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A review by eososray
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.0
I read the story and then read about a dozen of the reviews for it, to see some other opinions. I like the fact that the story has generated such opposing opinions but I'm having a hard time defining just what I think of the tale myself.
I am fundamentally opposed to having one persons pain procure the happiness of everyone else but 'the good of the many outweigh the good of the few' also rings true for me. Maybe it's because in this story, the 'few' has no say in the matter, that it disturbs me?
Amongst the many other opinions I read I didn't find anyone else who thought the concept of the utopian society didn't sound so utopian. Even before learning about how it was able to be this utopian town, it sounded boring, like all the good things in life had been removed along with the bad. If you don't cry, how can you know how good it is not to or if things don't go wrong how do you learn the joy of picking yourself up and making it work another way? Maybe I just can't imagine anybody being that happy and being anything more than superficial, without having known some anguish to put in it perspective.
As always, I love LeGuin's writing style but I'm not a big fan of stories with a moral.
I am fundamentally opposed to having one persons pain procure the happiness of everyone else but 'the good of the many outweigh the good of the few' also rings true for me. Maybe it's because in this story, the 'few' has no say in the matter, that it disturbs me?
Amongst the many other opinions I read I didn't find anyone else who thought the concept of the utopian society didn't sound so utopian. Even before learning about how it was able to be this utopian town, it sounded boring, like all the good things in life had been removed along with the bad. If you don't cry, how can you know how good it is not to or if things don't go wrong how do you learn the joy of picking yourself up and making it work another way? Maybe I just can't imagine anybody being that happy and being anything more than superficial, without having known some anguish to put in it perspective.
As always, I love LeGuin's writing style but I'm not a big fan of stories with a moral.