Malafrena

Of course it is a favorite - it was written by Ursula Le Guin. And it is more than that: it is a story of a province in Eastern Europe occupied by the Austria after the Napoleonic Wars. Small land holdings and the families who occupy them, larger towns, and even larger cities form the backdrop of this book.

It starts with young Itale who is passionately interested in continuing the Revolution and kicking out the Austrians. His sister, Laura, and young Piera at the neighboring villa are the two other main voices in this book, though the older generation are also given their stories. Itale arrives in a larger town and meets his writing hero, Amadey, and while his provincial self is welcomed it is with sort of a tongue-in-cheek. Life show more ensues, Itale begins his paper, Piera is engaged then breaks the engagement, parents age, and daughters begin to take over the farming so that the estate can continue.

The "coming of age" is a nod to all three young people who begin, grow, and their lives continue despite distance, prison, and an uprising. It is a slow, melodious book and I am glad Le Guin wrote it. show less

Quintessential early Ursula LeGuin. If you like that, and I do, you should like this. Although the structure of the story is simpler, the similarities to "The Dispossessed" are very strong. The difference is that, since "The Dispossessed" is science fiction, there's a wider selection of places for the protagonist to leave and to return to than in a historical fiction novel like "Malafrena". There is a significant riot at the end of both books. The theme of imprisonment recurs in both books quite strongly. The protagonist in both books has an essential circle of literary and political friends and a female companion who does not involve herself in politics but is somehow essential. LeGuin is a feminist writer, but writing historical show more novels, or even science fiction novels where the women are truly significant was hard then and is not so easy now. Cecilia Holland is another writer who wrote a succession of truly excellent historical novels lacking significant female characters before she managed a science fiction novel where the protagonist is a woman and subsequently a few historical novels. In "The Dispossessed" the protagonist has an advantage because he is, in himself, a significant person as he is a physicist of interplanetary renown. The protagonist in "Malafrena" is just the son of a landowner from the hinterland and has no significance outside his political actions.

There were a surprising number of suicides in this book.

It caused me to read a bit about the revolutions in the mid 1800s for the first time. I had probably been unaware of them as most of my European history is really just English history and the revolutions left England more or less unaffected.

A characteristic of early LeGuin novels is that even repressive regimes are not nearly as brutal as repressive regimes know how to be in this day and age. show less

The matter of this novel is unpleasant, and of course relevant. My life has been mercifully free of imprisonment, and to be a political prisoner is particularly unpleasant, I am sure. The psychology is of Le Guin's usual high standard, and that may have been the reason for its probable low sales. But I think the future will be kinder to this fine effort.

A big, spacious, and ambitious book, that seeks to capture the mood of a whole continent within one (fictional) country, and the country within one family. I'll be returning to this; often, probably.

Le Guin's prose is, as always, gorgeous.

This is another that I think LeGuin fans will enjoy, but it's a hard, quiet, cynical(?) book about failed ambitions.

This story takes place in the 19th century in a fictional Eastern European county. I'm afraid I found it rather tedious.

I've had this book for some time. I can't believe I never read it, since I love Leguin and have sopped up most everything she's written (well, not her fantasy). So -- I'm going to read this soon.