Ursula K. Le Guin

In The Aeneid, Vergil's hero fights to claim the king's daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word in the poem. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes the reader to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.--From amazon.com.

Lavinia

Sarah Sammis

When I was in college I took course on classic epic poetry. We had three books to read: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid. Homer's stories kept me up at night. The language was difficult at times but the action kept me turning the pages. Virgil, though, was a different matter. I had to force myself to finish the book.

In all the adventures of the Trojan War and the travels through what would become Rome, Aeneis pauses briefly to marry Lavinia. For all her political importance to Aeneis, she is a minor character, a mere blip in the epic. She doesn't have a single spoken line. She does now with Ursula K. Le Guin's Lavinia.

Five years ago Canongate began a series of novels based on well known myths, written by well known authors. I read the first two: Weight by Jeannette Winterson and The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Lavinia isn't one of the Canongate books but its connection to The Aenid made me think of the series. Also, Ursula K Le Guin is one of my favorite authors and I was curious to see what she would do with Virgil's work.

Le Guin writes in a prose that carries the same spirit as Virgil's poetry. It's light on dialogue and heavy on imagery, though told through Lavinia's point of view. There are some scenes even where Lavinia speaks with Vergil, teasing him for making her such a minor character.

Although it wasn't my favorite Le Guin novel, I did appreciate her take on the epic. I think any misgivings I had go back to my remembered frustration with the translation I read in college.

An exceptional combination of history and mythology - 'an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Subtly moving, playful...a novel that brought me to tears more than once. Lavinia is a delightful heroine' GUARDIAN 'Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She caused hers by letting men who wanted her take her. I caused mine because I wouldn't be given, wouldn't be taken, but chose my man and my fate. The man was famous, the fate obscure; not a bad balance.' Lavinia is the daughter of the King of Latium, a victorious warrior who loves peace; she is her father's closest companion. Now of an age to wed, Lavinia's mother favours her own kinsman, King Turnus of Rutulia, handsome, heroic, everything a young girl should want. Instead, Lavinia dreams of mighty Aeneas, a man she has heard of only from a ghost of a poet, who comes to her in the gods' holy place and tells her of her future, and Aeneas' past... If she refuses to wed Turnus, Lavinia knows she will start a war - but her fate was set the moment the poet appeared to her in a dream and told her of the adventurer who fled fallen Troy, holding his son's hand and carrying his father on his back...

Sine

goodreads’in sayısal hedefinin yanısıra bizim büyük challenge’ımız benim için yetip artsa da kendime minik hedefler koymadan duramıyorum. her sene mutlaka bir yaşar kemal ve ursula k. le guin okumak bunlardan bazıları. bu sene de alıp alıp yığdığım ursulalarımdan hangisini okusam diye düşünürken kendisinin vefat haberini alınca elimdeki kitap (ki o da bir yaşar kemal kitabıydı) biter bitmez kütüphanemdeki en eski ursula kitabına gitti ellerim. nisan 2010’da, üniversite son sınıftayken son kez gittiğim izmir tüyap kitap fuarında almışım; “nisan 2010” yazmışım ön sayfasına. kitaba başlar başlamaz sekiz yıldır neyi bekliyordum diye kendime kızsam da, aslında belki de kitap tam zamanını buldu diye düşünmeden de edemedim. koca bir destanın içinde üç mısrayla anılan bir karaktere can vermek de ursula ninemize yakışırdı. o üç mısradan ilham alıp böyle ayrı bir destan doğurmak kelimelerimin yetmeyeceği iltifatları hak ediyor. kadın olmayı her yönüyle o kadar güzel algılamış ve o kadar güzel anlatıyor ki, çok sevdiğim kitaplar hakkında hep söylediğim gibi; “okurken kitabı ısırasım geldi.” sevdiğim yazarlar çoktan ölmüşse zaten kıyamayarak okuyorum ama nasılsa hayatta diye rahat rahat okurken vefat edince iyice panik duygusu sarıyor içimi. böyle de bencilim. lavinia’yla ilgili güzel olan ise, artık okumaya kıyamayacağım ursula k. le guin kitaplarından birini tam zamanında, severek, hatta zevkten ölerek okudum; yani “boşa gitmedi.”

