Earthsea v Harry Potter: What the Original Wizard School Got Right
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2021
- What are the literary origins of the boy wizard and the wizard school? Well...you can probably figure that out from the thumbnail. Nevertheless, I shall, if I may, take you on an adventure through 20th century fantasy literature to explore the roots of this trope, the connection between Tolkien and Harry Potter, and how race, feminism and...(wait for it)...gay wizards and bi witches feature in all this!
Special thanks to Tjaša Pejntboks for being the cameraperson/heckler.
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Jessie Gender's Video "Earthsea & The Magic Behind Transgender Names": • Earthsea & The Magical...
"Capitalism seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings".
I just paused the vid, threw my arms in the air and shouted "YES".
I shouldn't do that so late at night.
The funny thing is how long people will still hold onto these ideas. In the 1800’s during the creation of the kingdom of Italy (which before this century had been a many separate states) you have communists and socialists fighting feudalists over the direction of the country. 200 after feudalism had basically crumbled you still had people fighting to bring it back.
hahaha great line
I heard this quote years after reading the books and never realized it was hers! When this moment came up in the video I also paused it and shouted "wait, it was hers?!" Then searched to verify, then thought "yeah, it would be, wouldn't it. Totally checks out"
@@oliviaspring9690 Some morons in Brazil are also advocating a return to monarchy in our country, in 2022, not 200 years ago. They are a pathetic minority, reactionary to the bone, but they are part of the supporting factions of the deranged fascist that won our electionson 2018
Honestly capitalism has come closer to achieving the aims of communism than any of the past Socialist "republics".
When your comparing a system to autocratic regimes it seems a whole lot better.
These relaxing fairy forest goddess vibes are giving me life
Never stop constructively shading JK Rowling you're so good at and it. Thank you.
Seconded!
Third
This
Personally I love the story about a kid that grew up in a non magical environment, unlike their rival. I like the book where the potion teacher is scary, dresses in black and favors the rival. However the head teacher has a soft spot for the kid. Yes, I do love the worst witch
She stole her ideas from LE Guin and readers and those who have researched it are all aware of it. Those protecting Hogwarts are reading illiterates
I think that Ursula K. Le Guin is still 20 years ahead of most authors to be honest. Her writing on how masculine hirearchies of violence being the only way to have a "strong" female character in fantasy really opened my eyes. Highly recommend her collections of essays, "The Language of the Night." It doesn't include every essay and speech she made, but the ones there are as thoughtful, witty, and may change the way you view not just books, but your whole perception of the world.
Hard agree. So many of the things that make The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu amazing fall completely outside of the good rep checklists and the 'more👏 of👏 this👏' memes that's dominate the feminism in fantasy discourse
I didn't know she wrote essays, thanks for recommending them!
"The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art" She is so brilliant! I love that she seems insightful and to be continually adapting and growing as she ages... would that more authors do that.
Have you read Le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness," a sci-fi novel about a planet of "ambisexual" people who can change their sex/gender at will? The over-arching theme is the way that perception of gender shapes societies. Published in 1969, much of it is outdated. In 1986, Le Guin said that she regretted making heterosexuality the norm for sexual behavior on a literally gender-fluid planet.
mmm I don’t think it was hetrosexuality she regretted? it’s not a part of the society of Left Hand bc there’s essentially one gender, and sexual differences only manifest during kemmer, the couple of days in the month that they can have sex. they don’t really “change sex/gender at will.” Genly PROJECTS “man” or “woman” onto characters, but that’s framed mostly as something that Genly has to grow past, especially as he gets closer to Estraven.
she DID publicly regret using he/him pronouns for the characters (besides genly obviously), and she said she regretted digging her heels in and sticking with grammatical style norms (since using he/him for anyone you didn’t know the gender of was the style norm at the time) instead of listening to criticism of that choice earlier. she has an essay defending that choice and then a sort of “corrected” version of that essay later where she refutes most of her own arguments. the corrected version is a great read-i can’t remember the name but a google search will probably get you there!
Left Hand is a product of its time for sure, but LeGuin also fully acknowledged that, and there’s still a lot of worthwhile social critique (and just straight up great storytelling) to take from the story!
@@bleachitwhite she has specially said she regretted making all the pairings heterosexual. I'll dig out the interview when I'm back on my computer. As insaid, in was an interview from '86 if you want to look it up yourself.
@@bleachitwhite every time i learn something new about this author, i admire her more. she put so much thought and effort into her work. i need to find all these essays and responses, that's just amazing. and incredible she'd publicize how her views changed. very inspiring
Any chance you dug up the interview?
@@idannen The full quote (if the pdf is unavailable) is:
"For another example (and Jung wouldn't have helped with this, more likely hindered) I quite unnecessarily locked the Gethenians into heterosexuality. It is a naively pragmatic view of sex that insists sexual partners must be of the opposite sex! In any kemmerhouse homosexual practice would, of course, be possible and acceptable and welcomed--but I never thought to explore this option; and the omission, alas, implies that sexuality is heterosexuality. I regret this very much."
“We live in capitalism. It’s power seems inescapable. So did the Divine Right of Kings.”
I ain’t gonna lie, that quote was both inspiring and amazingly brutal for what it implies, lol
Sounds like we need a revolution!
