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Lavinia

Lavinia

by UrsulaLeGuin (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $12.01
Synopsis

'Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She caused hers by letting men who wanted her take her. I caused mine because I wouldn't be given, wouldn't be taken, but chose my man and my fate. The man was famous, the fate obscure; not a bad balance.' Lavinia is the daughter of the King of Latium, a victorious warrior who loves peace; she is her father's closest companion. Now of an age to wed, Lavinia's mother favours her own kinsman, King Turnus of Rutulia, handsome, heroic, everything a young girl should want. Instead, Lavinia dreams of mighty Aeneas, a man she has heard of only from a ghost of a poet, who comes to her in the gods' holy place and tells her of her future, and Aeneas' past ...If she refuses to wed Turnus, Lavinia knows she will start a war - but her fate was set the moment the poet appeared to her in a dream and told her of the adventurer who fled fallen Troy, holding his son's hand and carrying his father on his back.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 304
 Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 21 May 2009
ISBN 10: 0575084588
ISBN 13: 9780575084582
Book Overview: Ursula Le Guin is one of the world's best writers, and LAVINIA is being hailed as her magnum opus LAVINIA is a return to le Guin's love of the classics, an exploration of a little-known but fascinating character in Vergil's AENEID Le Guin's first adult novel for a decade: a real coup for the Gollancz list LAVINIA is Le Guin at the top of her game: compelling, readable, dramatic Critical acclaim is immense:'Brilliant reimagining of the last six books of Virgil's epic poem, this beautiful and moving novel is a love offering to one of the world's great poets. Highly recommended'(LIBRARY JOURNAL starred); 'Arguably her best novel, and an altogether worthy companion volume to one of the Western world's greatest stories' (KIRKUS starred); 'Elegant and eloquent' (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY); 'Compulsively readable...a winning combination of history and mythology featuring an unlikely heroine imaginatively plucked from literary obscurity' (BOOKLIST)

Media Reviews
A magnificent act of reimagination, best read alongside a good translation of Virgil (such as that of Robert Fagles, whose translation is quoted here) so that Le Guin's brilliant interweaving of Lavinia's story with the original can be fully appreciated. THE TIMES A world rich in ritual and piety is evoked, one teeming with divine omens and auguries. It's beautifully done. [An] intruiging, luxuriously realised novel. -- James Lovegrove THE FINANCIAL TIMES Ursula Le Guin's vivid novel gives Lavinia a voice. It is a moving testament to the conversations that great writers sustain through the centuries. -- Dinah Birch TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT Lavinia is a fantasy built on a fantasy, yet it rings true. Its author writes with a sophistication and clarity that make suspension of disbelief natural. Le Guin's ancient Latium is extraordinary, as is Virgil's, but her characters are rooted, real, ordinary. THE OBSERVER This is a book that is as perfect as an autumn day or a truly great wine. This is life itself, coaxed onto the page. Such a perfect balance of feeling, metre and storytelling it is hard to describe. -- Guy Haley DEATHRAY Lavina is based on events in Virgil's Aeneid; the battle scenes do recall the film 300 or the epics of antiquity. But it's everyday pre-Roman life that fascinates Le Guin: rituals seasonal cycles and the role of women. Lavinia herself has a strong voice, and Le Guin's lyrical prose builds a heroic love story. WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY Le Guin has lovingly re-created the relatively simple Bronze age culture that ultimately gave birth to Rome. This is one of her finest achievements. It certainly deserves to be at the top of your 'must read' list. -- Laurence Osborn INTERZONE If you enjoyed Virgil's Aeneid, you will enjoy seeing that one line fleshed out. If you like classical history, this is a fascinating glimpse of the little warrior states that eventually became part of Rome. For those who like poetic prose, a good story well told, and living through a different mind in another world, then Lavinia will be a book to enjoy again and again. HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY Lavinia opens a thought provoking window into a long dead world, and offers something interesting from the hands of a writer who is extremely competent and passionately engaged with her subject matter. A fascinating read. -- Alex Meehan SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (IRELAND) Impressively written and deftly handled, this is a graceful and enchanting novel that far from marring the legend Virgil created, delicately adds to it in a modest commentary on a character he left undone. Beautifully crafted and skillfully tackled. DREAMWATCH TOTAL SCI FI Le Guin is a composed writer, clear and measured, and her account of the life of Aeneas's last wife, a woman Virgil scoots over in the The Aeneid, is captivating. This is a work of passion, written with cool expertise: a cracker. THE SUNDAY TIMES
Author Bio
Ursula Le Guin has won many awards, including a National Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Newbery Honor and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.