Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand [Paperback]

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

A tale by the author of the Earthsea trilogy portrays the triumphs and struggles of several generations of women who independently control Klatsand, a small resort town on the Oregon coast. Reprint. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In these stories, connected loosely but powerfully by their rugged Pacific Northwest setting, LeGuin ( Buffalo Gals ; The Left Hand of Darkness ) portrays residents of a small Oregon shore town with sympathy and no sentiment. Many of the tales center around women drawn together in threes--mother, daughter, grandmother--by illness or death. Passionate, independent and questioning, these characters generally choose, sooner or later, personal freedom over convention, but not without pain. In "True Love," a librarian who summers in Klatsand has a brief affair with a man who opens a bookstore, but is most moved by her feeling of kinship with another woman he sleeps with. Mourning with her deceased lover's daughter, the "survivor" of a lesbian couple finds comfort in an unexpected sense of connection among the three of them ("Quoits"). The novella-length "Hernes" authoritatively traces the repeated struggles for love and self-reliance among four generations of Klatsand women, from Fanny, born in Ohio in 1863, to her great-granddaughter Virginia, a poet. Idiosyncratic and convincing, LeGuin's characters have a long afterlife.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Various private lives in an Oregon seaside village are pried open for inspection in this winning example of Le Guin's best writing--meditative, perceptive, and dead-on in its characterizations. Welcome to Klatsand, a typical American beachside community whose medley of small-town voices combine to form a timeless, penetrating novel in the classic Le Guin tradition. Tales of Klatsanders--the discouraged middle-aged couple who operate the run-down tourist court outside of town; the aging businessman whose weekend on the beach brings him face to face with his own mortality; the passionately self-reliant professor who brings her fatherless daughter home to grow up sheltered by her past; the aging librarian who indulges in a brief affair with the local bookstore owner--all start small but grow to a powerful crescendo as the town's complex entanglement of small-town loyalties, betrayals, and generations-old resentments comes clear. Le Guin performs best with her female characters--particularly the four generations of Hernes women who, from the late 1800's to the present, scandalize the town with divorce, unwed motherhood, and other forms of unheard-of independence, and whose tale of matriarchal determination occupies the final third of the book. Ending in a defiant retelling of the Persephone myth, the Hernes' story perfectly echoes and enhances the smaller tales that preceded it, making for some deeply satisfying reading--rich, warm, and as easy on the soul as an afternoon on the beach. Another triumph. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harper Prism (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061054003
• ISBN-13: 978-0061054006
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,954,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable, March 2, 2001

By 

Edward Bosnar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand (Paperback)

This is less of a review than a complaint and expression of disbelief that this book is no longer in print - meaning you have to hunt for it at used bookstores. "Searoad," a collection of short stories set in a small town on the Oregon coast, is a step away from the wonderful SF/fantasy stories that Le Guin normally writes. It is also, in my opinion, Le Guin's absolutely best work, and that's saying quite a bit. With "Searoad" Le Guin proved that she is a master fiction writer in any genre. I can't recommend this book enough - if you can find it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, September 7, 2002

By 

Greta Rudolph (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand (Paperback)

Searoad: The Chronicles of Klatsand is a collection of short stories set in Oregon. For those who resist even the cream of the Science Fiction genre, these are pure fiction, and serve as a wonderful introduction to Le Guin's work. For previous fans, these are a must-read. The only draw back to the collection is that it has gone out of print- a tragedy for readers.