Comment by Herring
15 days ago
The author has a background in Taoism. That book didn’t really make sense to me until I started practicing Zen.
Like most things in that tradition, it’s less about a “message”, and more about learning something about yourself. Cf meditation.
Le Guin is one of the most intentional authors out there. Her works, Earthsea included, smack you in the face with deliberate messages.
Yes, because you don't understand them. That's basically the difference between Western and Eastern style religions. Here it's not a theory, it's a path. It's about you. When she writes “To light a candle is to cast a shadow”, what does that mean to you? How does that affect the way you live your life? Your relationship with others? To take it as a simple "message" is like going to the gym to stare at the weights.