Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Harcourt, c2000.
Description
Earthling Sutty has been living a solitary, well-protected life in Dovza City on the planet Aka as an official Observer for the interstellar Ekumen. Insisting on all citizens being pure "producer-consumers," the tightly controlled capitalist government of Aka--the Corporation--is systematically destroying all vestiges of the ancient ways: "The Time of Cleansing" is the chilling term used to describe this era. Books are burned, the old language and calligraphy are outlawed, and those caught trying to keep any part of the past alive are punished and then reeducated. Frustrated in her attempts to study the linguistics and literature of Aka's cultural past, Sutty is sent upriver to the backwoods town of Okzat-Ozkat. Here she is slowly charmed by the old-world mountain people, whose still waters, she gradually realizes, run very deep. But whether their ways constitute a religion, ancient traditions, philosophy, or passive, political resistance, Sutty is not sure. Delving ever deeper into her hosts' culture, Sutty finds herself on a parallel spiritual quest, as well.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bragan
An observer is sent from Earth to study a world whose official government has embraced a doctrine of progress and control, to the extent of erasing their own history and repudiating their traditions. But when she makes a visit to a rural mountain area, she discovers that there are people who
I can't exactly say that Le Guin's handling of these societies is heavy-handed or clunky. She's too good a writer for that, and she does make a point of adding in a bit of complexity. But, still, I could never quite manage to fully believe in either of these cultures, or to accept them on their own terms. It was never, ever far from my mind that the author had invented these societies to contrast with each other, to compare with our own societies on Earth, and to make some sort of point about what she believes to be good and bad in human civilizations, and that awareness made me feel a bit too detached from it all. I did find a few aspects of the traditional culture she describes to be interesting, appealing, even mildly insightful. But, for me, it just never quite came together into something satisfying or particularly profound.
It wasn't an unpleasant read or anything, and I'm not sorry I picked it up. But it's definitely not the first Le Guin novel I would recommend to anyone.
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preserve the old ways, practicing a gently spiritual form of religion that the new regime has not entirely wiped out.I can't exactly say that Le Guin's handling of these societies is heavy-handed or clunky. She's too good a writer for that, and she does make a point of adding in a bit of complexity. But, still, I could never quite manage to fully believe in either of these cultures, or to accept them on their own terms. It was never, ever far from my mind that the author had invented these societies to contrast with each other, to compare with our own societies on Earth, and to make some sort of point about what she believes to be good and bad in human civilizations, and that awareness made me feel a bit too detached from it all. I did find a few aspects of the traditional culture she describes to be interesting, appealing, even mildly insightful. But, for me, it just never quite came together into something satisfying or particularly profound.
It wasn't an unpleasant read or anything, and I'm not sorry I picked it up. But it's definitely not the first Le Guin novel I would recommend to anyone.
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LibraryThing member fugitive
Le Guin continues her "Hainish" cycle in this work, which complements THE DISPOSSESSED and THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. The author's previous works often explore two colliding concepts, philosophies, or human conditions (e.g., in the LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS it is the concept/condition of gender). In
I enjoyed the book, but must confess that I am a long-time Le Guin fan, and this is a work in a larger spectrum of life-long brilliant writing.
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this book, we have a Terran envoy (Sutty) coming from an Earth where fundamentalist religion controls society, to a world where a corporate state outlaws such "backward superstition." Unlike her earlier works, in this book she spends less time fleshing out the societies and characters, and focuses more on the central theme. For that, it is less satisfying than the two books previously mentioned. By not fleshing out her societies the reader is left with a more didactic novel than is the norm for Le Guin.I enjoyed the book, but must confess that I am a long-time Le Guin fan, and this is a work in a larger spectrum of life-long brilliant writing.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
Set in Le Guin's Hainish universe, a young woman from a future Earth, where she has lived underneath a repressive, fundamentalist religious government, travels to the planet of Aka, where religion has been outlawed by a different type of repressive government.
