There exists a world of fantasy into which, every so often, enter - if they find the portal - a boy and a girl.

In that world, there are problems and they transform with great effort into the hero and the heroine who could save that threatened world.

There is a struggle and a satisfying ending.

It is not the easiest to read among the novels of Le Guin. However, it offers a unique and captivating adventure that draws readers in. The vivid descriptions of the fantasy world and the challenges faced by the protagonists make it a truly engaging read.

Despite its complexity, the story manages to convey important themes such as courage, determination, and the power of transformation.

Le Guin's writing style is rich and detailed, allowing readers to fully immerse themselves in the world she has created.

Overall, this novel is a must-read for fans of fantasy literature who are looking for a thought-provoking and exciting story.

This is my favorite book in the entire world, period, full stop.

Lots of other people have already summed up the plot comprehensively, so I'm not going to repeat that here.

I simply want to express that LeGuin's writing is incredibly lyrical and masterful. It has the power to move me to tears every single time I read this adult fairy tale.

The story is about two people who don't seem to fit into our world. They manage to find a doorway to another world, a place where they can become more than they ever dreamed possible.

Okay, I did promise not to sum it up too much, so that's all I'll say for now.

Oh, and one more thing, "There is more than one road to the City."

I truly LOVE this book with all my heart. It's a literary gem that I will cherish forever.

It's like a lite-flavour fantasy adventure.

A boy struggles in life and decides to run away. Eventually, he discovers a magical fantasy realm. There, he meets a girl and learns about the troubles that have been plaguing the locals. He also finds out about his status as the Chosen One. He then confronts his fears, saves everyone, and becomes a hero. Every element of the standard recipe is present.

However, there is so much less of it all. The realm of eternal twilight feels small and fleeting. Overall, it is poorly established and lacks a solid foundation. It is just a tiny spot of nothingness with little history, no clear reason for its existence, and no explanation of how it connects to our world. The "monstrous shadow" is never fully developed. Up until a couple of pages before it is unceremoniously killed off, we never learn where it came from, why it exists, or what its purpose is. And as for the outsiders, they have some personality, sad backstories, and chemistry, but they never truly evolve into anything unique, likeable, or memorable. Their journey is mostly a series of random events happening to them, and their personal growth, while not nonexistent, is minor and almost feels like a footnote. The allegories of running away and facing your fears are clearly present, but they are not very clear in the text itself. I'm not even sure how much of it was intentional and how much is just in my head.

All in all, this is not one of Le Guin's best works. Maybe that's what the title really means - this is the Beginning Place of a fantasy story that would have required a lot more work to reach its full potential.

From the very first page, it became abundantly clear to me that this was going to be an extremely challenging book to peruse. The sentences were enormous and run-on, and there were very few paragraph breaks. This made the reading experience tough even before delving into the content.

Regrettably, the content, encompassing everything from the characters to the world and the various situations, was so mind-numbingly boring that I had almost no inclination to return to that particular world. It's important to note that neither of the characters seemed to belong in the real world. However, we spend an inordinate amount of time with them in our own world, dealing with their mundane problems and dysfunctional families.

I can't claim to have felt any connection or emotion for either of the characters, nor did I have any concern for the plight of the world they entered through the magical gate. The conflict with the creature was anti-climactic and dull, and the relationship they developed afterwards was rather perplexing. But by that point, I had long since passed the stage of caring. I was simply hoping to extricate myself from this story as swiftly as possible.

The only aspect of the story that I can perhaps say rose above the rest was the peace he experienced during his initial visits to the river. However, that's really stretching my ability to find something positive to say about this book.

Damn you, Ursula K. Le Guin, for managing to move me even when I think your book sucks.

Many of the poor reviews on Goodreads here can be summed up like so: "Le Guin is a great writer, but this isn't her best." Both of these statements are true. However, I'm not willing to leave it at that. I refuse to accept that a writer of such skill as Le Guin can have an "off" novel. That she somehow misses her mark here. Other writers might have books like that, but not Le Guin. So while it is true that I think this is far from Le Guin's best work, and it is true that I did not enjoy The Beginning Place as much as I had hoped, considering its author, there is definitely something going on here.

