LAVINIA

[Sweta Agrawal]

Hey,

everyone has been awfully quiet...

if ppl don't mind, i'd like to begin discussing Lavinia, which I just finished reading. Bear with me, i'll be reading these books a little out of order as it all depends on when i get some of them from the library or how eager i am to buy them...

anyway, i enjoyed lavinia a lot, though i thought it tended to drag at points. I used to be a huge science fiction/fantasy nerd, and Leguin was one of my favorite authors. It was pleasant to return to her again, this time with her attempting a somewhat different book, one that is based on the aeneid and tries to give an account of some of the events from the point of view of Lavinia, over whom aeneas fights a war and eventually marries (for those of you that forgot...lithum was a long time ago =))

however its not a strict story from the other side, but rather, leguin uses the opportunity to throw in some latin mysticism and more importantly, play with time and the idea of writing a poem and the poet's relationship with his subjects. Virgil actually becomes a character with brief appearances, and Lavinia notes how some of what Virgil had written was inaccurate. Leguin even explores the meaning of words like "pious" which i'm sure we all know lends itself to interesting interpetations of aeneas. There were just many, many layers to this book, and I would love to discuss it further!

You can also tell why leguin is often described as somewhat of a feminist in fantasy literature, it comes out when leguin describs the women sitting at home while men fight wars, women watching their husbands and sons die, women asking why this war is fought or why glory is needed, etc etc. which were all elements I did not care for as much, but which are neccessary in a way, especially because the book is from lavinia's point of view, an often forgotten woman in the aeneid with a very limited presence.

Anyway those were just some brief, very rough initial thoughts, and i should probably go back to working rather than goofing off for much longer...i hope everyone starts discussing more, as some of these books really are very interesting reads.

--sweta

[Sadia Latifi]

Do you think I should read her first book first? Which is better?

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Sadia Latifi
sadia....@gmail.com
703.475.3308

[Sweta Agrawal]

i think the go-between was a faster, more enjoyable read...it dragged a lot less than lavinia did at times.

[Sadia Latifi]

Sorrys, sorry...I meant Ursula's first book, Left Hand of Darkness...I figure the other two were incomparable.

[Sweta Agrawal]

ohhhh

haha i read that so long ago i don't remember...i'm guessing left hand of darkness was better, but its also very different from lavinia.

[Sadia Latifi]

i just got go-between and left hand of darkness from the library. lavinia has a wait list right now...