I’m one step closer to the real thing! My own Cambridge certificate! Payed by the Uruguayan government, thanks God! I’ve never been able to afford it and now there’s this oportunity. I don’t know if I’ll be taking it since I still don’t know what criteria they’ll use to select candidates, but I passed the first requirement and I’m thrilled. I was so anxious about not passing it!
I tried to read this book last year, but somehow I couldn’t pass from page 10. This year was the time to leave no loose ends, though.
I didn’t notice it was the same book when I picked it from the library shelf, neither when I started reading until page 9 when I had a slight feeling of tiredness I found familiar, just a second before I reached the part where Ged hides his whole village under a mist and saves it from pillage. There I remembered I had already started reading this book and I had stopped exactly there.
It’s not usual that I give up on a book, so I set myself to discover why. I made an effort for ten pages more and then I was finally carried away by the story, so as to want to read the second one of the trilogy.
What made those first pages so difficult? The elaborated and meticulous description of scenery. Don’t get me wrong! I’m still impressed by the author’s mastery of language and quite jealous of her skill. I’ll never be so plenty of adjectives and nouns, not even in my native language. But, it made the reading slow and uneventful in several parts of the book.
On the other hand, I felt completely carried away by Le Guin’s concept of names. She presents her conception with such cogency it’s impossible not to accept it as a truth that transcends fanstasy. I guess Rothfuss read Le Guin’s trilogy before writing his ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’ and you know how much I love Kvothe and his universe.
I’m also annoyed by the fact that the trilogy hasn’t been made into movies yet. It’s a very cinematic construction and there are many events in the story that would become amazing visual effects on the big sceen. Moreover! I can’t either understand why Will Smith hasn’t bought the rights of these books yet since it’s the very first story I’ve read so far where the hero is dark skinned. In a time when wizards and sorcerers and people with super powers are in high demand, there’s no African-American or, God Forbids! an Arabic Harry Potter anywhere.
Finally, I accompanied Ged in his utter loneliness across the sea and felt much relief when he found a loyal friend to keep him company. However, I expected a much solid ending. I expected some event where they, but specially Estarriol, could prove his might as a wizard. And finally, for a book that was mostly written from the perpective of the main character, shifting the narration of the climax to a second viewer that witness the denouement from afar made it lose momentum somehow. I felt like… and that’s all? After having dreaded and expected Ged’s meeting with his shadow for a hundred pages, when it finally happened, it was confusing, detached and while logical quite insipid.
Boy, I got fairly critical! Specially for someone that can’t even finish her minor attempt at writing a second piece. I ment no disrespect and I’m sure that Le Guin’s importance for literature and the fantasy genre is absolutely proved beyond my opinions.
imnotthatbad 