I was so looking forward to reading
The novel is set on the planet of Aka, where a dystopian, corporatist society has been established in which all religion has been outlawed. The protagonist, Sutty, is an observer from Earth who feels somewhat untethered; the change in government occurred while she was traveling to Aka, so the planet she arrived at in no way matched the planet she had prepared to observe. After a while, she is able to escape government minders and travel to the country to get some insight into the religious culture of the Akans before it was forced underground. The primary expression of religion is through storytelling, in which stories are related over and over by knowledgeable "priests/priestesses" to all willing listeners in a process called the "telling." Eventually, Sutty journeys with some of these "priests" to see the last existing library, which is hidden in a remote mountain peak.
Of course, I appreciated this appreciation of storytelling and oral history. But the contrast between the two forms of Akan culture seemed too stark; it was clear that the old way was Good and the new way was Bad. I expect more shades of gray, more ambiguity from Le Guin. Also, I was far more interested in the little snippets of Earth's future history that Sutty related than in what was happening on Aka. I was left wanting.
Well, so-so Le Guin is better than the best of many other writers. This is not a bad book, by any means. It is no Left Hand of Darkness or Dispossessed either. I worry that there is so much in Le Guin's head that she is not letting out. I am so fascinated by this universe she has created. I want more!
Read because I like the author, particularly her books set in the Hainish universe (2013).
I was so looking forward to reading
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this book, as it is the only one of the novels set in the Hainish universe that I had left to read, and I had highly enjoyed reading all of the previous novels. However, this one left me wanting. I will say that my expectations were high, and that Le Guin's writing, as always, is excellent. At no point did I want to abandon the story. However, there is very little happening in the book (but there is a lot of telling). The story is just so subtle that it almost seems slight.The novel is set on the planet of Aka, where a dystopian, corporatist society has been established in which all religion has been outlawed. The protagonist, Sutty, is an observer from Earth who feels somewhat untethered; the change in government occurred while she was traveling to Aka, so the planet she arrived at in no way matched the planet she had prepared to observe. After a while, she is able to escape government minders and travel to the country to get some insight into the religious culture of the Akans before it was forced underground. The primary expression of religion is through storytelling, in which stories are related over and over by knowledgeable "priests/priestesses" to all willing listeners in a process called the "telling." Eventually, Sutty journeys with some of these "priests" to see the last existing library, which is hidden in a remote mountain peak.
Of course, I appreciated this appreciation of storytelling and oral history. But the contrast between the two forms of Akan culture seemed too stark; it was clear that the old way was Good and the new way was Bad. I expect more shades of gray, more ambiguity from Le Guin. Also, I was far more interested in the little snippets of Earth's future history that Sutty related than in what was happening on Aka. I was left wanting.
Well, so-so Le Guin is better than the best of many other writers. This is not a bad book, by any means. It is no Left Hand of Darkness or Dispossessed either. I worry that there is so much in Le Guin's head that she is not letting out. I am so fascinated by this universe she has created. I want more!
Read because I like the author, particularly her books set in the Hainish universe (2013).
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LibraryThing member kmaziarz
Sutty, a young woman serving as an anthropological Observer for the benevolent governing body of the Ekumen, is assigned to the embassy on Aka, once a world adhering to a peaceful, all-encompassing belief system somewhat akin to earth’s Taoism. When she arrives, however, she finds that this
Dogged by an Akan Monitor who is fanatically devoted to the new way of life, Sutty nevertheless gains the trust of the traditional Akans in the mountains, and begins to immerse herself in their deeply beautiful, poetic, and all-pervasive ethos, which Sutty dubs the Telling. Deeply touched by this way of life, Sutty finds herself on a pilgrimage to the Akans’ most sacred site and simultaneously embroiled in the fight to preserve the Telling from the Monitor and those he serves.
A parable for our own culture’s willingness to abandon its cultural heritage, “The Telling” is a lyrical and affecting examination of the conflict between traditional values and technological progress, with no clear winner on either side.
