O planeta Athshe era um verdadeiro paraíso, coberto por densas e colossais florestas. Seus habitantes, humanoides com pouco mais de um metro de altura e corpos cobertos por pelos verdes e sedosos, viviam em paz.
Então outros vieram. Muito mais altos e de pele lisa, eles caíram do céu e começaram a desbravar o território ao seu redor, enxergando os nativos como meros animais selvagens. Eles vieram de um mundo em ruínas e superpovoado, faminto por matérias-primas, madeira e grãos: a Terra.
Sem precedentes culturais para tirania, escravidão ou guerra, os nativos encontram-se à mercê de seus novos e brutais colonizadores.
Quando o desespero atinge níveis inimagináveis, uma revolução é inevitável. Cada golpe contra os invasores será um golpe contra sua própria humanidade. Mas os conquistadores alienígenas os ensinaram a odiar.... e não há como voltar atrás.
Extraordinarily good. A completely straight-faced use of science fiction to show us where we are and where we will go if we do not kill the capitalism dragon. This world is contingent on so many horrible things that have happened, and it is fragile without the overwhelming violence required to maintain it. When we defeat capitalism—when we do what must be done to defeat it—will we heal afterwards? Or will we become something else oppressive?
Le Guin sagt selbst im Vorwort, dass es mehr eine moralische Geschichte ist mit einer klaren Teilung in Gut und Böse. Der Titel verspricht etwas mehr Spiritualität als im Buch selber ist. Es ist eine typische Konflikstory: Technologie vs. Natur, Herrschaft vs. Kooperation, Zukunftsglauben/Progress vs. Traditionalistische soziale Systeme usw.
Der Stil ist wieder hervorragend.
Mein größtes Manko, dass der Titel mehr verspricht als der Text. Ich hätte viel stärker den Wald als Akteur auftreten erwartet.
The novella makes an odd counterpoint to Little Fuzzy: In this case the humans recognized the natives' sapience right away -- barely -- but decide to enslave them and clear-cut their world anyway.
It bounces between several viewpoints: one of the natives who has escaped from slavery, a sympathetic human scientist...and the villain, a gung-ho military type who thinks he's the best of humanity, but shows himself to be among the worst.
It's a tragedy, a train wreck, a slow-moving avalanche, and yet every time there's a chance to pause and maybe resolve the situation, Davidson chooses to escalate things instead.
While it's directly a response to America's actions in the Vietnam War, the themes of colonial exploitation, dehumanization, psyops, asymmetrical warfare and environmental degradation are still very topical.
It's not nuanced. It won't make you think about new ideas like The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed …
The novella makes an odd counterpoint to Little Fuzzy: In this case the humans recognized the natives' sapience right away -- barely -- but decide to enslave them and clear-cut their world anyway.
It bounces between several viewpoints: one of the natives who has escaped from slavery, a sympathetic human scientist...and the villain, a gung-ho military type who thinks he's the best of humanity, but shows himself to be among the worst.
It's a tragedy, a train wreck, a slow-moving avalanche, and yet every time there's a chance to pause and maybe resolve the situation, Davidson chooses to escalate things instead.
While it's directly a response to America's actions in the Vietnam War, the themes of colonial exploitation, dehumanization, psyops, asymmetrical warfare and environmental degradation are still very topical.
It's not nuanced. It won't make you think about new ideas like The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, or The Lathe of Heaven. (The Athsheans' dream state is interesting, but not explored deeply and not the point of the story.) But it will make you angrier at the people who are still doing the exploiting.
Cross-posted from my website, where I go into a bit more detail on the Terrans' dehumanization of the Athsheans, and current events.
Review of 'Word for World Is Forest' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
I love Le Guin's writing but don't think this is up with her best. It's a very angry novella; raging against conolialism (obviously inspired by the Vietnam war). From the author's note at the beginning it sounds like it was written in a rush and that means the characters are one dimensional (especially the villain) and there isn't much structure to the story. The Athsean's dream culture is interesting though, and the final downbeat message is important.
it's a fairly short and straightforward story about resistance to colonization, but embedded in it is a kind of complicated discussion about the legitimacy of violence. It seems like it was in part a commentary on the Vietnam War (which is even alluded to at one point).
Don Davidson is one of the more thoroughly unpleasant viewpoint characters I've read; fortunately he is meant to be villainous, & at any rate it's only from his point of view for about a third of the book. His motivation, worldview & actions are disturbing but accurate for a certain sort of man.
