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Conference noted::sf

Title:	Arcana Caelestia
Notice:	Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:	NETRIX::thomas

Created:	Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1300
Total number of notes:	18728

131.0. "LeGuin's Eye of the Heron" by BABEL::BAZEMORE () Fri Sep 07 1984 16:59

Ursula Le Guin has a new novel out (more of a novella actually).

micro-review : good yarn, nothing spectacular.

mini-review : Le Guin has a very nice writing style (the only style I've
liked better was that in _Prince_Ombra_).  She spins a Gandhi inspired
tale of : what happens when a pack of peace people, who follow a strict
doctrine of "turn the other cheek" and civil disobediance when absolutely
necessary, get plunked down on a penal colony planet.   

The book is interesting overall, she has introduced real, motivated characters
that are not sharply good and evil.  The plot is good, though not fascinating.
She tries a bit too hard with the imagery.  An example is the circle imagery,
at one point the main character is explaining the concepts embodied in a 
circle drawn on the ground.  After going on about it for awhile, she admits that
she's not really sure what it means.  I get the feeling Le Guin isn't sure
what she means in several places.

I'm not sure if _The_Eye_of_the_Heron_ is worth $2.95.  It's definately worth
borrowing.  If you liked the ideas in _Gandhi_, you'll probably like this
book.

			Barbara

T.R	Title	User	Date	Lines
131.1		RAVEN1::HOLLABAUGH	`Mon Sep 10 1984 14:03`	22
	I read Eye of the Heron when it first showed up at the library about 5 or 6 months ago so so I don't remember much about the plot. Unfortunately, I can't blame my faulty memory on the time lapse as much as the lack of anything to remember. I did not like it at all. I didn't hate it either. It had a total lack of ability to rouse me stongly one way or another. It was one of those books you keep reading thinking, "That's nice. When are we gonna get to the story?" I have to stretch my imagination to fit into the category of SF. THe fact that it was set on another planet was not enough to make it SF. The story itself could have taken place in any secluded area on earth (For instance Australia before it was colonized.) If it had taken place on earth, nobody would have classified it as SF. I liked Gandhi very much! I was moved. I remember specific lines to this day even though it has been over a year since I saw the movie. (I only saw it once.) This book was so blah that even though I read it only a few months ago I can't even remember the major characters, much less their names or anything that they said. All in all, I suppose if you weren't looking for SF, you might emjoy them more than I did. I came away feeling like I had wasted my time. (something I rarely feel after reading just about any book.) tlh
131.2		BISON::RICHARD	`Tue Sep 11 1984 05:15`	7
	I have only read one Le Guinn book - The Dispossesed. It was the story of a group of political anarchists who inhabit a desolate moon of a lush but corrupted planet. From what I read in .0, this latest novel sounds like a rehash of a very good story. I am looking forward to reading other works by the author, however. They seem to be highly regarded. Mike Richard