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belief system has been replaced with a form of corporate totalitarianism (that strongly reminds her of the religious totalitarian government of her own childhood) and that all traces of Aka’s cultural past are eradicated without mercy wherever they are found. Closely monitored by the government and frustrated in her mission to catalog and understand a culture which, to all appearances, no longer exists, Sutty is shocked when she suddenly receives permission to visit a small mountain village rumored to harbor the vestiges of the Akans’ former way of life.Dogged by an Akan Monitor who is fanatically devoted to the new way of life, Sutty nevertheless gains the trust of the traditional Akans in the mountains, and begins to immerse herself in their deeply beautiful, poetic, and all-pervasive ethos, which Sutty dubs the Telling. Deeply touched by this way of life, Sutty finds herself on a pilgrimage to the Akans’ most sacred site and simultaneously embroiled in the fight to preserve the Telling from the Monitor and those he serves.
A parable for our own culture’s willingness to abandon its cultural heritage, “The Telling” is a lyrical and affecting examination of the conflict between traditional values and technological progress, with no clear winner on either side.
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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
While this isn't nearly as engaging as much of LeGuin's other work, it is still worth the read. At the same time, it's one of those books that you'll read when you pick it up, but the characters don't drive you back to it as much as some others. If you've read her short stories, in some ways, this
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is reminiscent of "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas" for me, though without the same narration. It's a fairly short quick read, but the drive to continue I feel has to come from the reader moreso than coming from the text, unlike most of her other works. Show Less
LibraryThing member MaowangVater
Sutty leaves the rigid book-burning theocracy of Terra to become an envoy to Aka. She studies the language and customs, but arrives a century later on a planet that in the grip of a rigid book-burning anti-religious state that considers the old ideograms that she learned to be a reactionary residue
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of superstitious times. Then she's unexpectedly given a chance to go into the country in search of the old religion and its last library. Show Less
LibraryThing member Aspenhugger
"Sutty, an Observer for the interstellar Ekumen, has been assigned to Aka, a world in the grip of a materialistic government. The monolithic Corporation State of Aka has outlawed all old customs and beliefs. Sutty herself, an Earthwoman, has fled from a similar monolithic state -- but one
"Unexpectedly she received permission to leave the modern city where her movements were closely monitored. She travels up the river into the countryside, going from howling loudspeakers to bleating cattle, to seek the remnants of the banned culture of Aka. As she comes to know and love the people she lives with, she begins to learn their unique religion -- the Telling. Finally joining them on a trek into the high mountains to one of the last sacred places, she glimpses hope for the reconciliation of the warring ideologies that have filled their lives, and her own, with grief.
"The Telling is a reflection on the conflict of politics and religion in our modern world, and the story of a spiritual journey through a landscape that is at once very strange and very familiar."
~~front flap
Ursula Le Guin is probably my favorite author, and I have and cherish almost all the books she wrote (and am working on having them all.) I've noticed that as she grew older, her books became simpler, and yet more profound. The book is a thinly disguised warning about the consequences we would all suffer if any fundamental religion became the state.
It's written with her usual spare, poetic language, and the trip into the mountains had echoes of Tibet: the country that has been taken over by China and has had its culture and religion banned. Our hearts bleed for Tibet, just as Sutty's heart grieved for Earth taken over by a fundamentalist religion, and for Aka, taken over by a materialistic state.
The ending promises hope, but it's a slim one. Governments aren't generally willing to give up their power. Since the book was published in 2000, and is the last in the Hainish cycle, we'll never know if the promise came to fruition, or not.
I miss her. Terribly.
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controlled by religious fundamentalists."Unexpectedly she received permission to leave the modern city where her movements were closely monitored. She travels up the river into the countryside, going from howling loudspeakers to bleating cattle, to seek the remnants of the banned culture of Aka. As she comes to know and love the people she lives with, she begins to learn their unique religion -- the Telling. Finally joining them on a trek into the high mountains to one of the last sacred places, she glimpses hope for the reconciliation of the warring ideologies that have filled their lives, and her own, with grief.
