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carovazquez's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
beac3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.0
hapikohw's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A simple five pages can be so rich, have so many intertexual companions, spark so many thoughts... Le Guin, you are THAT writer!
Utopia is possible, pleasure can exist without pain giving it worth - we just can't imagine it yet.
Utopia is possible, pleasure can exist without pain giving it worth - we just can't imagine it yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, and Abandonment
northcoraline's review against another edition
5.0
“To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed.”
The author here poses a philosophical question that reminded me of Shakespeare's words
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by opposing, end them?
In this short story, you don't really have a right choice and you see that all the opinions are nasty ones. Is it right to live happily ignoring the pain of one tiny child? or is it right to give this child a helping hand (which wouldn't really make a huge difference) and throw away everyone else's happiness? or should we run away knowing that we won't be participating in such a crime against that little child yet not putting an end to his suffering?
It is a question of morality; a mirror to the inner self, would saying 'NO!' be the right answer here? I truly don't know...
I'm haunted by questions and abandoned by answers..
“They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.”
draxin's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Snappy, allegoric, and leaves a sour taste in your mouth, just as it should. I feel like I will be thinking about this novella for a long while.
fluanita's review against another edition
5.0
“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can’t lick ‘em, join ‘em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else.”
obrigada namjoon pela indicação
obrigada namjoon pela indicação
solid_circle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
yars_reading_corner's review against another edition
5.0
The ingenuity of Ursula comes into play when she has such a range for writing both The Wizard of Earthsea and this thrilling, thought-provoking short essay, that is somehow a short story, but also a philosophical ethical question and dilemma.
The allegory is that we as a society usually thrive, and are happy on the expense of other peoples miseries.
In our modern day this comes into play when there is societal classes and invisible discrimination of humanity, whether it be fast fashion on the backbone of child labor, or using the work force of refugees by first world countries and not giving them basic rights such as permanent residency or access to free healthcare.
The allegory is that we as a society usually thrive, and are happy on the expense of other peoples miseries.
In our modern day this comes into play when there is societal classes and invisible discrimination of humanity, whether it be fast fashion on the backbone of child labor, or using the work force of refugees by first world countries and not giving them basic rights such as permanent residency or access to free healthcare.