| author: | Ursula K. Le Guin (1972) |
|---|---|
| series: | Earthsea Cycle #3 |
| date added: | 2018-02-12 |
| date read: | 2018-02-22 |
| pages: | 259 |
| author: | gender:female, origin:us |
| genre: | fantasy |
| rating: | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ |
4.5 stars, really.
Some parts are predictable, yes. And the story has no women at all, which is very weird. But it’s told so well, touches me so deeply, that this can’t matter. If you like fantasy at all, Earthsea is really recommended. Wow. Will need to re-read. And put on a shelf. And re-read again.
This is. And thou art. There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.
You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor any thing. Nothing is immortal. But only to us is it given to know that we must die. And that is a great gift: the gift of selfhood. For we have only what we know we must lose, what we are willing to lose… That selfhood which is our torment, and our treasure, and our humanity, does not endure. It changes; it is gone, a wave on the sea. Would you have the sea grow still and the tides cease, to save one wave, to save yourself?