"The Telling is a reflection on the conflict of politics and religion in our modern world, and the story of a spiritual journey through a landscape that is at once very strange and very familiar."
~~front flap
Ursula Le Guin is probably my favorite author, and I have and cherish almost all the books she wrote (and am working on having them all.) I've noticed that as she grew older, her books became simpler, and yet more profound. The book is a thinly disguised warning about the consequences we would all suffer if any fundamental religion became the state.
It's written with her usual spare, poetic language, and the trip into the mountains had echoes of Tibet: the country that has been taken over by China and has had its culture and religion banned. Our hearts bleed for Tibet, just as Sutty's heart grieved for Earth taken over by a fundamentalist religion, and for Aka, taken over by a materialistic state.
The ending promises hope, but it's a slim one. Governments aren't generally willing to give up their power. Since the book was published in 2000, and is the last in the Hainish cycle, we'll never know if the promise came to fruition, or not.
I miss her. Terribly.
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LibraryThing member Zathras86
An interesting read, but not Le Guin's best work. There were too many plot threads and hints of depth that never really went anywhere, and I came away from the novel unsure of exactly what the author wanted to say.
LibraryThing member EmScape
Sutty is a Terran envoy of the Ekumen to the world of Aka. The Aka have suppressed and criminalized their ancient “religion” (it isn’t, but that’s the most expedient way to describe it. Think Buddhist.) in order to become Consumer-Producers of the Corporation State and bring their
I feel like LeGuin conceived of The Telling and wrote the plot around it in order to convey The Telling to us. Which, great. Frankly, I’d like to have heard more of it, but again, much more philosophical and thought-experiment-y than science fiction, per se. Fans of LeGuin will like it. Fans of more science-y, tech-y sci fi will probably not.
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technology up to date with that of Earth and Hain. Sutty’s mission is to learn and preserve The Telling, which is made difficult by the Monitors of the Corporation State (thought police).I feel like LeGuin conceived of The Telling and wrote the plot around it in order to convey The Telling to us. Which, great. Frankly, I’d like to have heard more of it, but again, much more philosophical and thought-experiment-y than science fiction, per se. Fans of LeGuin will like it. Fans of more science-y, tech-y sci fi will probably not.
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LibraryThing member alwright1
After living through a series of tragedies on a future, dystopian Earth, Sutty plans to travel and study the history and literature of a newly contacted planet for the Ekumen. In the 70 years it takes Sutty to reach the planet, however, major social and governmental changes force the literature,
I was way more connected to Sutty than I have been to Le Guin's other protagonists that I have read. I to understand the Akans with her almost immediately. I enjoyed her growth and the Akan cultural system immensely.
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history, and religion of the people underground. Sutty is able to travel deep into a rural area in the mountains where she tries to regain what has been lost.I was way more connected to Sutty than I have been to Le Guin's other protagonists that I have read. I to understand the Akans with her almost immediately. I enjoyed her growth and the Akan cultural system immensely.
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LibraryThing member thesmellofbooks
Has much of the usual magnificence of LeGuin's writing, though with a tad too much Telling in the first half or so of the book. Nevertheless, a satisfying conclusion, and worthwhile read.
LibraryThing member raschneid
Spare, thoughtful, and beautiful like all of her Hainish novels. Not heavy on plot, but a fascinating, organic world to explore.
LibraryThing member juniperSun
I still am thankful for the dedication LeGuin has to portraying societies living in balance with their world, which serve as an inspiration for those of us hoping to restore (or develop) the same balance here on Earth.
On this second reading, I am more critical of the naivete of Sutty. Surely a
Favorite quote is really 2 pages (134-5) where Maz Uming explains why people need to keep reminding themselves of the right way to live, i.e. why the Telling is so important in their culture.
On this second reading, I am more critical of the naivete of Sutty. Surely a
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highly developed confederacy would use people who were more self-aware, or had come to terms better with their childhood. But perhaps that was part of why she was brought to Aka where more experienced observers had been shut out by the local government, and her experiences as a member of a persecuted religion gave her insights into what was going on.Favorite quote is really 2 pages (134-5) where Maz Uming explains why people need to keep reminding themselves of the right way to live, i.e. why the Telling is so important in their culture.
