City of illusions

by Ursula K. Le Guin

159 pages

English language

Published Aug. 8, 1973 by Panther.

ISBN:: 978-0-586-03755-3

(23 reviews)

He was a fully grown man, alone in dense forest, with no trail to show where he had come from and no memory to tell who — or what — he was. His eyes were not the eyes of a human. The forest people took him in and raised him almost as a child, teaching him to speak, training him in forest lore, giving him all the knowledge they had. But they could not solve the riddle of his past, and at last he had to set out on a perilous quest to Es Toch, the City of the Shining, the Liars of Earth, the Enemy of Mankind. There he would find his true self ... and a universe of danger.

Cover illustration by Jack Gaughan

18 editions

reading crustacean reviewed City Of Illusions (Hainish Series) [UNABRIDGED] by Ursula K. Le Guin

poetic, lots of taoism, Bad Takes on gender

4 stars

I love this for the mysticism (they have a glass bead game!), the poetic descriptions of nature and the questioning of the Self. I think it was such a realistic portrayal of the main character's mind, at least I really got into it.

What I didn't notice when reading it for the first time were misogynistic and transmisic undertones :F it didn't spoil the book completely for me, but it's the reason this isn't 5 stars for me. might well ruin it for others.

also, if you're into plot-driven stories, don't pick this up.