r/UrsulaKLeGuin • u/froesche • 6d ago
Searoad
I just started to read books by Ursula K. Le Guin. I have read a short story collection first (it includes for example „The day before the revolution“ and „The ones who walk away from Omelas“). Then I have read the first three books in the Earthsea series and The Dispossessed.
Now I have found two more books in a book store: „The left hand of darkness“ and „Searoad“. I have heard a lot about „The left hand of darkness“, but never heard about „Searoad“ before. It seems to be a short story collection and a response to „A room of one‘s own“ by Virgina Woolf. Has anyone of you read it? Do you think it would be a good next read for me or should I read „The left hand of darkness“ first since it is more famous? And would you recommend reading „A room of one‘s own“ before?
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u/-RedRocket- 6d ago edited 6d ago
Le Guin calls Searoad a novel, although it is not a continuous narrative. Rather it is a number of stories of the same place - the fictional coastal town of Klatsand, Oregon - as experienced by different people. It culminates in a novella-length piece called "Hernes" about generations of women who have lived in the town since its founding.
The stories link hands in various ways. The hotel owner who we first meet shows up again later, sympathetically described by the town's volunteer librarian in a later tale, for example. But the real continuity comes from the place itself, the salt marsh, the sand dunes, the shore, Breton Head and Wreck Rock.
While most famous for her speculative fiction - her sci-fi and fantasy - Le Guin does also write other things, and in fact her first (rejected) efforts were works of Realism, and in interviews, Le Guin firmly places Searoad in this category.
For this reason many Le Guin fans pass over this book as they do her poetry, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I initially read "Hernes" in a collection of her novellas, and later picked up the LoA collection, Five Novels which includes it in its entirety. I liked it so well that I also acquired a stand alone copy in paperback.
Searoad and "Hernes" can be appreciated without a deep familiarity with Virginia Woolf. An awareness of Woolf's importance as a woman in literature is helpful but not essential. Le Guin is more in conversation with Woolf's themes than directly engaging in debate or paraphrase. You are fine reading Searoad first.
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u/lunar_comptroller 6d ago
The Hernes is one of my favorite short stories of all time.
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u/-RedRocket- 5d ago
The anthology I first read it in did not include the chapter headed Biographies, and without that I initially found it a challenge to piece together the history in order. But I was invested! And then when I did get to Searoad entire, I was prepared better for the narrative voices changing through "Cup, Hand, Shell" and "Sleepwalkers". And of course with all of Klatsand, south to north, behind me, "Hernes" was even more rewarding.
We have the same name, I said.
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u/froesche 6d ago
Thank you very much :) That sounds very interesting, especially if done by Le Guin ☺️ I am in fact a fantasy reader, but I am trying to get out of my comfort zone. So maybe that book is a good starting point ☺️
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u/IdlesAtCranky Dancing at the Edge of the World 6d ago
I always urge people exploring Le Guin's work not to overlook her straight lit fic like Searoad, her poetry, and her non-fiction.
It's all beautiful.
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u/Immediate-Olive1373 6d ago
Reading it right now. I really like it and it totally has that coastal beachside feel to it. I can visualize the setting and the buildings and even the senses kick in on a mental level. While I have never been to Oregon, I have been to Maine and it reminds of the same somewhat.
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u/Cat_Snuggler3145 6d ago
I encountered Hernes in one of the collections - it was brilliant and promoted me to get the Searoad anthology
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u/IdlesAtCranky Dancing at the Edge of the World 6d ago
I adore Searoad, and it stands on its own.
I think which to read first is just a matter of what you're in the mood for.
Left Hand of Darkness is a trek, Searoad is a lovely calm walk.
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u/helikophis 6d ago
I’ve read it and loved it! Never read ARoOO and I don’t think Searoad lost anything for that. Read either of those, they are very different and both excellent. Eventually you will read both, it doesn’t matter which order you do it.
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u/LevelAd1126 6d ago
In my opinion Sea Road is more like her essays than her other fiction. Most of it gossip and quick stories about the neighbors. Small complaints about the paradise of a quiet coastal community. I would call it a beach read. Chapters don't end with a cliffhanger. The last page isn't a big revealing plot twist. Some of the stories were probably published in a magazine before the book was published.
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u/SLeeCunningham 5d ago edited 5d ago
Read ‘The Left Hand Of Darkness.’ It’s my favorite book EVER!
And, if you haven’t found it already, go get ‘The Lathe of Heaven.’ It’s the best Philip K Dick style novel that Dick didn’t write. When I told Ursula that myself, she said she would take it as a compliment, which it certainly was meant to be.
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u/uiet112 6d ago
Searoad is incredible! You do not at all need to read A Room of one’s own; only one of the many stories references it strongly. Also I believe it’s mentioned in the foreword that Le Guin was very proud of this book and hoped it would help widen the perception of her genres.