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LibraryThing member sonofcarc
UKL does Tibet. A good book, but the author packs too much into it.
LibraryThing member JBD1
I probably shouldn't have tried to read this before bed during a particularly exhausting time of the year, since I'm sure I missed some of the nuance, but this is still a lovely read in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle.
LibraryThing member Jayeless
So, I liked it. The main problem I felt it suffered from was that it was more of a political treatise than a novel, about how being militantly anti-religion is just as crappy as being militantly religious. I suppose.
There's not really a LOT of conflict – there is some – and the novel all wrapsthe novel is set in a totalitarian state with menacing secret police (well they weren't very secret I guess, but certainly menacing), and maybe they could actually have done something to justify that reputation! ), this could have been better.
There's not really a LOT of conflict – there is some – and the novel all wraps
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up far too neatly, I feel. Mostly there are lots of spiritual stories. But I don't know, it intrigued me. I feel like with a rewrite, and some more conflict (for instance, Show Less
LibraryThing member LisCarey
This is a new Hainish novel, about a young Observer for the Ekumen on her first assignment. Sutty grew up on an Earth dominated by a rigid, repressive religious authority; Aka, the world she is assigned to, is controlled by an extremely rationalistic government, dedicated to advancing as rapidly as
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possible to catch up with the other Ekumen worlds, and eliminating any remaining vestiges of "primitive" thinking. Sutty's not the only one who has to reexamine all her assumptions; she's just one of the first to realize it. This isn't as good as The Dispossessed, or The Left Hand of Darkness, but it is a good, satisfying story. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheCrow2
If you like high-paced action packed SF you`ll be disappointed. But of course in this case you shouldn`t read Le Guin at all. But all the lovers of slower, philosophical stories about different cultures, traditions and religions will be in for a treat.
LibraryThing member dreamweaversunited
As per usual, LeGuin's writing is magnificent and absorbing; every page is a joy to read, lyrical. I love her account of this society. But as a plot and a story, it doesn't really hold together.
LibraryThing member wickenden
I remember enjoying this, but skimming through now I can't remember anything about it, so I'm shelving it as a re-read. This is a late (2000) entry in the Hainish series of LeGuin's sci-fi.
LibraryThing member justchris
[The Telling] is an exploration of cultural legacies and the violence of extremism and by extension colonialism. The first page paints a word picture of Sutty's childhood memories of living in her aunt and uncle's village in India then transitions on the next page to Sutty's youth in North America,
The first Hainish Observers happened to be Terran, and their reports were sent to Earth instead Hain. Those initial reports were largely lost due to Unist sabotage of the ansible communication system, so that only the language report survived for Sutty to study in transit to her first Observer post. She is dismayed to find that she had left a planet and its societies being destroyed by religious fundamentalists to arrive at a planet that is under the totalitarian control of a corporate government destroying its societies in the name of anti-religious accelerated capitalism and industrialization in a "march to the stars" spurred by the transmission from Earth of all its technical knowledge. The literature and ideograms that Sutty had studied had been outlawed and destroyed as relics of a primitive past.
Sutty is convinced that she is failing in her role because she is unable to be neutral, to be nonjudgmental of what's happening on Aka. As she put it, "maybe a Terran was a bad choice. Given that we on Terra are living the future of a people who denied the past...I trained as a linguist and in literature. Aka has one language left and no literature. I wanted to be a historian. How can I, on a world that's destroyed its history?"
Fifty years after first contact, Aka restricted offworld presence to four people who must stay in the main city. But then Sutty is given permission to travel up into the hills into a small village far from the city. Will she find relics of the suppressed indigenous culture and history and knowledge?
Well, it wouldn't be much of a story if she didn't. Sutty settles into that distant village and begins learning the forbidden culture that can't be completely erased from hearts and minds and walls and more. The events of this story seem very reminiscent of China's Cultural Revolution, and the indigenous culture seems very much modeled on Taoism and associated traditional Chinese medicine, qigong, cuisine, calligraphy, etc.