What? That communists haven’t changed, that they are still bastards happy to murder anyone who doesn’t think like them?
"If I can forgive LeGuin for not being perfect from Day One, maybe I can forgive myself for not being perfect."
Thank you.
As a former evangelical pastor, now queer and trans and out, I need to hear this often.
We need to create a world where people can be free to change their minds, their hearts, their lives, without being forever banished for mistakes made when they were a former version of themselves. LeGuin is so beautiful in her imperfection. Her entire canon is an exploration, and a journal of her continued growth. Give me that over Tolkien's rigid Catholic fantasy any day.
@@allthenewsordeath5772 this is all very fair. And for the record, I love The Lord of The Rings. I read it every three years or so. I watch the films every Autumn. It is rich and beautiful. And it is beautiful mythmaking. And yes, so many thematic elements that touch on all flavours of Christian theology and biblical narrative theology. However, since discovering Earthsea, I find that I prefer the imperfect complexity and nuance of it. It is a series of books that moves and shifts. It feels very organic. It strikes me as more deeply true. And the further I get from my time in ministry, the more Le Guin's world feels like the world I inhabit, as Tolkien becomes more alien to me.
@@allthenewsordeath5772 really good thoughts. Yes, I once saw truth that way as well. And Truth (with a capital T) was something I chased after. I can understand why people do. Since leaving ministry, I've found that I follow other things more, and truth less. For example, instead of trying to find something true and fashioning my life after it, I try to find what is healthy. Or I look for what is kind. I believe that truth is related to both of those. So I'm still going to be going in the direction of truth. This is definitely how Le Guin feels different to me. Tolkien feels like someone who has found Truth and is telling me about it. Le Guin feels like she is on a journey of depth and health and inviting me along. She doesn't tell me what to believe. She offers what she has. I really like it.
@@allthenewsordeath5772 I agree with Lewis when it comes to things that are actually knowable. When it comes to matters of gods and godesses and eternity and afterlife, we are talking about things that are not knowable. I'm glad that Lewis found something that worked for him. But I can't accept that what he found was Truth. I think the difference that came between Lewis and Tolkien as friends demonstrate vividly just how much disagreement there is even among Christians, nevermind all the other ways that humans interact with spirituality and divinity. I do enjoy The Horse and its Boy to a degree. I'm not so mich a fan of Aslan tearing a women's back open. And it is one of the book that displays Lewis' racism, along with Voyage of The Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle especially. I really like The Silver Chair, which strikes me as the most like Tolkien of the series, and was dedicated to him. As I prefer Le Guin to Tolkien, as much as I enjoy Lewis, I prefer L'engle.
I liked Tolkiens rigid catholic fantasy, about as much as I loved earth sea. But then again, I am a catholic so... maybe I'm just more of the target audience. Not sure what you mean by rigid though.
@@seekingabsolution1907 I agree with Allthenews that it was written for all audiences. By rigid I meant something more like unyielding, unchangeable. Morality is absolute in LOTR. But so is its world and lore. Everything fits perfectly. Changes happen exactly as they are meant to happen, as though foreordained. I prefer Le Guin's changeable imperfection. I like how the story is revealed over time. I enjoy seeing the change in her writing style. I like the gradual reveal of a world that is being discovered by the author as much as by the reader. This feels more true to life to me, where myth and culture and experience often fits together quite messily, and changes happen in concert with many factors, some competing and some harmonious. Le Guin tells a story with room for growth and play. Tolkien feels more like a canon. I like Tolkien a lot. I prefer Le Guin.
Le Guin was such an absolute legend. I wish I'd been more aware of her whole deal, outside of my very surface-level enjoyment of the Earthsea books, during her lifetime. :/
Le Guin worked with Margaret Killjoy and supported singular they as a gender-neutral/non-binary pronoun long before it became more mainstream to use it. I'd be really surprised if she didn't support trans-rights.
I just googled "Does Little Witch Academia acknowledge Earthsea?" and "Ursula" is one of the main character's names.
Tehanu in particular is one of my favourite books of all time. While I enjoyed the first Earthsea trilogy, I connected so much with the later books. It was an amazing shift going from the perspective of the privileged in a patriarchal society (Ged who is a man and a famous wizard) to a woman and girl who were so powerless and exploited. It upsets me so much to see former fans talking about how Le Guin 'ruined the series'. No, she grounded it and made it realistic. I love her so much
Tehanu is a masterpiece!!! Still ahead of the times.
It's wierd how much Harry Potter criticism is focused of the whole death of the author and so rarely about the venom dripping from the text itself
I reread HP at the start of the pandemic and while it was nice to revisit that world there definitely were elements that were ethically yikes as well as very obvious (too obvious for suspension of disbelief) inconsistencies and plotholes. Then there were also some points I missed that Shaun talked about in his video essay.
I'm now reading Earthsea to kind of fill the hole my nostalgia for HP left. Loved her sci-fi novels The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness and I was like "Wait, she made the original wizarding-school novel, gimme noooow!!"
YES!
As a trans person, I'm all for the death of the author.
I think its meant to be fun and simple spectacle for youngsters. There's a little morality and good/evil mixed in but it's given little thought because it's not the point.
