A February wrap-up in end-of-March, part 1: baby’s first romance and classic fantasy

While I usually pick up whatever book sounds good in the moment and there’s rarely any consistency in genre, period, or topic, I think that my choices for February were in retrospect really random: spy novels, fantasy, historical gay romance, historical straight romance, contemporary/vampire romance, and shitty fantasy! I truly contain multitudes.

A Small Town in Germany (1968)

Though my father enjoys James Bond films and in many ways I am my father in a wig, I do not consider myself a fan of the spy genre. I have no great passion for James Bond, quite the contrary in fact as I find the character extremely dated and borderline unbearable to watch (never breaks a sweat and gets all the girls, who are completely disposable, what’s not to love). On the other hand, I am an unapologetic Mission Impossible fan, Ethan Hunt being infinitely more complex and interesting to watch. The movies are also funnier. I will die on that hill, not that anyone cares.

All of that to say that I was not particularly interested in reading Le Carré’s body of work. However I was stuck in Paris for hours with my partner as we were waiting for her visa to be delivered by the Vietnamese Embassy, so I popped into a neighbouring bookstore and went to their small English section. There, I found classics I had already read, Colleen Hover slop, books with ugly covers, and a surprisingly big number of John Le Carré novels. The author’s name rung a bell (he wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), so I looked for one that was not part of a series and with an appealing summary.

I genuinely think that I am being a bit unfair with this book because the story was not bad at all, I just could not bear the main character, who hates everyone and everything, included but not excluding: his wife, beautiful women (how dare they), ugly women (double how dare they), government officials, non-government officials, people who are just nice in general (triple how dare they), and that’s just scratching the surface. His heavy insistance that Leo, the defector, MUST be gay because he is described as, what, too nice of a guy? Too sensitive? Too well-groomed? Well that got old real fast. Sometimes straight people are nice, Alan.

My dislike was a bit assuaged when I read the Wikipedia page and learnt that Le Carré himself disliked his own novel because it was written at a dark time in his life when he was acting and thinking in similar ways to Alan Turner. The fact that he could see that about himself made it more palatable, if not more pleasant.

Apart from that, I felt that the story kind of dragged. I could see where it was going, probably because it is an older novel and its structure has probably been replicated a lot since its publication, so I felt we were taking a long time to get to the obvious end. The one saving grace was the depiction of West Germany politics among fears of right-wing revivals and the influence of communism, especially because Le Carré had actually worked in West Germany as a spy during this very period.

I probably will give Le Carré another shot because I do think that it is Alan Turner’s depressed, hateful and self-loathing type that I did not like rather than the writing style or the subject-matter, and I do appreciate the fact that JLC wrote his novels in reaction to James Bond and what he felt was the glamourisation of spyhood. But I am not in a hurry to read more. I will be watching Mission Impossible in the meantime.

Hot for Slayer (2025)

This is where it gets fun! I was never really a booktube girlie, but I was working a soul-sucking office job last year and I relied on hours-long Youtube videos to keep me conscious. That’s when I discovered Cari can read‘s « Forgot the plot » videos! Her channel is a treasure trove of looong videos during which she often gushes about her newly-found passion for romantic comedies, a genre I had never really thought to try, so when I came across Ali Hazelwood’s name at the library, I tentatively picked up one of her latest work (that woman is PRO-DUC-TIVE): a vampire contemporary romance.

My only qualm is that it was a tad too short. The culmination of the story happened really fast and all the ends were tidied up too fast. I would have loved to see more longing, more doubts… and I thought the big reveal at the end was a bit easy. All in all it was short and sweet, and I had a really good time.

The Tombs of Atuan (1970)

The novels from the Earthsea cycle are probably some of my favourite fantasy works alongside Tolkien’s (because I am very original). Though it is a genre I have always been drawn to, I am not the most well-versed in its (US) household names and so I had never heard of her before I came across her science fiction writings during my Master’s degree. My dissertation ended up dealing with the depiction of social pressure in The Dispossessed and how lessons could be drawn from it to enforce jus cogens in the international community, if that gives you an inkling into my opinion of this novel. I absolutely loved it, and to this day it is one of my favourite books.

I went on to read The Left Hand of Darkness and Those that Walk Away from Omelas, also SF, and it established her as one of my favourite authors. Her SF has made such an impact on me that I forget that, for most people, she is probably a fantasy writer first and foremost. After all, she wrote the aforementioned Earthsea cycle, which was even adapted into a well-loved movie by Ghibli (which I still haven’t see to this day)! I knew from reputation that they were great, but I was so enamored with her SF that it took me little while to get to them. Well, let me tell you, when I read its first novel, A Wizard of Earthsea, I could have kicked myself. They were not overhyped!

A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) tells the story of the legendary wizard Sparrowhawk, from his childhood on the island of Gond where he was only Duny, how he defeated raiders, was revealed his true name* and sent to study magic, and how his pride freed a dangerous shadow from the chaos, a shadow that hunts him as he grows and matures.

(*Every being or thing has a true name that is hidden and must be kept secret, for to know someone’s or something’s true name is to have power over them. Wizards are taught the true names of water, wind, fire, etc to gain mastery of them, and to reveal one’s true name to another is the highest proof of trust)

Le Guin rarely wrote overtly long books. Even her SF are reasonable in length, which is as rare in this genre as it in fantasy. Her Earthsea novels are usually less than 200 pages, and they are excellent lessons in efficient writing. It leaves you wanting more, but not feeling like something has been skipped or like she got bored with the story and just closed the curtains. Le Guin could craft complex, deep, complete stories in fewer pages than any other writer I have read, and I think anyone who wants to be one should read her and take notes. A fantasy or SF novel does not need to be 600 pages. It can, if the story demands it, but it should not be a cardinal rule (especially because few fantasy novels have as much to say as hers did…).

The queen Ursula K. Le Guin having sadly passed away in 2018, I wanted to take my time going through all of her work, and so I waited about six months before continuing with the second novel, The Tombs of Atuan.

The novel shows her evolution, as she learns what it means to have power and to be powerless. She is technically above all other priestesses, but she is still a child. Her word might be law, but what good is it, lost in the middle of the desert It is a pleasure to follow Tinar’s evolution, just like it was to watch Ged grow. Le Guin’s characters are never perfect. In fact, they often are riddled with flaws; they are prejudiced, self-obsessed, selfish. Ged is arrogant. Tenar too, and she can be cruel; a child with too much power and responsibilities. However, they learn to overcome their flaws. They are capable of change.

So if you want to short novel with deep depictions of humanity, growth, devotion, and organised religion, with absolutely stunning prose, this is the book for you.

[As an aside, you wouldn’t believe how many covers showed Ged as a white boy, when he is supposed to be a « copper-skinned » man by Le Guin’s own description, and that since the very first novel of the cycle!!! (I am looking at you, Legend of Earthsea with a white, blond-haired Ged, like, come on guys, I assure you watchers will be able to bear a main character of colour in a fantasy setting)]

Part 2 there!

Coming: more romantic comedies, meh horror, and shitty fantasy.