Let's start with the two main characters. We first meet Hugh, self-described as "fat" and otherwise unhappy in his dead-end job as a checker at a supermarket. Irena is a twenty-something girl with chips on her shoulders, because her stepdad is a lecherous, abusive husband and her mother is too "loyal" to him to get help. Both of them find the Beginning Place, a mysterious world called Tembreabrezi.

The villagers in Tembreabrezi want Hugh to go fight a monster, but the nature of the quest is never fully explained. The threat turns out to be physical, which is a disappointment. I was hoping for a more intellectual obstacle for Hugh to overcome.

The Beginning Place begins somewhat strangely, and I was not predisposed to feel much sympathy for Hugh. But as the book progresses, it becomes apparent that he is a lovable loser, and that he and Irena are destined to hook up by the end. The part that most intrigues me is the lessons they learn and the resolution of their family troubles.

Le Guin does not spend much time exploring either of the worlds she depicts. This makes for a very unusual experience compared to her other books. Her prose style also feels different, much less engaging and detailed. Yet it is still noticeably Le Guinish.

Both Hugh and Irena need to do some growing up, and that's what the adventure in this story is about. Tembreabrezi and the woods that lead to it begin as a place of refuge, but then present their own challenge. In the end, Hugh and Irena succeed, but it is success tinged with a sense of regret and confusion.

It sounds trite, and the ending is predictable, but in a reassuring sort of way. From the beginning to the end, Le Guin seems to alternate between fulfilling our expectations and defying them. What doesn't work for me is the drabness of the worlds she describes. Neither our world nor Tembreabrezi ever feels very alive or interesting.

So yes, this is not Le Guin at her best. She brings all of her skill as a writer and a storyteller, but the setting isn't quite there. The Beginning Place never really began, for me, and that's why I can't say I liked it all that much.

I'm currently re-reading some of Le Guin's remarkable stories.

This particular one is an early work that delves deep into the essence of love and courage. It does so in the context of human failure and frailty, which are themes that are as relevant today as they were when the story was written.

Le Guin has a unique way of presenting these complex emotions and ideas, making the reader reflect on their own lives and experiences.

The story could easily have been written for today's society, with its many challenges and uncertainties.

It serves as a reminder that love and courage are essential qualities that can help us navigate through the most difficult of times.

As I continue to read, I'm constantly amazed by Le Guin's ability to create such vivid and engaging worlds that speak to the human condition.

Her stories are not only entertaining but also thought-provoking, and I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys a good read.

Hugh Rogers is an overweight sales clerk who leads a rather unfulfilling life. He lives with his controlling mother, and each day seems to pass without him having much to offer or contribute. One day, while taking a walk, he stumbles upon a mysterious path. Intrigued, he decides to take it. To his surprise, time seems to slow in this place, and Hugh finds himself spending more and more time there, using it as an escape from his mundane and压抑的 life.

Irena Pannis, in her early teens, discovered a secret world. She often escapes into this world to avoid her abusive father. One fateful day, she discovers Hugh at the passage and initially gets angry. Little does she know that he is the one the people in this secret world have been waiting for, hoping that he will save them.

Together, Hugh and Irena embark on a journey with the hope of saving the ones they have come to love in this secret world. Along the way, as they face various challenges and adventures, they gradually fall in love.

However, the story comes to an abrupt end, leaving me wondering why it ended the way it did. I'm not sure if anything was truly resolved. The beginning had perked my interest enough to make me want to finish reading, but I can't say that I'm entirely glad I did. It felt as if the author, perhaps like Le Guin, ran out of steam and failed to give the ending the significance and satisfaction it deserved.

It feels rather strange to rate a book by one of my favorite authors so low. However, I must admit that I liked it better than on my initial attempt. When I was 14 years old, my review was: "WTF kind of portal fantasy is this? 1 star." I believe Le Guin was venturing into something distinct from her typical style here. And I give it credit for mirroring the anxieties of 1980s working-class American 20-year-olds in a manner that still seems more or less accurate today.