The text is so weirdly racist, it even is towards non Anglo white people
I am taken aback regularly when I remember that Ursula was born in 1929. She was lightyears ahead of her contemporaries, and still is lightyears ahead of many of us today. She was committed to the Taoist anthropologist's way of observing and exploring different ways of being, and she certainly led by example by being the supreme "realist of a larger reality," as she said would be so important in the times to come.
I also discovered Le Guin’s work during 2021, and was shocked I’ve never heard about her before. HOW COME SHE DOESN’T HAVE A FANDOM? My take on the first 3 books was, ok, I really like this worldbuilding better than HP one’s, but the fourth book? Honey that was a MASTERPIECE, if there was something I missed from the previous ones was a further explanation on women’s role in society, and honestly her explanation broke my heart, but fullfilled my desires. I really hope more people get intrested in reading this series of books thanks to your video💜
She absolutely has a fandom, always had. What she doesn't have is a billion dollar media-and-merchandise franchise, which is the actual reason why LOTR and HP are still such juggernauts in the modern public consciousness.
She has fans but she didn't commodify her work with movies, merchandising, spin offs, constant advertising, theme parks and all that jazz. This way her fans don't identify with buying themed crap, unlike many "fandoms" and personally I like it this way. She's not as famous as Rowling and it's kind of a shame because her work is by far superior but at the same time it's better this way imo
She's got a fandom. We're just older. In the eighties several SciFi world conventions were pretty much festivals of Le Guin.
@@eric2500 that sounds awesome! Wish there was footage of these cons we could watch. What were some highlights you remember?
My favorite part about Earthsea is that in The Farthest Shore Ged is a lovable and complex character who’s clearly evolved from the versions of him in previous books but can stand alone and who has a complex relationship with Aaron without being like The Worst(tm). Seriously the only good former protagonist portal in a legacy story IMO.
Brb I gotta go get all the Earthsea books!
Same!
Me too! I hope my local library has them
Her science fiction is phenomenal as well! My favorites are the Dispossesed, the Word for World is Forest and Eye of the Heron (haven't read Left Hand of Darkness yet).
I also discovered the Earthsea Books after falling out of love with Harry Potter, though for me that was around 2018. They ended up being the reason I discovered The Left Hand of Darkness (which just so happens to be my favorite book, so that's good luck!) which I think you would really enjoy it. And it's another interesting example of Le Guin's evolving feminism because she revisited it several times, and each time her approach to the pronouns of the book changed! She ended up creating her own neo pronouns in the '90s.
I very firmly believe that had she been blogging in the summer of 2020, she would have put out a very lengthy post in response to Rowling's essay. She was fairly vocal about trans and wider lgbtq rights (and though it took her a little while, she did eventually get on board with and defend the singular 'they'). Would that we lived in a world where that was reality.
the universe took le guin from us too soon
The rollercoaster of emotion I went on finding out that there was a Ghibli adaptation of this book and then immediately finding out that version kind of sucks too lol
(also, the more I find out about LeGuin the more I adore her. THIS is how you grow as a person and stand up as an ally)
Ghibli version was made by Miyazaki's son when he was still fairly young. His father discouraged him from making the film, as he felt he lacked the skills and maturity. Seeing the finished product confirmed Miyazaki in his belief. Kind of brutally honest.
@@mfcabrini To be honest, Miyazaki Hayao was quite a terrible dad during that time. Instead of trying to guide his son and make the film better, he repeatedly came to the studio to criticise his work and attempted to trash the project. That said, I find myself relating to Miyazaki Gorou's work more than his father's, especially From Up on Poppy Hill. You can virtually taste the sense of parental abandonment radiating from the screen, something which I'm sure stemmed from his own relationship with Miyazaki Senior.
I feel like there was always going to be a core thematic inconsistency between how they approach youth and experience. Young Ghibli heroes tend to bring fresh eyes and new reserves of empathy to people that are bogged down by greed, factionalism, and resentment. Growth trends to be focused on finding the confidence or resources to bring about the solutions they already see. Earthsea is a polar opposite, with heroes maturing through mistakes, sometimes irrevocable ones with terrible consequences. Good intentions need the weight of experience simply to avoid causing harm, and passion and ambition are dangerous without experience.
I actually saw the Ghibli adaptation first, and was saddened because they usually do such excellent work. Didn't know about the father/son thing that led to it.
Still, was always curious but always got distracted from picking the series up. Thanks to this wonderful work I'm going to try to rectify that.
@@garykelley9027 Howl's Moving Castle has almost nothing to do with the book either. It's almost as if they just like a skeleton of a structure for some story they already wanted to tell, sometimes.
7:39 Makes me think of a Terry Pratchet quote: “J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”
La Guin's subversion of tropes, even ones she included in earlier books, is honestly inspiring
There’s a pretty well accepted truism, that if you’re worried about being a bad parent, you won’t be. Because actual bad parents don’t give a shit. I think the same goes for being a decent person. Actual awful people never worry about not being decent enough. Just worrying about it shows you care. And that you care shows that you’re a good person.
Yes! I'm a trans woman and since I'm early in my transition I get misgendered a fair bit but someone making an earnest but clumsy attempt to be an ally feels so much better than someone saying all the right words without really meaning it.