Sutty cannot flee her past, her own trauma and loss and grief. As she journeys first into the hills and later to the mountains she is shadowed by the Corporate Monitor, and eventually their journeys and their stories become intertwined. And the secret behind the rise of the Corporate State and the destruction of Akan religion and culture is revealed. Terra and Aka are dark reflections of the same human impulses of domination and resistance and the all too human cost of state violence and what it takes to survive.
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reunited with her parents while the entire world is increasingly under the totalitarian control of the religious government of the Unists and its attacks on centers of learning and accumulated human knowledge and culture (Library of Congress, for example). This story is set in the Hainish universe, and Sutty flees the violence of Earth (Terra) to become a human Observer sent to the newly discovered planet Aka. The first Hainish Observers happened to be Terran, and their reports were sent to Earth instead Hain. Those initial reports were largely lost due to Unist sabotage of the ansible communication system, so that only the language report survived for Sutty to study in transit to her first Observer post. She is dismayed to find that she had left a planet and its societies being destroyed by religious fundamentalists to arrive at a planet that is under the totalitarian control of a corporate government destroying its societies in the name of anti-religious accelerated capitalism and industrialization in a "march to the stars" spurred by the transmission from Earth of all its technical knowledge. The literature and ideograms that Sutty had studied had been outlawed and destroyed as relics of a primitive past.
Sutty is convinced that she is failing in her role because she is unable to be neutral, to be nonjudgmental of what's happening on Aka. As she put it, "maybe a Terran was a bad choice. Given that we on Terra are living the future of a people who denied the past...I trained as a linguist and in literature. Aka has one language left and no literature. I wanted to be a historian. How can I, on a world that's destroyed its history?"
Fifty years after first contact, Aka restricted offworld presence to four people who must stay in the main city. But then Sutty is given permission to travel up into the hills into a small village far from the city. Will she find relics of the suppressed indigenous culture and history and knowledge?
Well, it wouldn't be much of a story if she didn't. Sutty settles into that distant village and begins learning the forbidden culture that can't be completely erased from hearts and minds and walls and more. The events of this story seem very reminiscent of China's Cultural Revolution, and the indigenous culture seems very much modeled on Taoism and associated traditional Chinese medicine, qigong, cuisine, calligraphy, etc.
Sutty cannot flee her past, her own trauma and loss and grief. As she journeys first into the hills and later to the mountains she is shadowed by the Corporate Monitor, and eventually their journeys and their stories become intertwined. And the secret behind the rise of the Corporate State and the destruction of Akan religion and culture is revealed. Terra and Aka are dark reflections of the same human impulses of domination and resistance and the all too human cost of state violence and what it takes to survive.
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LibraryThing member JBreedlove
An inriguing and well written story from LeGuin's Hainish Universe. A bit too much of background but the idea of a philosophy-religion from the stories we tell that in turn bind us rings true. She backed it up by demographics and geology as well. An easy and thoughtful read.
LibraryThing member lschiff
Another disappointment. Read like a thinly veiled, simplistic critique of China and the situation with Tibet.
LibraryThing member mmparker
A quiet successor to The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. The ideas, the analogies, and the gentle people held me more than the plot, but that was just fine.
LibraryThing member james.d.gifford
I've been going back through Le Guin on audiobooks this time, and she's always fantastic. The performer for this one was also good. The Daoist element is very clear in this book, and I appreciated the dreamlike quality of the narrative, in particular the shift here away from a dramatic plot. Some
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readers may find this a shift from the other books in the Hainish Cycle, but I liked it and found it worked particularly well for the audiobook format. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2001)
Endeavour Award (Winner — 2001)
Locus Recommended Reading (2000)
Language
Original publication date
2000-09
Physical description
264 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9780151005673
Copy notes
First edition.
Dust jacket in Mylar.
Dust jacket in Mylar.