- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Harpercollins (Sep 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060914335
- ISBN-13: 978-0060914332
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.5 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,403,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Synopsis
The universal need for human freedom and love and the horrors of government oppression are recurring themes in this collected short fiction.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
THEY knew, having given him cause, that Dr Kereth might attempt to seek political asylum in Paris. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THEY knew, having given him cause, that Dr Kereth might attempt to seek political asylum in Paris. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Le Guin's series of stories spanning the chronology of an imaginary central European country from the middle ages to the days of the iron curtain is beautifully written, wonderfully realised, and utterly memorable. Every phrase of le Guin's elegant, measured prose leaves vivid images in the reader's mind. An unfortunately obscure gem.
Format:Hardcover
Le Guin's series of stories spanning the chronology of an imaginary central European country from the middle ages to the days of the iron curtain is beautifully written, wonderfully realised, and utterly memorable. Every phrase of le Guin's elegant, measured prose leaves vivid images in the reader's mind...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A new Ruritania emerges.
8 July 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Ms Le Guin is a renowned sci-fi and fantasy writer, winner of several Hugo and Nebula Awards, author of the remarkable "Left Hand of Darkness" (1969) and the "Earthsea" cycle (1970 - 2001).
With "Orsinian Tales" (1976) she surprises the reader with a collection of short stories placed in an imaginary country: Orsinia. This country has all the traits of a Central European one (just as the fictional Ruritania of "Prisoner of Zenda"). The characters names and psychology have resonances of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, giving a special undertone to all the tales.
The stories take place in different time periods (in the last page of each one, is shown the year of occurrence) allowing the reader to have a side-glance of the historical evolution of the country.
The tales are written in "minimalists" style, that is to say they portray every day scenes, no great adventures or speculations, just insights of ordinary people in ordinary situations. With this simple stuff Ms. Le Guin construct an engaging collection, full of touching details as in "Imaginary Countries". Family relationships and interaction with neighbors in a small town are described with a keen and gentle regard in "Night Talks".
A lovely sample of Le Guin's short prose.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
It's not science fiction!
14 Sep 2000
Format:Paperback
OK, first off, if you're looking for SF to read, don't bother with this book, because SF it's not, even though it's by Ursula Le Guin. On the other hand, if you're looking for some beautifully written, well-crafted short stories, you might well stop and read.
ORSINIAN TALES is a collection of "mainstream" short stories set in the imaginary Eastern European country of Orsinia, which take place in various time periods ranging from the pagan Dark Ages to the 17th century to the Cold War. They are by turns grim, joyous, lyrical, wistful, and always fascinating. My one cavil is that the date of each story's setting is placed at the end of the story, so if you're not quite sure of the story's period (the period is not always terribly well defined in the opening of the stories, and it makes a difference--at least to me--if a tale is set in 1905 or 1950) you have to peek ahead. But it's a small quibble with a lovely piece of literature.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Impressive and Inspiring
22 Feb 2007
Format:Paperback
The Orsinian Tales take place in a fictional country of Orsinia, which could be any of the former Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe, with time periods of the stories ranging from the 11th century to 1960's and the centuries in between. After reading the Wizard of Earthsea and the Left Hand of Darkness, I had high expectations of this book and I was not disappointed. It has the same poetic flow and depth of characters that made Usula Le Guin's fantasy and sci-fi books such a pleasure to read and it is now one of my favorite collections of short stories. These stories have nothing to do with fantasy or sci-fi. They are so-called mainstream stories about ordinary people who make extraordinary choices. The story plots are not connected to each other and only two of the stories involve the same characters. The stories, however, are definitely not unrelated: there is a common theme running through them. The characters live in worlds where happiness seems an unobtainable dream and even preserving the belief in your right to happiness is a constant challenge. They encounter situations where a choice must be made between the path of least resistance and the path to struggling for happiness on their own terms. The characters' realizations of their needs, and the (implied) realization of their right to fulfill those needs, are the ingredients for the drama of each story. This theme dawns on you after reading the first several stories and it is the reason why the stories work much better as a collection than they would separately.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
