Title: A Wizard of Earthsea
Author: Ursula K. LeGuin
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 264 Pages
Weight: 0.5 lbs
Date of Completion: April 28, 2013
Thoughts:
I haven't been able to read much since getting back from that wonderful trip for spring break. Graduating college is no easy feat, but these classes have seemed hell-bent on sucking the soul out of my life. Sadly, this semester is not as bad as the last, but I have less and less willpower to do anything. Talk about a major burnout. However, I will be officially done with both of my undergraduate degrees in 5 days. Then I can read to my heart's content.
For Easter, I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble (my parents know me so well) and I was able to practice some measure of self control by not spending it all immediately. Last week, however, I treated myself to a trip to the bookstore after finishing my last midterm and homework assignments. I came home with several more Shakespearean plays to nearly complete that library, as well as an Ursula LeGuin book that caught my eye. The Earthsea series was recommended to me by several of my book aficionado friends, and I decided to give it a try while carousing the SF/Fantasy section.
This was definitely a great choice. Though the Earthsea series is labeled as a young adult (since when has that ever stopped me?), it was more than enough to get me hooked on LeGuin. I'd like to make it through this series, which shouldn't take long. I read this entire book in one day. Granted, I didn't do much else besides church and read, but that makes for a wonderful day. There is just an elegance about the way she writes; it actually reminds me a lot of H.G. Wells with the imagination of Garth Nix. I am immediately moving The Dispossessed up on my To Read list.
For this story in particular, I was just relieved to be able to sink into a fantasy world again. While I can contribute the feeling partially to my stress level and anxiety with a life full of constant change and unknown (an absolute horror for someone like me who plans everything out far in advance), I felt such a strange connection with Ged. Through the entire story, I felt his character was so burdened with the weight of this terrible shadow. It is certainly a great metaphor for my life. The great thing about this? Fairy tales were not meant to teach us that monsters exist. We already know this. These stories are meant to tell us that monsters can be slain. I might not be fighting any monsters, this certainly gives me courage to soldier on.
