The Word for World is Forest

I must not have in been in the right head space to read this novella. I didn't find it as praiseworthy as many other reviewers have. And it won the Hugo for best novella in the early seventies. I liked the messages of ecological exploitation, colonialism, and militarism. These messages are still as relevant today as they were back when it was first written. However, I thought the execution was heavy handed and the morality was awfully black and white for Le Guin.

Update - This is an update to my review after giving it a reread for Book Club. I liked it much more this time through. I think I was in the right head space for something more serious. Everything I liked about it last time still holds. And I still think the bad guy was still one dimensional. However, the impact of the themes of ecology, slavery, and abuse all jived with me. And Davidson, the bad military captain, reminded me of Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, the commander who says, "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning." Yes, this is basically a morality play, but it is powerful. It reminds us of all the things that were wrong with the Viet Nam war, and should be a lesson for the present and the future.

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