Book review: The word for world is forest by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Summary

When the inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters.

Desperation causes the Athsheans, led by Selver, to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. But in defending their lives, they have endangered the very foundations of their society. For every blow against the invaders is a blow to the humanity of the Athsheans. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.

Review

I had loved The Left Hand of Darkness and was eager to start this new Ursula K Le Guin novella. It is a poignant and vibrant Vietnam war allegory, which was written in 1972. It deals with such themes as colonisation, invasion, exploitation, oppression, defilement, destruction of a perfectly peaceful people. It is a must-read. 

The plot shows how a people is destroyed as is his forest by so-called “civilisation”. Murder, killing, destroying are brought to them and change them for the worse as they are trying to defend themselves. The dilemma is universal and of all times, it can be a concern deep down in the heart of each one of us: if you are kind and leave others alone, you are bound to disappear, either because cruel, ruthless persons will want to destroy you - you're so harmless anyway - or because you'll end up having to use the same weapons as your enemies, thus resembling them and losing your specific non-violent values... and soul...

An echo to so many situations, past and present.

"Si vis Pacem, para Bellum" (If you wish for peace, prepare for war.) Is there no alternative? Is there hope for the future? A wonderful book in line with all that is stirring us today.

 

 

Excerpt

“[...] They’re going to get rubbed out sooner or later, and it might as well be sooner. It’s just how things happen to be. Primitive races always have to give way to civilised ones. Or be assimilated. But we sure as hell can’t assimilate a lot of green monkeys. And like you say, they’re just bright enough that they’ll never be quite trustworthy. Like those big monkeys used to live in Africa, what were they called.”

“Gorillas?”

“Right. We’ll get on better without creechies here, just like we get on better without gorillas in Africa. They’re in our way...