Josefine
My first short-story (or any story) by Ursula K. Le Guin, and what a first impression it made!
It took me three attempts to actually get through it because the prose is just so incredible dense. But when it finally clicked, I was absolutely captured by the world she is she is crafting.
I absolutely loved how unconventional the description if this utopia ended up being. There is actually quite a lot of social commentary in here, especially about the technologies we rely on and whether they actually serve us. I didn't expect a story from the 70's to be so urbanist-pilled!
I already knew the rough outline of the story from some summaries, so I expected the twist to not hit as hard. But I was so, so wrong about that. In roughly half a page I went from awe-struck at the beauty of it all to devastated at the pure misery being described.
However, what was even worse to me was the way the people of Omelas rationalize this suffering. "This is a fair bargain", they tell themselves, safe in the knowledge that they are not the one having to bear the burden. "It's better this way, actually" -- pure copium.
In the western world, we partake in these kinds of rationalizations essentially on a daily basis, and this story forces us to reckon with that.
My first short-story (or any story) by Ursula K. Le Guin, and what a first impression it made!
It took me three attempts to actually get through it because the prose is just so incredible dense. But when it finally clicked, I was absolutely captured by the world she is she is crafting.
I absolutely loved how unconventional the description if this utopia ended up being. There is actually quite a lot of social commentary in here, especially about the technologies we rely on and whether they actually serve us. I didn't expect a story from the 70's to be so urbanist-pilled!
I already knew the rough outline of the story from some summaries, so I expected the twist to not hit as hard. But I was so, so wrong about that. In roughly half a page I went from awe-struck at the beauty of it all to devastated at the pure misery being described.
However, what was even worse to me was the way the people of Omelas rationalize this suffering. "This is a fair bargain", they tell themselves, safe in the knowledge that they are not the one having to bear the burden. "It's better this way, actually" -- pure copium.
In the western world, we partake in these kinds of rationalizations essentially on a daily basis, and this story forces us to reckon with that.