I do think that in just worrying about being a good person, one can become comfortable in that and worrying about it and actually putting effort in are not really the same? But overall I do agree and I am perhaps being cynical
i don't necessarily agree with that truism tbh, my abusers were very concerned about being bad parents and they still abused me, partly in the name of being "good" parents
It's much like the Dunning-Kruger Effect--stupid people don't realize they are stupid, and make more mistakes, but really smart people are full of self-doubt and critique their actions, correcting errors and getting even better results. If you worry about being a bad parent, it means you're self-aware and have empathy.
@@insertwittyusername9615 Where they really concerned about _being_ good parents, or with _looking_ like good parents?
I think her reframing of the sexist nature of the world in the second half of the Earthsea books is one of the great moments in fantasy literature. She could have just apologized and moved on, but instead she did more to try and fix the mistake and that not only more effectively neutralized those issues (or at least took the sting out) but also gave us amazing stories in this world. I think its a good demonstration of rather than always being perfect and being destroyed the moment you aren't, instead being allowed to make restoration for you mistakes.
Also what was your favorite one you didn't tell usssssss
"I worry about how I might fail at goodness and kindness..."
seems like you're doing pretty good so far; keep it up queen💞
💯
That fact that any of us wonder if we are "good" is the thing that keeps us striving to better ourselves.
Le Guin is among the most important authors of the 20th Century, certainly one of the most consequential in the fantasy genre, and still to this day gets not nearly the recognition she deserves. Really lovely essay, thank you much.
My personal opinion of Rowling's influence in relation to Hogwarts is that it was much more likely the school based Boys and Girls Only type stories of the 30s and 40s. Plucky kids boarding at UK public schools having adventures and foiling baddies.
I'll agree with you there. I do honestly feel that she never read Earthsea either. If that had been a series of her youth, she probably would have different ideas about certain things.
Yes, the Enid Blyton is strong in that one
Hmmm Amazon and Swallows, Famous Five, Secret Seven......
BRILLIANT!! thats sounds exactley right. Ive never got this Earth sea or Lord of the rings comparison. i know they went ahead of each other in 2001 and 2002 at the movies but there not similar at all. My freinds in 1999 and 2000 saw them more like the worst witch and Mildred Hubble than GED. I spoke to alot of people who were kids in the late 60's and through the 70's and authors like Mary Norton, Enid Blyton and especially Rhoal Dahl etc were what people were reading more in the UK at that time more often than Lord of the rings. Childrens adventures appeal more to children ofcourse
@@RamonInNZ never heard of secret seven so thank you and yes again , VERY similar :)
I read the Earthsea books when I was 12 and LOVED them. It's so exciting to see other people talk about them - and with such obvious love - because there was a time when I thought they must have been a fever dream. 😅
I really hope her son makes sure it does the books justice. I have always thought a tv series would be best because of the lore. And as a Black person I've always wanted a correct version. I love her old blogs and if any of you haven't read them, go do it. She's amazing.
I am not sure if we will ever get a proper tv show, not after the terrible attempt at a show a couple of ears ago.
But god damn I hope next time Earthsea gets adapted, they do it right.
I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan ever since my brother lent me one of his books once.
I was pretty shook finding out that he's a devout mormon.
As a bisexual guy I was immediately worried that the might be homophobic and just like you said, you cant entirely escape the author When you read the works. And religion is a huge part of his books. So I always wondered if all those religious persecuted gay people in his mind. Some people say the representation is not the best because only a few minor characters outside the heteronormative plot relevant romances are even known to be queer.
But the simple fact that he makes an effort to show that his worlds have gay people on them and that they are even accepted in some of his fictional cultures instead of just simply not existing as already huge to me.
I'm pretty sure that even though he's not perfect he is willing to listen and learn. And that's already great.
I started reading his books after my grandfather passed away, and the first one I read was Way of Kings (longest one I could find). I only found out he was a devout mormon afterwards but the fact that Jasnah is an atheist, that it's a significant part of her character and that she provides really convincing and well-thought-out arguments for her beliefs really makes me believe him when he says in interviews that he wants to represent a diverse set of human experiences as accurately as he can.
He says the main character in one of the next Stormlight books is going to be queer, and he might mess up and make mistakes but the fact that he's trying at all feels like a huge thing for me
@@kjarakravik4837 He has said in one of his videos that he tends to skew further left than his Mormon family.
Seeing this thread in this comment section does actually give me a bit of hope. I love the idea of writing actually diverse/different characters and cultures, and I've been considering stepping into the whole fantasy authorship sphere, but there are so many wokescold types on the internet, that sometimes I worry about getting irrevocably pegged as some kind of "ist" against this or that. Especially seeing how many people (from both left and right) who actively try to come up with the most uncharitable way of reading something to gain social capital/brownie-points.
Since there's basically a social and even literal monetary market for uncharitable media critiques, it does the heart good to see more lefties who are willing to be both critical and fair.
as an ex-Mormon who was severely traumatized by being brought up under Mormonism, i can say that Sanderson continues to be one of my favourite authors, for good reason
also i met him once at a book-signing and he's just a pretty nice and chill dude
i grant him the rare Actually Half-Decent Mormon award :p
Not sure if you'll see this, but you might be interested to know that Sanderson released a brief essay on this topic some years ago. It's been a while since I read it, but I got the impression of someone struggling to square his sincere and deeply held faith with his own core values, values which are in no small part rooted in that faith.
