I finished the Earthsea books this week, and I liked them.
I liked that Tenar and Ged got old.
I liked that they didn't have sex the first time they saw each other, but only after they were both older and wiser.
I liked that Ged lost his magic, but got over it, and proved to be strong and courageous without it.
I liked that Tenar went from being a high priestess to marrying a farmer and having a couple of kids (one of whom disappointed her) to being a widow, and finding love at last with Ged.
I liked that the shadow Ged let lose was really the dark side of his own nature, the jealousy and arrogance, and he was only able to control it after he recognized it, and that made him a better person.
I liked that Tenar saved the little girl who became the Archmage, even though they'd never had a woman Archmage before.
I liked the idea that if you never have to die, you never really live.
I liked that living isn't always magic. Sometimes it's just herding goats.
Ursula K. Le Guin is about so much more than good vs. evil. I'm glad I didn't see the miniseries before I read the books.
Of course, I was reminded of a poem or two:
Tess Gallagher
I Stop Writing the Poem
to fold the clothes. No matter who lives
or who dies, I’m still a woman.
I’ll always have plenty to do.
I bring the arms of his shirt
together. Nothing can stop
our tenderness. I’ll get back
to the poem. I’ll get back to being
a woman. But for now
there’s a shirt, a giant shirt
in my hands, and somewhere a small girl
standing next to her mother
watching to see how it’s done.
Wendy Cope
Being Boring
“May you live in interesting times.”
--Chinese curse
If you ask me “What’s new?”, I have nothing to say
Except that the garden is growing.
I had a slight cold but it’s better today.
I’m content with the way things are going.
Yes, he is the same as he usually is.
Still eating and sleeping and snoring.
I get on with my work. He gets on with his.
I know this is all very boring.
There was drama enough in my turbulent past;
Tears and passion – I’ve used up a tankful.
No news is good news, and long may it last,
If nothing much happens, I’m thankful.
A happier cabbage you never did see,
My vegetable spirits are soaring.
If you’re after excitement, steer well clear of me.
I want to go on being boring.
I don’t go to parties. Well, what are they for,
If you don’t need to find a new lover?
You drink and you listen and drink a bit more
And you take the next day to recover.
Someone to stay home with was all my desire
And, now that I’ve found a safe mooring,
I’ve just one ambition in life: I aspire
To go on and on being boring.
