Book Review
Mar. 12th, 2025 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariFive Ways to Forgiveness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
These five interconnected short stories all take place on the neighboring planets of Werel and its former colony Yeowe. All the stories take place around the time during which Yeowe and the Were liberated themselves from a hierarchical society that practiced chattel slavery. The characters in each story grapple with the aftermath of the liberation efforts, what it means to live freely, and how societal and interpersonal relationships will work in the post-slavery world. My favorite stories were "Forgiveness Day" and "A Woman's Liberation", because they wove together larger stories of freedom with the role of the bonds of love and friendship. I especially liked Solly and Rakam, the protagonists of each of those stories, because they were women who were not afraid to speak and live their own truths. Le Guin explores her characters' liberation processes with sensitivity to their complexities, which I found very interesting and though-provoking. I also liked how there were obvious parallels to American history, but Le Guin is fairly oblique about this point, letting the reader see it for themselves. It was very effective.
(This is an expanded version of Four Ways to Forgiveness</> - apparently at some point Le Guin added a fifth story.)
by Ursula K. Le Guin
These five interconnected short stories all take place on the neighboring planets of Werel and its former colony Yeowe. All the stories take place around the time during which Yeowe and the Were liberated themselves from a hierarchical society that practiced chattel slavery. The characters in each story grapple with the aftermath of the liberation efforts, what it means to live freely, and how societal and interpersonal relationships will work in the post-slavery world. My favorite stories were "Forgiveness Day" and "A Woman's Liberation", because they wove together larger stories of freedom with the role of the bonds of love and friendship. I especially liked Solly and Rakam, the protagonists of each of those stories, because they were women who were not afraid to speak and live their own truths. Le Guin explores her characters' liberation processes with sensitivity to their complexities, which I found very interesting and though-provoking. I also liked how there were obvious parallels to American history, but Le Guin is fairly oblique about this point, letting the reader see it for themselves. It was very effective.
(This is an expanded version of Four Ways to Forgiveness</> - apparently at some point Le Guin added a fifth story.)
no subject
Date: 2025-03-13 02:18 am (UTC)Huh! I have only read the Four Ways version and then the related story in The Birthday of the World, which I assume was the fifth collected.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-13 02:53 am (UTC)