The problem for me was the pacing. The first half is extremely slow, yet it holds the promise that we might come to understand the mysteries of the other world in a similarly unhurried and sensuous way. But alas! A whole slew of things then occur with great abruptness and without any explanation. This includes the sex scene. And then we're back out in our world. Although, I do mostly appreciate that ending.

Full review: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...

I truly loved the first half of this book. The writing was simply beautiful, as it had the remarkable ability to transform meditation into a tangible physical place. In this place, time seemed to come to a complete stop, creating a sense of peace and tranquility that was truly captivating.

However, as the story progressed, something seemed to change. The book gradually lost that enchanting quality that had initially drawn me in. It started to veer more towards the realm of fantasy, and the characters began to dissolve. Their once well-defined personalities and motives became less clear, and it was as if they were fading away into the background.

Despite this, I still found certain aspects of the book to be engaging. The author's想象力 was evident throughout, and there were moments when the story took unexpected turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall, while the first half of the book was truly outstanding, the second half left me with a sense of disappointment.

I have loved this book from the first to the penultimate page. Evidently, however, Le Guin has decided that taking the proper space to give the story a dignified ending is an outdated concept.

But let's go in order. "The Threshold" starts from very familiar premises for the dabblers in the genre: we have a secret, magical place where there is no day or night, but only an eternal twilight; we have a strange, cheerful and mysterious people living there, and of course protagonists who until that moment have not done anything good in their lives, ready to discover it.

Once the basics are laid out, the merit of this book is to turn everything upside down: at a certain point one begins to suspect that something is wrong, but there is no a precise moment when this revelation is made to the reader or the characters. It is more of an impression that grows page after page, in a subtle and disturbing way, and even when the impression becomes a fact neither the reader nor the protagonists fully understand what is wrong, or why.

What we gradually discover together with Hugh and Irena is that this magical place, at first so welcoming compared to the sad reality of the real world, is not a new home, but a trap; we discover that the heroes are not heroes but fodder, and that no matter how many years you spend in the house of a people that is not yours, in the end you always remain a foreigner.

Le Guin's style is simply sublime and the story captured me from the start. The descriptions have something lyrical and the characters seem real even if they are sketched slowly, and perhaps in a somewhat too rigid way. The only flaw remains that ending, so insipid and hasty as to be truly unforgivable.

This book commences beautifully, captivating the reader right from the start.

It initially gives the impression of being a wonderful tale about introverted youths uncovering secret worlds and embarking on quests that aid their coming of age. Indeed, it manages to evoke that sense of aimless yearning which dominated about 80% of my teenage mindset.

However, as the story progresses, it seems to lose its momentum and sort of collapses before reaching any truly interesting juncture.

The plot is presented in the most simplistic and bare-bones manner that one can envision. The protagonists encounter a charming little village in need of assistance.

Yet, we are never informed about what precisely the problem is, what led to its occurrence, or how it can be resolved. Perhaps the vagueness of the specifics is intended to make the subsequent quest more of a metaphorical experience.

But unfortunately, this results in the story feeling inauthentic. The characters undergo changes without having experienced anything that would plausibly cause such alterations, especially not as abruptly as it occurs within the pages of this book.

It is difficult not to draw comparisons between this book and The Magicians, which offers a more realistic portrayal of a similar type of story.

Beyond the thematic issues, the real drawback is that the book is already three-quarters of the way through before the quest even commences.

And then, a significant portion of the quest consists merely of the anticipation of traversing the wilderness. While there are certain appealing aspects to this story and I truly desired to like it, ultimately, it just never really came together for me.

Ursula K. Le Guin is a renowned author who has a unique way of captivating readers.

Her stories often fall under the standards that she has set for herself, which are designed to train the reader's mind.

In this particular tale, it is a charming and fairy-tale-like story that draws the reader in from the very beginning.

The narrative unfolds in a way that keeps the reader engaged, with its vivid descriptions and interesting characters.

Le Guin's writing style is such that she manages to create a world that is both familiar and yet充满了奇幻色彩.

The story takes the reader on a journey through this world, filled with adventure and mystery.

Overall, it is a delightful read that showcases Le Guin's talent as a storyteller and her ability to create a fictional world that is both engaging and thought-provoking.