Shafel McDowall

I had to think long and hard about how I felt about this book. The story was beautiful and so was the prose but I just hated the style of story telling. This book meanders back and forth between past, present and future. Usually I love this type of writing because it builds anticipation, but in this case all the "future" sections felt like spoilers. I would become invested in a minor conflict, only to be told the entirety of the outcome immediately. Then the book would go back to the present. 

It's really hard to read and enjoy a book when you know all the outcomes of every conflict. Literally, every conflict was spoilt by early reveal by the author. Her writing is truly wonderful, and I loved all the characters (even the unlikeable ones) but the story telling style was not for me.

Lavinia crece sin conocer otra cosa que la paz y la libertad hasta la llegada de sus pretendientes. Su madre exige que contraiga matrimonio con el apuesto y ambicioso Turno. Pero los augurios y las profecías de los manantiales sagrados afirman que deberá casarse con un extranjero, que provocará una guerra y que su marido no vivirá demasiado tiempo. Al ver que una flota de barcos troyanos llega remontando el Tíber, la joven decide tomar las riendas de su propio destino. Y así nos cuenta lo que Virgilio no hizo: la historia de su vida y del amor de su vida. Le Guin da voz a este personaje surgido de la Eneida de Virgilio en una novela que nos transporta al mundo semisalvaje de la Italia antigua, cuando Roma no era más que una aldea mugrienta situada cerca de siete colinas. Lavinia es un libro sobre la pasión, la guerra y el precio de la guerra, generosa y austeramente escrito por una autora en la cúspide de su talento.

Julia A.

Premisa interesante (desarrollar la historia y el punto de vista de Lavinia, apenas esbozada por Virgilio), decepcionante resultado. No es una mala novela, pero está muy por debajo de otras de Le Guin.

Reseña del editor: Lavinia crece sin conocer otra cosa que la paz y la libertad hasta la llegada de sus pretendientes. Su madre exige que contraiga matrimonio con el apuesto y ambicioso Turno. Pero los augurios y las profecías de los manantiales sagrados afirman que deberá casarse con un extranjero, que provocará una guerra y que su marido no vivirá demasiado tiempo.Al ver que una flota de barcos troyanos llega remontando el Tíber, la joven decide tomar las riendas de su propio destino. Y así nos cuenta lo que Virgilio no hizo: la historia de su vida y del amor de su vida.Le Guin da voz a este personaje surgido de la Eneida de Virgilio en una novela que nos transporta al mundo semisalvaje de la Italia antigua, cuando Roma no era más que una aldea mugrienta situada cerca de siete colinas.

Martina Méndez Fernández

Belén Fernández

Ursula Le Guin

An exceptional combination of history and mythology - 'an intriguing, luxuriously realised novel' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She caused hers by letting men who wanted her take her. I caused mine because I wouldn't be given, wouldn't be taken, but chose my man and my fate. The man was famous, the fate obscure; not a bad balance.' Lavinia is the daughter of the King of Latium, a victorious warrior who loves peace; she is her father's closest companion. Now of an age to wed, Lavinia's mother favours her own kinsman, King Turnus of Rutulia, handsome, heroic, everything a young girl should want. Instead, Lavinia dreams of mighty Aeneas, a man she has heard of only from a ghost of a poet, who comes to her in the gods' holy place and tells her of her future, and Aeneas' past... If she refuses to wed Turnus, Lavinia knows she will start a war - but her fate was set the moment the poet appeared to her in a dream and told her of the adventurer who fled fallen Troy, holding his son's hand and carrying his father on his back...

Lavinia

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