I'm going to be annoying and point out Sam was brown skinned in LOTR, and Tolkien verbally admitted feeling he messed up with the orcs. I really look forward to reading Earthsea series. Ty for this wonderful video!
That's true, but I think she's just talking about the whole dynamic between the fair white people and the sinister dark people that tends to pop up in LOTR. It's an identifiable motif in the books, and it's clearly talking about purity and goodness contrasted against wickedness and a metaphorical darkness, but it still gets picked up by racists.
somehow every Ursula Le Guin quote I see is even more of a slam dunk than the last. what an intelligent and thoughtful person. I read the books back in middle school and enjoyed them at a surface level but the older I get the more I appreciate them for their complexity and nuance. Anyways, this was a very good analysis! I extra liked hearing about the historical background for some of the tropes since I wasn’t all that familiar with all of them. Enjoyed this video a lot!
Thank you for the video, Verity!
It baffles me how the Earthsea series and Ursula K. Le Guin's other books do not have the recognition which they deserve. Not only Le Guin did explore concepts of ethnicity and gender during times when these topics were considered taboo to discuss, as well as she was willing to admit about her shortcomings as a writer of these same themes. Ursula K. Le Guin was so based in the best way!
It doesn't baffle me. There's a lot of racism and sexism in the world, and that chokes off people's ability to see a wonderful narrative.
@@rikk319 I feel like if she were alive and on twitter today, she would definitely be getting her moment. A lot of the older, progressive works and their authors (Neil Gaiman for eg.) have been getting more and more love and recognition. I'm just sad she's not around to finally get her flowers.
The ending sketch with Jessie, Is the Discworld Turtle called A'Tuin because of Earthsea? Also if I ever get the chance to name a penguin I plan to suggest Ursula.
I thought about that as well!
Listening to Le Guinn talking is inspiring, such wisdom and goodness.
le Guin was such an amazing writer. The length and breath of topics she covered is amazing. The Dispossessed was the first book of hers I read and its been such a pivotal influence in my life.
I am very psyched about the resurgence of Ursula K. Le Guin's work in the cultural zeitgeist.
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I'v e read the first Wizard of Earth Sea. I forgot none of the characters were white. It's been so long since I read it, I thought Get and the first village were Celtic.
@15:50 18 years. Dang. That’s rough for the readers. However, I think George RR Martin will beat her though 😂🙃🥲
Oh gosh I highly recommend that you read her short stories, too, if you haven't already, and her science fiction novels as well, particularly the Hainish stories. Le Guin's science fiction is also subversive and foundational.
I'm already so pumped for this. BRING ON THE SPARROWHAWK
Ayyyy I just started the third book in the series, glad I'm not the only one enjoying this series right now!! I also read The Left Hand of Darkness not long ago, and plan to borrow The Dispossessed soon- Le Guin was a literary sorceress with huge range and intention to her themes
Those two are my favourites of hers! Amazing books
Those are three of her best books right there. Tehanu, Number Four, is fabulous.
The Dispossessed was the first Le Guin book I read. It was mentioned on some website as a recommendation for "novels about anarchism". After that I buyed two other collections with three novels each. One with sci-fi stories (Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions) and the other one with Earthsea stories (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore). And then I read The Left Hand of Darkness some months ago. It was during the summer. I walked through a local forest and stopped to read a bit on a bench.
I've only read Tombs of Atuan, which was *amazing,* now I've gotta go track down the others.
Came here from Jessie's channel. I actually hadn't heard of Earthsea before today because I'm not hugely into fantasy novels, but after watching her video and now yours I've decided to give the books a go.
If you'd like to read Le Guin but aren't into fantasy, you could read her science-fiction works, especially her later stories. Eye of the Heron, Word for World is Forest, and the Dispossesed are all phenomenal, and all deal with themes of colonialism, resistance and the enforcement of hierarchies in different ways. Left Hand of Darkness was years ahead when it comes to sci-fi's ideas about gender and sexuality, though still a product of the time
Her earlier work, like the first few books of Earthsea, aren't as progressive, aknowledging male hierarchies, but not really subverting them. They're still good science-fiction but not the kind of thing she would become famous for.
When I started to watch a two year old video about a series of fantasy books, I didn't expect to be deeply touched in my soul. When I heard your speech about how the real fight in LoTR and Earthsea is the main characters vs themselves. About how you want to be good and kind and how you worry about failing at that. I started crying, that resonates so much in me and I felt heard and seen... And I hear and see you, although you'll never read this.
I started binge watching your videos recently and I love them, thank you for everything.
A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book I ever read by choice at the age of 11. What a wonderful introduction to fiction.
Le Guin's writing, and Earthsea in particular, are so tremendously joyful. These books are some of my absolute favorites and seeing them spoken about favorably ALWAYS brightens my day. This video was a pleasure and delight. Thank you for reminding me of a story that means so much to me. Today of all days I really needed it.
Another wizarding school book (written around 1980) is Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones (who also wrote Howl's Moving Castle). Witchcraft is outlawed in this world, but somehow a bunch of witches manage to be around. I love the Earthsea trilogy. A relative gifted me the middle book (why do nonreaders always do that?) for Christmas when I was a kid. I never looked back.
