this scene, it’s because his focus is still on her appearance. I have trouble imagining that he could think of her as a full person… but that may be unfair, given that none of the characters here are really rounded.

I think that’s fair—thanks!Up until this point, his appreciation (such as it is) has only been for women of some use to him, like Julia and his mother. In this scene he has a genuinely positive perception of a woman who can give him nothing. You’re right: that’s progress! If I’m cautious about

Yes 🙂

I wonder if I’d risk discouraging them from other novels.

(female characters, extended political exposition) are just less successful as fiction than other parts. If I handed pushed 1984 on a friend or student who wasn’t much of a reader to start with, 🧵

I think that parts of the novel are immensely (and horrifyingly!) valuable. I agree that you have to be brave: it took me decades to push myself to reread it. But I think you have to be persistent not only because of the darkness but because some parts 🧵 I

I’m not seeing that realization—what am I missing?

“With the development of television, and the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end.” Yes!

And that feels a lot like the answer Ai gets when he poses the king’s question to the ansible: “no man considers himself a traitor.” Still, I think the novel as a whole is pretty wary of patriotism.

Also the ways King Argavan is subject to changing influences and reliant on fear…

So—given world enough and time—should we read “Vianne” and THEN reread the rest of the books, or should we reread the others first?

I’m so sorry, Carlen.

I seem to reread both books every four years or so… they’re that good, and feel that important. But last week I finished “Sower,” opened “Talents,” and… couldn’t do it. Just too heartbreakingly relevant.

Oh, Carlen, I’m so sorry.

Hmmm…I imagine that AN experience of alienation may be near-universal in modern Western/postindustrial societies; I don’t know enough about other cultures to generalize. But I wonder if there’s a difference between someone like Esperanza who DOES get out, and someone like Sally who doesn’t?

Yes! My childhood couldn’t have been more different from Esperanza’s, EXCEPT for those moments of cluelessness… over and over and over…

What did she pay you to post this?

P.S. it worked 😉