For me the Tombs of Atuan were even more intoxicating, I adored/ wanted to be a high priestess of something. I also had a library van that visited, although I would also use a library a bus ride away.
The library van always seemed utterly enchanting to me - this vehicle trundling the byways of Britain, stuffed full of stories. Actually, now I write that, I realise its a perfect pitch for a TV series
I also reread Tombs of Atuan recently (and 'The Farthest Shore' and 'Tehanu') and it's incredibly good - definitely a lot that would have gone over the head of 7 year old me.
Amazingly I've just read A Wizard of Earthsea and I'm half way through The Tombs of Atuan. The atmosphere of Tombs always (this is about the 4th time I've read it) reminds me of C S Lewis's Till We Have Faces. Anyone else?
I haven't read Till We Have Faces in decades - in fact, I suspect it was slightly too adult for me when I did - but I do remember Atuan feeling like a real change in tone when I got to it as a child, like I had stepped up into reading a more grown-up book.
Also - have you read C S Lewis' science fiction? Or, more importantly, any of the peculiar Charles Williams books of which Lewis' are pale imitations?
The similarity for me was the sense of neglected worship at the dusty edge of some larger civilisation, that and the female protagonist. Till We Have Faces is probably CSL’s most original book, though.
Speaking of which, I haven’t read Charles Williams at all but from reviews and from comments by a friend who has, it’s only That Hideous Strength that was really inspired by Williams, not the other two SF books. Is that true, do you think?
Ah, I see what you mean and yes, now that you mention it, I vaguely remember that the other two books are a lot more like more sophisticated and philosophical planetary romances in the vein of Carter of Mars or something. I think I read the Perelandra trilogy and Faces at the same time and that would be about 40 years ago, when I was much too young for all of them. I’ve only re-read That Hideous Strength since. Maybe I ought to do a re-read of them all.
Williams, meanwhile, is terrific. They’re largely out of print, which is a crime but I’ve managed to find a few in second hand bookshops down the years and they’ve always been surprising and rewarding
For me the Tombs of Atuan were even more intoxicating, I adored/ wanted to be a high priestess of something. I also had a library van that visited, although I would also use a library a bus ride away.
The library van always seemed utterly enchanting to me - this vehicle trundling the byways of Britain, stuffed full of stories. Actually, now I write that, I realise its a perfect pitch for a TV series
I also reread Tombs of Atuan recently (and 'The Farthest Shore' and 'Tehanu') and it's incredibly good - definitely a lot that would have gone over the head of 7 year old me.
I *also* watching the Studio Ghibli film, which is, sadly, the only actually mediocre film they've made. Do NOT recommend.
Amazingly I've just read A Wizard of Earthsea and I'm half way through The Tombs of Atuan. The atmosphere of Tombs always (this is about the 4th time I've read it) reminds me of C S Lewis's Till We Have Faces. Anyone else?
I haven't read Till We Have Faces in decades - in fact, I suspect it was slightly too adult for me when I did - but I do remember Atuan feeling like a real change in tone when I got to it as a child, like I had stepped up into reading a more grown-up book.
Also - have you read C S Lewis' science fiction? Or, more importantly, any of the peculiar Charles Williams books of which Lewis' are pale imitations?
The similarity for me was the sense of neglected worship at the dusty edge of some larger civilisation, that and the female protagonist. Till We Have Faces is probably CSL’s most original book, though.
Speaking of which, I haven’t read Charles Williams at all but from reviews and from comments by a friend who has, it’s only That Hideous Strength that was really inspired by Williams, not the other two SF books. Is that true, do you think?
Ah, I see what you mean and yes, now that you mention it, I vaguely remember that the other two books are a lot more like more sophisticated and philosophical planetary romances in the vein of Carter of Mars or something. I think I read the Perelandra trilogy and Faces at the same time and that would be about 40 years ago, when I was much too young for all of them. I’ve only re-read That Hideous Strength since. Maybe I ought to do a re-read of them all.
Williams, meanwhile, is terrific. They’re largely out of print, which is a crime but I’ve managed to find a few in second hand bookshops down the years and they’ve always been surprising and rewarding