I can sympathize. I also disliked Tehanu extremely when I first read it. While I didn't mind the feminism so much, it wasn't quite my particular brand of feminism...there was so much stress paid upon an irreconciable difference between men and women that I almost felt as if it were more regressive than progressive. It made me rather uncomfortable and depressed. And this is coming from a girl who adores strong female leads (McKinley's Aerin and Harry, Pierce's Alanna, and the Tenar from The Tombs of Atuan). But there was just so much fear and shame in the story...I don't know, I just don't see that as feminism.
I've become somewhat reconciled to Tehanu since then, although perhaps it was easier for me than you because I first read Earthsea as a college junior and went straight from The Farthest Shore to Tehanu. I didn't have 8 years of history to battle with. I also think that I'll appreciate it more as I grow older, since it seems to deal with themes that would appeal more to middle-aged/elderly readers than ambitious, fiery, young ones who think they'll never be defeated.
I do think the book has interesting things to say about power, and how power over other living creatures is incredibly dangerous and uncomfortable...and almost disrespectful. I think this has somewhat colored my perception of TDIR. I've begun to - not resent, exactly - but question the way that Old Ones take such a high hand in human affairs. This always was in the books, of course, but I've begun paying a lot more attention to it recently.
Well, I'm going to stop rambling there. Two quick long questions, if you don't mind my pursuing this further. *grins* First: What exactly bothers you about female fantasy leads? I do think that the vast majority are silly and overly "buxom", but there are some fine ones out there. *points above* And second: How do you approach Atuan, which is such a woman-centric book? Le Guin has written somewhere that when re-reading the book once, she suddenly realized that it was all about sex. I think I agree with her and would go one step further and say that it's all about a man's sexual power over a woman. There's some really unpleasant stuff there at the end in the relationship between Ged and Tenar that has always made me uncomfortable. Anyway, to sum-up this second question: recognizing both your distaste for female leads and you childhood admiration for the original Earthse trilogy, what do you think of Atuan?
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Date: 2006-03-07 12:28 am (UTC)I've become somewhat reconciled to Tehanu since then, although perhaps it was easier for me than you because I first read Earthsea as a college junior and went straight from The Farthest Shore to Tehanu. I didn't have 8 years of history to battle with. I also think that I'll appreciate it more as I grow older, since it seems to deal with themes that would appeal more to middle-aged/elderly readers than ambitious, fiery, young ones who think they'll never be defeated.
I do think the book has interesting things to say about power, and how power over other living creatures is incredibly dangerous and uncomfortable...and almost disrespectful. I think this has somewhat colored my perception of TDIR. I've begun to - not resent, exactly - but question the way that Old Ones take such a high hand in human affairs. This always was in the books, of course, but I've begun paying a lot more attention to it recently.
Well, I'm going to stop rambling there. Two
quicklong questions, if you don't mind my pursuing this further. *grins* First: What exactly bothers you about female fantasy leads? I do think that the vast majority are silly and overly "buxom", but there are some fine ones out there. *points above* And second: How do you approach Atuan, which is such a woman-centric book? Le Guin has written somewhere that when re-reading the book once, she suddenly realized that it was all about sex. I think I agree with her and would go one step further and say that it's all about a man's sexual power over a woman. There's some really unpleasant stuff there at the end in the relationship between Ged and Tenar that has always made me uncomfortable. Anyway, to sum-up this second question: recognizing both your distaste for female leads and you childhood admiration for the original Earthse trilogy, what do you think of Atuan?