Ursula Le Guin may not be a familiar name to most parents and
children but she is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated authors in America.
She writes fiction for children and adults, mainly in the genres of science fiction
and fantasy. She has also written poems and essays. Her achievements include
five Hugo Awards, six Nebula Awards and nineteen Locus Awards. All these are
awards for the best works in science fiction and fantasy written each year. Her
book, The Furthest Shore, won the
1973 National Book Award in category Children’s Books. The National Book Award
is one of the most prestigious literary awards in USA. I think it’s high time
that Ursula Le Guin is introduced to Singaporean readers.
Amongst Le Guin’s most notable works is her Earthsea series (written for teenagers),
the first book of which is A Wizard of
Earthsea. The main character of the book is Ged, a boy who is immensely
talented in magic. We are given hints throughout the book that he would go on
to become one of the greatest wizards in Earthsea and A Wizard of Earthsea is about his journey to greatness. We meet our
protagonist when he is still immature, shallow, proud of his talent and in a
hurry to become somebody. Not a very likeable boy, in other words.
At the start of the story, Ged was a poor and ignorant boy
herding goats in the impoverished mountains of Gont. His mother died when he
was an infant and he was brought up by his uneducated and brutal blacksmith of
a father, his six older brothers all having left home to seek their fortunes
(see how slyly Le Guin slips in the old belief that the seventh son possesses
supernatural powers?). Then one day he chanced upon his maternal aunt
performing a simple spell and he was hooked. He became an apprentice of his
aunt and discovered that he had a flair for spells and runes. On a particular
occasion, their village was attacked and on the verge of extermination, Ged
came to the rescue with the magic that he had learnt.
After that, his reputation spread and a wise wizard, Ogion, came
to him, seeking him as a disciple. For a short period, he lived with Ogion in
the forests of Re Albi, if not happy, at least contented. Until he was
foolishly tempted to perform a dark spell of summoning. He conjured up a dark
shadow and narrowly escaped a dire fate when Ogion returned from his travails
and intervened, dispelling the dark shadow.
After this harrowing incident, Ogion gave Ged a choice: to
stay on in Re Albi and learn from him or to go to the School on Roke Island,
where boys with magical talent are sent. The School is like an academy of magic
where boys enter as novices and train to become full-fledged mages (think
Hogwarts but this is a single-sex school). Ged chose to go to Roke.
He made his way to Roke and was accepted into the School.
Within a very short time, he became well-known for being one of the most
talented boys to have ever entered the school as he surpassed his peers, and
even his seniors. However, his pride rose to trip him again. Upon a dare from
his nemesis, Jasper (the boys had taken an instant dislike to each other; Ged
thought that Jasper was a supercilious snob while Jasper felt that Ged was a
poor peasant who did not know his station), Ged performed yet another summoning
spell (yes, the boy seems to have a problem learning from his mistakes). This
time round, there was no Ogion on hand to save him. As a result, Ged was
attacked by the shadow and would have been possessed if the Archmage Nemmerle,
the head of the School, had not rushed there to save him. However, he did not
manage to chase the shadow back to where it came from. Instead, it escaped into
the world.
After the shadow’s attack, Ged became a shadow (no pun
intended) of his former self. He lost many of the skills and knowledge he had
acquired earlier as well as the ability to learn quickly. Worst of all, because
the shadow was still at large, it meant that Ged was trapped on Roke. The
shadow could not enter Roke anymore because the island was fortified by the
strongest enchantments in the land but the moment Ged left Roke, the shadow
would come after him.
The rest of the story follows Ged on his quest to battle the
shadow and, in the process, he becomes one of the most powerful wizards in the
history of Earthsea.
Some might feel that A
Wizard of Earthsea sounds very similar to the Harry Potter series but do bear in mind that Ursula Le Guin wrote
this book first. A Wizard of Earthsea
was first published in 1968 – gasp, yes – when our primary and secondary pupils
were still unborn. In fact, even I wasn’t born then.
Moreover, both series are very different. The Harry Potter series
all took place chiefly within Hogwarts. Harry
Potter is actually a school story about magic but the Earthsea series is more than that. They are stories of adventures
and quests and personal growth in the most classic form and it just happens
that parts of the story take place in the School. The Earthsea stories reflect universal truths that are unapologetically
harsh but valid and I prefer that to the easy glamour of the Harry Potter series.
What I like about A
Wizard of Earthsea is that it contains a lot of lessons which are
applicable to our youths today, even though it was written more than 40 years
ago. The first lesson is that with great power comes great responsibility (I know,
I’m paraphrasing Spiderman here). Ged
is blessed with extraordinarily potent magical powers. He starts the story off
as a self-centred boy who is out to prove that he is better than everyone else
but from his trials and tribulations, which are chiefly of his own making, he
learns that his powers are not meant to be flaunted or for any personal and
selfish gain. This is because (the second lesson) everything comes with a
price. Both times when he was eager to show off (the first time, to impress a
young lady) and the second (to win over Jasper), he brought trouble to himself.
But despite the dangers he faces, Ged never gives up. His resilience (lesson
#3) and his courage (lesson #4) stand him in good stead when he confronts the
shadow which is to haunt him for most of his adolescence and early adulthood.
And it is precisely the hardships wrought from the battle against his shadow that
forged his strength, enabling him to become one of the greatest wizards that
ever lived (lesson #5: what does not kill you makes you stronger).
You know how some books come embedded with morals but they
are so boring? Well, I’m happy to tell you that that is not the case with A Wizard of Earthsea. Le Guin populates
the world of Earthsea with dragons, sorceresses and mages who are adept with
spells, mysterious runes and weather manipulation.
There is not a single dull
moment in the book. Le Guin’s simple but elegant language is another bonus. This
is the sort of book pupils need to read to improve their English.
Most of all, I was fascinated with the tale of the boy who
started out as the most skilful student in the School of Roke but took a deep
fall because of his own doing. I could barely put the book down as I wanted to
learn how he would redeem himself, if he would redeem himself.
All in all, this is an underrated classic which needs to be
read by more people.
Rating: 4/5
For pupils aged 11 and above (advanced P3 pupils might be
able to handle this book, depending on their reading proficiency).
By TCC
No comments:
Post a Comment