Gifts
by Ursula K. LeGuin
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Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com
In Ursula K. Le Guin's GIFTS, the gifts in question bring more trouble than happiness to the novel's main character, sixteen-year-old Orrec. Orrec lives in the Uplands, a rough landscape where small clans squabble amongst themselves to maintain their land holdings and cattle herds. The leader of each clan has a specific gift: a mystical power that allows them to call animals or twist human bodies with the force of their mind. Orrec is the next in lin...more
In Ursula K. Le Guin's GIFTS, the gifts in question bring more trouble than happiness to the novel's main character, sixteen-year-old Orrec. Orrec lives in the Uplands, a rough landscape where small clans squabble amongst themselves to maintain their land holdings and cattle herds. The leader of each clan has a specific gift: a mystical power that allows them to call animals or twist human bodies with the force of their mind. Orrec is the next in lin...more
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Read in June, 2008
I had a hard time getting into this book and its characters. The frame of a stranger coming to the village and main character telling the story of his life worked for me, but I was slightly frustrated that we went straight into flashback and never came up for air until the end. Maybe it's so the story flows better. But then is it really a story being told? Maybe I misread. Anyway, the story of the main character's life, one of trial and tribulation with gradual awakening to real powers is d...more
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Read in February, 2008
It's a long time since Ursula Le Guin produced a book for young people so I was looking forward to reading this new novel from the author of the Earthsea trilogy. Unfortunately, despite lavish praise from critics, Gifts sorely disappointed me. I've seen it described as a 'compelling' tale but it's anything but. It's an austere story, monolithic in structure (there's absolutely no sub-plot) about a boy growing up in a community whose leaders possess strange, fierce gifts like his father's power ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Not a single living human being.
If I could give this 0 stars, I would. Let this be a warning to all who consider reading anything by this author:
"Le Guin was born and raised in Berkeley, California...Her writing often makes use of unusual alien cultures to convey a message about human culture in general, for example, the exploration of sexual identity through the hermaphroditic race in The Left Hand of Darkness. Such themes place her work in the canon of feminist science fiction. Her works are also often concerned with...more
"Le Guin was born and raised in Berkeley, California...Her writing often makes use of unusual alien cultures to convey a message about human culture in general, for example, the exploration of sexual identity through the hermaphroditic race in The Left Hand of Darkness. Such themes place her work in the canon of feminist science fiction. Her works are also often concerned with...more
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Read in March, 2008
As I was reading "Gifts", I was surprised to find myself not enjoying it as much as I thought I would.
The story is an interesting and unique one. Orrec and Gry, longtime friends, live in the Uplands, whose denizens possess strange and powerful psychic gifts. Orrec, however, can not control his gift, called the "unmaking" and voluntarily blinds himself so as not to accidentally do harm.
I felt for the characters of Orrec and Gry and I thought Le Guin did an excellent ...more
The story is an interesting and unique one. Orrec and Gry, longtime friends, live in the Uplands, whose denizens possess strange and powerful psychic gifts. Orrec, however, can not control his gift, called the "unmaking" and voluntarily blinds himself so as not to accidentally do harm.
I felt for the characters of Orrec and Gry and I thought Le Guin did an excellent ...more
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Read in September, 2007
The one where Orrec grows up in a culture where each family has its own deadly, terrifying gift.
I read the books out of order, Voices first and this one second, and I didn't love this one the way I loved the other one; Orrec's Uplands culture is interesting but harsh, cruel, and kind of stupid, while Memer's port city is one that I'd love to live in (minus the occupying army and all). I guess, too, that I was hoping that Orrec would help to br...more
I read the books out of order, Voices first and this one second, and I didn't love this one the way I loved the other one; Orrec's Uplands culture is interesting but harsh, cruel, and kind of stupid, while Memer's port city is one that I'd love to live in (minus the occupying army and all). I guess, too, that I was hoping that Orrec would help to br...more
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3 comments
Read in January, 2008
hmmm. a bit dry somehow. her style can be distant from the characters she's describing, even though it's in first person. the concept is intriguing - people whose clans are defined by the type of 'gifts' they possess - special abilities like creating fire or calling animals.