Earthsea is so good and I love this discussion of it! I also highly recommend The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed
Edit: TW sexual assault for The Dispossessed
The dispossessed is really interesting but i think a TW:SA is necessary.
@@carlagarcia3427 Thanks for pointing that out, that's really important
19:10 The lack of exploration of wizard culture leads to really funny interpretations in fanfics.
Sometimes society is super sexist and homophobic, while in other stories nobody cares if you´re gay because blood adoption would remove any concerns of preserving the family line.
It really goes to show how little we actually know about the wizarding world that neither interpretation goes really against canon.
Another great video! So happy you're gaining the following and notice you deserve!
My favorite aunt bought me the set of these books when I was a teenager and I never ended up reading them, though I'd always meant to. You've just given me the long overdue incentive to go to my library and right this past wrong.
I had a bit of a weird experience when reading the earthsea books for the first time. I’d come across the Tales from Earthsea short stories book randomly in a second hand book shop and decided to check it out, and loved the feminist and anthropological exploration of this fantasy world, but felt at the same time like I was missing important context the whole time while I was reading. Slowly figuring out through reading that women had in fact been excised from Roke after founding it was heartbreaking in a way that was probably unique to my experience. Finding out about the rest of the earthsea books was an exciting explanation, but then the misogyny of the earlier books felt like a huge letdown, constantly feeling like it had to be on purpose somehow but it being left unexplored. Nonetheless the world, stories and characters were amazing and gripping and I devoured the books still, finishing all of them within two weeks. There’s a special place in my heart for them now, and I’m glad to know they have touched more people so profoundly.
Otherwise, I am such a fan of Le Guin. She is truly the mother of sci-fi fantasy. I wish she were better known. Thank you for making this video and bringing her writing to the front.
I'll be honest; it seems like you've said it all, and I have nothing clever to add. Commenting for engagement. You deserve more than you get.
agreed
Please read her sci-fi novel "the Left hand of darkness". It's incredible
This was beautiful. Thank you for this. Not enough people talk about Earthsea.
I actually took a break from Harry Potter about 3 books in so I could read the earthsea books. I didn't get to all but I loved them.
10/10 would read any before leaving the TV on a harry potter movie.
I can't remember the book but my favorite part in any is when a woman that essentially spent most of her life roaming the dark halls of an underground temple sees them in the light for the first time. It's a breathtaking scene with a lot of complex emotions involved.
The Earthsea novels are so well-written. I'm inspired to re-read them now.
the last little bit made me cry ~ i absolutely adore all your videos, thank you for being an amazing bi icon
I just read the whole series during this year's lockdown, thus I feel that this video has been made for me personally ♥️
On another note, I recognized the ringing phone sound effect from Jessie's video WORK and was literally hype before she even appeared on screen.
On another, other note, there is a theory going around that in Hardic (the language of Earthsea), the word for 'Earthsea' is 'tolkien' which would extremely neat if true.
Stone or pebble is tolk.
What a beautiul video! Ursula was a truly special writer and I think your words in the end, about not having to get everything right on the first time, was so touching. Thank you for those words! The Earthsea second trilogy is so incredible. The way she portrays Ged after losing all his power, I think, reminded me a lot of what J.J. Abrams tried to do with Luke Skywalker... but of course they didn't have the guts to do it.
I saw you mention Earthsea in your HP video and i was hoping to find an EarthSea video! Right off the bat you gave me some interesting information to think about! EarthSea is so obviously the link! It makes sense why HP was so influenced by LOTR
Le Guin's incredible works doesn't get talked about enough. thank you so much for this :)
Le Guin is the greatest author of the fantasy genre I have ever read. In my estimation she was a great being, a bodhisattva of this age. She was a prophet, a true artist, and one the most sensitive and respectful souls, whilst simultaneously being sharp as a razor and sturdy as a great, old tree. Her novels narrate such depth of the human experience. She spoke very respectfully of her contemporaries in academic and activist circles, and even paid them deference in some of her academic writings. There's something a little bit sad to me about that - she was so, so much greater than any of them. The fact that she didn't seem to think of herself as being better is perhaps one of the things that marked her out as such.
not bodhisattva, she was a daoist.
Your video essays have been keeping me company through some tough times. Much gratitude.
this is the essay i’ve been needing!! i listened to the first three books a few years ago. with the everything with jkr, i’ve been thinking a lot about how the earthsea books have been around so much longer and how le guin is clearly who i wish joanne could have been
Really enjoyed the video. LeGuin was a queen, her books are some of my favourites and I definitively prefer their style to Tolkien's. When she died I mourned her and the stories she had to tell that will forever remain untold.
Back to watch this again, having now read the first four books! Thank you for the recommendation and the video 💖
ah brilliant, glad you liked them!
Verity, if you're really having doubts about whether you've made the world a better place then you should know that your videos (and Jessie Gender's, coincidentally enough!) are the primary reason I had the confidence to come out as bi/pan to my family recently. So that's at least one person whose life you've helped improve, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Also your video on the bi-cycle was completely new information to me when I first saw it and it explained SO MUCH.
