why this is a 4 star and not higher. While Tenar hadn't been in a very great place to begin with, at least she was mistress of her own domain to some extent. Ged basically told her to come out and be free, the byproduct of which was killing and destroying all the people she had ever known, including Manan (justice for Manan!), and then he abandons her in this wide wide world that she had never stepped into for most of her life? I'm not saying that they need to be together forever just because he brought her out of it but at least he shouldn't be immediately dropping her as soon as she brought him out of that place - it almost feels like he was using her, which would have been really shitty.
100% definitely going to continue on this series. More people need to read the Earthsea Cycle and this needs to be adapted.
I actually enjoyed this book better than the first Earthsea book. While it started slowly, the story was tighter and more interesting to me. I enjoyed the messages of freedom, identity, and power in this story. Because the story was much tighter, it was more interesting to me and I was able to stay focused more than I was with A Wizard of Earthsea.
According to Wikipedia, Le Guin said this book was about
Quotes
“Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward towards the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it.”
“The Earth is beautiful, and bright, and kindly, but that is not all. The Earth is also terrible, and dark, and cruel. The rabbit shrieks dying in the green meadows. The mountains clench their great hands full of hidden fire. There are sharks in the sea, and there is cruelty in men's eyes.”
i could NOT put this book down. really incredible story about redemption and darkness and freedom and light. tenar is a different protagonist to ged, but in some ways they're still alike. i love the way ursula puts it in her author's notes:
“The dark side of the world was what she had to learn, as Ged had to learn the darkness in his own heart. [...] Each has to ask for the other's help and learn to trust and depend on the other. A large lesson, a new knowledge for both these strong, willful, lonely souls.”
“A girl who could not seek power, as young Ged could, or find training in the use of it as he did, but who had power forced upon her. A girl whose name was not given to her by a kind teacher, but taken from her by a masked executioner.
The boy Ged, offered wisdom, refused it through his own pride and willfulness; the girl Tenar, given the arbitary power of a goddess, was taught nothing about living her life as a human being.”
Even though I loved this book, I did not love it as much as the first one. I had a hard time liking Tenar. But, towards the end, I found that she grew on me. I still absolutely love Geb. The writing is amazing. I am very interested to see where the story goes next.
5/12/22:
This was not exactly a cheerful book but not exactly a despairing one either. It is simply an exploration of the choices and circumstances of the characters mentioned. Ursula LeGuin for me is an author who's very good at portraying the themes she wants to explore in her books. In contrast to the previous book where Ged is the protagonist, the reader follows a different character here. We view the world through their lens and see them experiences changes and also coming to terms with those changes.
Its a bit hard to precisely place this book in terms of plot and mood. Some might it's terribly bland and some might say the opposite. I rather just enjoyed it for what it was.
I guess for now I can only say I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series.
final rating: 4/5
Pensé que ya no era lo mío, que ya no seria entretenido, voy a leerlo por curiosidad, pensé, es la continuación del primero que ya leí, y es corto, así me convencí ... y pues la verdad si me entretuvo, de hecho hubo partes que me engancharon, claro, es como todo, si vas a leer (o ver un película) de fantasía vas a ponerte el chip que corresponde, si es que (aun) cuentas con el... creo voy a leer el que sigue, no se...
3.5 rounded up. The first part of this was slow. Once Ged shoes up it got much more exciting and enticing. For such a short book this a slow burn.
The second of the Earthsea trilogy and possibly the weakest of the three books. Still a good book to read and it sets up nicely the third book in the searies
Weirdly important to me, a sequel that came out of nowhere and eclipsed an already great first book in the series.
“The Earth is beautiful, and bright, and kindly, but that is not all. The Earth is also terrible, and dark, and cruel. The rabbit shrieks dying in the green meadows. The mountains clench their great hands full of hidden fire. There are sharks in the sea, and there is cruelty in men's eyes.”
L'uomo e il piccolo cardo del deserto; il cardo e l'uomo addormentato.
“Tu sai tutto, mago. Ma io so una cosa soltanto... l'unica cosa vera!”.
Non è la prima volta che avete sentito questa frase nella vostra vita. È uno scontro tra due verità, ma ci sono verità più vere di altre? Alcune volte le verità ti imprigionano in un labirinto buio in cui la tua anima è in completa perdizione, in cui la realtà viene distorta e ottenebrata in modo che tu non veda più la luce del giorno.
Alcune volte le verità ti liberano e ti buttano in un mare di scelte, e non è detto che ti portino necessariamente alla luce, ma lo rendono solo possibile.
“Perché se ne stava lì così indifeso eppure così forte? Perché lei non riusciva a sconfiggerlo?”
Ci sono delle verità più forti delle altre?