Gifts
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 583)
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I’ve long said that good fantasy is hard to come by. Either you do something completely innovative like Tolkien did with Middle Earth, or you end up doing a poor man’s imitation of him – think along the lines of Brooks, Stephenson, Jordan, or any other American hack writer that can’t put two original ideas together. But Le Guin manages to consistently break the painful mold of mimicking every damn thing Tolkien excelled at. (Her Earthsea series, first written decades ago, are remarkable ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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 t...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 t...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
3 comments
Read in September, 2008
I love Ursula...so when I found out she was going all YA on us, I was really excited...and not disappointed.
She kept up her tradition of strong characters and strong ethics and ideas. Of course, there's a lot more simplicity in the ethics and interactions between characters than you'll get from The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed.
And with Pullman an...more
She kept up her tradition of strong characters and strong ethics and ideas. Of course, there's a lot more simplicity in the ethics and interactions between characters than you'll get from The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed.
And with Pullman an...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I enjoyed it but it totally grab me, I guess. Similar to Magic or Madness, it involves people with magical powers that are a bit outside the normal (read: comic book/superhero-y) range of magical powers. So I liked that. But then everyone uses their powers in subtle ways or not at all, and I guess I like to see powers used for destruction and revenge. But that's not what this book is about, and if they did act like that, it wouldn't be a metaphor anymore, would it.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
As with all LeGuin books, I loved this one. Why? It's just beautiful. She has a way of stringing words together, small threads that work towards a tapestry, with no space wasted. I adore it. I also love that she is able to use a couple of symbols to illustrate certain points in subtle ways. Like ants. They were a recurring creature in this book, and how the characters treated these beings illustrated their current state of mind. Very cool.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
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.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2008
This book took me a little while to get into, but I ended up liking it quite a lot. The writing is lucid and includes excellent description, and I liked the characters. I also found myself in conversation with the plot, questioning decisions of characters and invested in what was going to happen next. That's clearly a good thing, and this book is another in the long list of excellently crafted young-adult books that I really enjoyed.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
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.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Disappointments with this book:
1. It reads somewhat like LeGuin took copious notes in preparation for a new novel, but forgot to finish writing it.
2. It ends rather abruptly.
The good news:
1. As usual, her world-building skills are what make her writing engaging.
2. This is only one in a series, so the story's not meant to end there.
Despite my dissatisfaction, it's still worth a read.
1. It reads somewhat like LeGuin took copious notes in preparation for a new novel, but forgot to finish writing it.
2. It ends rather abruptly.
The good news:
1. As usual, her world-building skills are what make her writing engaging.
2. This is only one in a series, so the story's not meant to end there.
Despite my dissatisfaction, it's still worth a read.
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
Read in June, 2008
recommended to Denice by:
a blogrecommends it for: anyone
For a fantasy book, this was so much smaller scale and less epic than I thought it would be going in. There are really only three characters - a few central relationships and one key conflict. It felt more like an allegory which I loved but you still feel connected to the characters. Well written and thought provoking. A great YA novel but would say anyone should read it! So good!!!!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