This was beautiful. Your video and those by Jessie and Dominic Noble have convinced me to read this series.
I’ve been doing my reading wrong for a long time, all this time there was something beyond the Wizarding world of Harry Potter, something deeper something old or something far more open than anything I could ever imagine. I appreciate you talking about this and I appreciate all your other videos that speak more on an expanded world of fantasy that I can enjoy as a someone doing a slow burn discovery of the joy of reading.
This is suchhh a huge revelation that Harry Potter is not actually a completely original idea. I feel like I was living under a huge rock till now. Anyways, thanks for the recommendation I'll definitely read Earthsea as soon as I can! ❤️
I am so very late to this ( came here from Jessie's vid). Love love this and I really hope you get the chance to read Left Hand of Darkness at some point. Be well (that shot by the shoreline cliffs was gorgeous)
Same! Came from Jessie's vid. Loved both videos 🥰.
This was so amazing, thank you for introducing me (and so many others) to such a good series! I can’t wait to read these all in a month lol. And the JG crossover made me so happy
This video was awesome. Thank you so much for all the hard work!
EDIT: I'm currently reading The Dispossessed by Le Guin. It's amazing and anarchist and I love it.
This is a mean thing to say, but given how safe and traditional in relation to fantasy of the time Harry Potter is, it's possible JK Rowling really didn't read that much fantasy
But she has said in many different and old interviews that she’s not a fantasy fan. She said it took her a while to see harry potter as fantasy somehow.
@@fabiosilva9637 Oh. So my impression was right
I think that's the attraction of it: they're fantasy for people who don't like fantasy, and, by extension, books for people who don't read. I've seen so many people whose only venture into fantasy is Harry Potter, and so many people whose only venture into literature is Harry Potter. It's a shame because there's frankly so much better shit out there.
@@fabiosilva9637 that just make it sound like something Terry Goodkind would say
I am so glad I found this video, this channel, and you! I love this essay/video. I have always wanted to read Earthsea and never given myself the time. This has now moved the book to the top of my list. This is also an amazing way to talk about Harry Potter, I'm so glad you brought up all these points. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I read the Earthsea Cycle in my 30s, and I'm glad I waited that long. Its themes would not have resonated with me nearly as much when I was younger, and even though it is YA, the writing is amazing and communicates a great deal with few words. I wrote to LeGuin expressing my admiration, and she replied. I was glad that I had the chance to do that, as she died two years later.
I loved the Earthsea books as a kid, but it never occurred to me that it was the first wizard school... nice! I'll have to reread those some time.
I also loved being able to tell people back in the day that Gandalf was an angel, and Aragorn was already 90 when he met Frodo and company. Now, of course, everyone knows their Tolkien lore.
In "The word for world is forest" the influances of anthropology is most clear to me. But it also made me cry like crazy
(And the orcs in lord of the rings where green in my head)
I consider it a great piece of luck that my mother read The Earthsea Trilogy (as it was back then) to me as a child of nine, and then that I rediscovered the books (when there were 5 of them) in my 20s. I didn't have a clear memory of the original trilogy but found that the ideas of balance, and the power of words, and the feeling of openness to the world and to experience that LeGuin brings to the page had lodged themselves deep inside me. It really blew my mind where she took the series and over the next 20 years I read the rest of Le Guin's work, every piece of it a joy.
A few years back when my own daughter was nine we started reading Harry Potter but I couldn't get on with those books, I found myself reading them on autopilot. After a while she was happy to finish them by herself, so I switched to reading her Earthsea and for the third time, reading them to a child out loud, I found a whole new layer, like Tolkien reading Le Guin out loud reveals just how good a writer she is, the poetry and rhythm of the sentences is something else.
Anyway, I could go on about this for days. I loved your video.
This was a really wonderful analysis of Earthsea! Much like Tolkien opened LeGuin's eyes on what fantasy could do, Earthsea opened my eyes on what fantasy could do. The ending of the first book and Ged's struggles with his own darkness was just incredible. Thank you for the video and I look forward to checking out more of your stuff.
awesome vid! As a fairly new Le Guin fan who binge read the books 1-4 recently, I was shocked by the feminist turn in the book 4. It was almost too good to be true. like, How Aren't People Talking About This more??? So cool to see a middle-aged house wife as the protagonist and treated with such dignity while being a complex character
I knew little about Ursula going into this, and now I love her and need to read her books
Dropping this for the algorithm so more people can find this channel.
It has been a year since this video was released and only now has the algorithm blessed me with its favor. I am about to start reading them now, this was so insightful.
Okay few you said it. I was worried because I read 'A Wizard of Earthsea' long after reading most the other fantasy books mentioned in the video and thus was kind of embarrassed that I didn't particularly like it. I could see why at it's time it was heralded as amazing but looking back decades later after consuming dozens of books that built themselves on it it seemed simple and tropey in a way it was probably not at the time of its publishing. Maybe I should give it another try though.
I read the first earthsea book while in middle school so I hadn’t had that issue. However, I had a similar experience as yours with the Wheel of Time once I attempted to read it a couple years ago. I understand it was ground breaking for 1990 and paved the way for ASOIAF and many other series today.
But I read it 28ish years too late, with way too many series under my belt that had been directly or indirectly inspired by it. I just couldn’t get beyond the first couple hundred pages of book 1.
