the word for world is forest by ursula le guin

Know that Terry Pratchett was a writer full of anger, like Le Guin. It may not be marketed and sold as a satire, but I honestly thought it was funny and exaggeration is a common satirical technique. Some of the chapters are narrated from the perspective of Captain Davidson and I could only read these as a satire on militaristic, capitalistic masculinity. I know some readers will nope out of this review at this point, but look: Le Guin’s prose is still witty and lively enough to make this an interesting journey. Full of pent-up anger about the Vietnam War, writing this angry book was her means of releasing those feelings and a caricature like Captain Davidson was an archetype that jumped straight from a subconscious level. Le Guin is very aware of how preachy her book sounds and she mentions in a foreword that she regrets this, and explains how this was a consequence of the times. Such two-dimensional character work and simplistic morality that we find here is not what Le Guin is known for, and wasn’t expected following on A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and The Left Hand of Darkness (1969).

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron has read this book before filming. If you have seen James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), you know how these stories go. We got no room for those primitive monkeys they don’t even work as a labour force! The creechies, the Noble Savages that they are, have no choice but to defend themselves in the end, and the violence changes their once-peaceful culture for the worse. Sexist, racist and with a singular amoral focus on cutting down all the trees, exploit the land and waltz over the creechies like the advanced human civilisation that we are. The colony is spearheaded by Captain Davidson, a military man who is so absurdly despicable that he is a clear caricature. The planet is all ocean and forested islands, and in those forests lives a small, non-violent humanoid race with green hair, belittlingly called creechies. So, on the planet New Tahiti, humans have arrived to establish a new colony. But this one is unlike most of Le Guin’s novels and some context is needed. And those are reasons enough – they were my reasons for picking up this book, and Le Guin delivers that to satisfaction. If you are a fan of Le Guin’s writing and you want more of that clever, crystal-clear prose, effortless worldbuilding and sharp observations, you can’t really go wrong with any of her books, including this one.

The word for world is forest by ursula le guin