one boy whose gift is to 'unmake' things decides to blindfold himself to prevent doing harm, and his female companion whose gift is to call animals to the hunt, refuses to do so (ah, animal lover after my own heart)... but ...more
one boy whose gift is to 'unmake' things decides to blindfold himself to prevent doing harm, and his female companion whose gift is to call animals to the hunt, refuses to do so (ah, animal lover after my own heart)... but ...more
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Read in December, 2007
After a slow start, I really enjoyed it. Fine, fine writing, as LeGuin always delivers, but I find I wasn't captured by it the way I usually am. A contemplative and quiet book, quite a sad one. Though the main character is a boy growing to adulthood, the character with the most compelling story was his father, a truly tragic figure. A good man who deeply loves his family, his home, and his duty, he gradually loses all of them. Maybe the fact that he is a more interesting character than his s...more
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Read in September, 2006
This is the story of Orrec, and how he comes to terms with his family's gift, which is the gift of unmaking. There are some pretty graphic descriptions of unmaking that are, oh, let's just call them effective. *shudder* I liked this book a lot, yet it's not going to be one of my favorites of hers. It felt like it took several chapters for Le Guin to hit her stride in this one. But it's still an excellent coming of age story, with depths at first unnoticed. Le Guin's a master of the understated.
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Read in January, 2007
A new YA book that seems to start a new series(?) - the second book is Voices, which I'm reading next. In the Uplands, all families pass down certain gifts to their children. Some are positive, some are destructive. Two good friends choose not to use their gifts, and have to try to find a way to live in the society without them. It seems like a commentary on violence as well as an interesting story. I found myself seeing it vividly in my mind, which doesn't happen all of the time.
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This book is just not my thing. I had to analyze it for a literature class. The premise is that people with special gifts (such as the ability to light fires with their eyes, twist people's insides with a flick of the wrist, etc.) are cursed. It challenges you to think about the fine line between special gifts and mental illness. Sounds good, but the book is dry and the pseudo terminology is hard to digest. It's the world of Harry Potter meets the wild, wild west.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
older teens and people who love fantasy
I never liked the Earthsea books as a teenager, but I read the book flap in the bookstore on this and I was hooked. LeGuin's style is mesmerizing, dark, and poetic, which I love, and her characters much more likeable than I found in Earthsea. This is my favorite of the Annals of the Western Shore Cycle. I read way past my bedtime--my mark of a good read. A little difficult for younger readers, especially since her style is quite formal.
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I didn't enjoy this book much. I thought I would really like it when I bought it, but I was dissapointed. It didn't capture my attention, and I ended up returning the second one. I liked the idea of all the family clans having their own special "gift" that they could use, but it turned out to be a little too dark for my tastes, and I only finished it so I could have a good reason to get it off my shelve of unread books.
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Read in December, 2007
I loved the way Le Guin takes you to a completely fabricated world but makes it feel so real, right down to the societal beliefs and ways of living, that it feels like a real place. It feels like an ancient land and society...it made me even more interested in history and it's a make-believe place and story! A great escape book, easy read and you won't be able to put it down!
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This book was not one of my favorite.It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but I couldn't relate to the main character, Orrec, like I am usually able to. I think this book was a tad too Sci-Fi for me and I couldn't stretch my imagination to this plot. I think it was written extremely well and young adults who have an interest in Sci-Fi books would enjoy this book.
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Gifts by Ursula K. LeGuin is amazing. The characters are so well written that it's like knowing them personally! Her detail in general is like being there for yourself. Riveting with mystery, and power, Gifts is one of the best books by her I've ever read. It carries sadness, realization, and power in it with every word on the page. I give Gifts five stars.
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This book is captivating and well-written, but I didn't like Le Guin's uncharacteristic descent into stereotypes about what men and women find important. Given that a significant fraction of her fan base includes English majors that conduct feminist deconstructions of Harry Potter, it is possible that she wrote this to cater to their tastes.
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Ursula Guinn is such a great author. She is one of the first fantasy authors that I read. This is a great book. Kind of confusing at first, but by the end, it's very interesting. It's the beginning of a series. I want to read the next one. If you haven't read her famous "Wizard of Earthsea" series, I highly recommend those.
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Read in February, 2008
First of trilogy... a huge intro to how people live on Highlands (read the book in Slovak.. so no idea of English terminology) .. interesting, yet bit boring. The descriptions that seemed they make no real sense were bit long .. but the story as a whole was interesting. I liked the part about mother and son and father.
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Read in July, 2007
This was very reassuring to read - in terms of the quality of it. I took delight as much in the skill of it as the story. And I liked the domesticity of it - there were fueds, to be sure, but on a small scale, intimate. And the hints of stories in other peoples lives, the attention to detail - it's just gorgeous.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.55 (334 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.51 (303 ratings) number of reviews: 52popular shelves
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quote
"To see that your life is a story while you're in the middle of living it may be a help to living it well. It's unwise, though, to think you know how it's going to go, or how it's going to end. That's to be known only when it's over."
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