I remember the dialogue and exposition, while containing supremely interesting lore, felt clunkily implemented and also stalled the pacing of a rather tropey “flee the village to go on a quest to fight the evil one” plot structure
I am quite enjoying the Amazon adaptation right now though. So maybe I’ll give them another shot?
Same here. Though I only read the first three, as the book I borrowed was a trilogy-in-one. Maybe I'll try again, but with the remaining books included.
Thank you for putting this togeather. I also just now started the Earthsea series, as part of me getting back to reading books again and trying to diversify in the authors who write them.
I ended up going all in and getting the "The Books of Earthsea: Complete Illustrated Editions", which is all 7 books, plus short stories, with some beautiful Charles Vess drawings. I did so because of friends recommendation, and trying to support a local book store by buying through them.
It's quite a hefty book, and thus far I've read "A Wizard of Earthsea" and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I like this narrative of learning to forgive oneself just how Ursula K LeGuin learned to try to correct her mistakes. I feel like it fits well with the narrative of the first book where sometimes not necessarily ill-intentioned actions can lead to negative outcomes, but how we must try to fix it as much as we can, and how we can learn to forgive ourselves after making such a mistake. It mirrors Ged and his shadow, learning to live with it and accept it back into himself.
Awesome video, I'm currently reading the series for the first time -this morning I finished A Wizard of Earthsea and I'm starting The Tombs of Atuan- and your video serves as a.fine introduction to the series.
If you liked Earthsea you're gonna fucking loose your mind for Tamora Pierce's "The Circle of Magic" saga.
I swear tamora Pierce is absolutely brilliant
Technically the wizards being angels was in Appendix B of Return of the King:
"When maybe a thousand years had passed, and the first shadow had fallen on Greenwood the Great, the _Istari_ or Wizards appeared in Middle-earth. It was afterwards said that they came out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist him; but they were forbidden to match his power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear.
They came therefore in the shape of Men. though they were never young and aged only slowly. and they had many powers of mind and hand. They revealed their true names to few, but used such names as were given to them. The two highest of this order (of whom it is said there were five) were called by the Eldar Curunír, 'the Man of Skill', and Mithrandir, 'the Grey Pilgrim', but by Men in the North Saruman and Gandalf. Curunír journeyed often into the East, but dwelt at last in Isengard. Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West, and never made for himself any lasting abode."
Well done! I loved The Earthsea Trilogy as a kid in the early 1980s and as an adult. I was blown away by the courage she showed in the next three books to turn her own universe on its head and not only challenge her own conventions, but examine how they became inculcated into the fabric of reality by the wills and disinformation of those seeking power- and the consequences seemed as natural and organic as they were toxic- brilliant! She was so kind, too, in the way she guided us out of our long-held beliefs about Earthsea, informing us that though we were misguided, we must now accept what is forthcoming and be changed ourselves by the truth. She took responsibility for our well-being through the change and *that* is the sign of a master storyteller.
I'm so glad you made this video, thank you!
I cannot tell you how much of a comfort your videos have been of late. The comments made at 25:39 were especially needed. Thank you for providing a space for people to think and feel, without the added guilt of still being in the process of learning.
This video was beautifully presented, articulately educational, and poignantly critical. Easily one of my favorites of your videos.
And then...
JESSIE GENDER!!!! What!?!?!?
I love when my favorite RUclipsrs I subscribe to end up appearing on one another's channels!!!
Ooh, the collab I didn't know I needed in my life!
that cameo by jessie was aewesome I am definetly gonna read leguin's books ty for the vid!
I love going back through your catalog of work because there's so much gold in here! I've never read Earthsea but this was fantastic
Well, that was interesting. I'm old now and I'm beginning to see the truth in the saying, "the only originality is not revealing your sources."
You're a breath of fresh air. I subscribe to you during someone's podcast you were either on or you were mentioned. I remember subscribing immediately before it could be forgotten, as being something personal and not only a trans rights / human rights issue but I'll be damned if I can remember it now. (Never had a memory to start with.) This is the first video I've seen of yours and it shall not be the last.
I do believe some people are more valuable to their family and community than others. For instance, the people who would destroy us, not because of who we are but because of their prejudices, religious views or simple-minded bigotry are not valuable but detrimental. You have value where they do not. Some will change and that is good of course but at the time, the years maybe even decades before they see the facts and are radically changed by them, they are detrimental. Maybe even more so because they truly believe in their supremacy.
If you indulge me one more thing and I'll shut up.
Never entertain any thoughts of "lesser than" or "not good enough", as these thoughts often accompany "good people. I have lived in that state of mind most of my life and it is a fallacy. If you are concerned that people live in honesty, acceptance, accountability and peace, you are one of those who are valuable. And I don't apologize for having this view. Judging from my experiences with thousands of people over my life, I think it's abundantly clear. But then again, four decades is not downloadable. At least not yet.
I've been warned not to comment while medicated. This is an example of why.
And that’s why Le Guin is my favorite! ❤️
Verity you’re so well spoken and well thought out- how do you not have more subs?! Big fan !
Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle brought me so much joy reading it for the first time last year. It’s on my reread list. Thanks for this video Verily :)