Review: The Word for World is Forest
The Word for World is Forest is a science-fiction novel by Ursula Le Guin, although the science-fiction elements are very much just window-dressing. This story is very much an analogue for the US’ involvement in the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, the story has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Right from the first chapter, Le Guin makes her opposition to the war evident. In fact, it is so blatant I almost stopped reading after a few pages. Fortunately, I continued, and I enjoyed the rest, but the first three-quarters of that first chapter were really hard work. It wasn’t exactly poorly written, but I just hated the characterisations and that got in the way of my enjoyment of the storytelling.
The story takes place on a forest planet which humanity has colonised and is in the process of stripping of its natural resources (logging mainly). Unfortunately for humanity, the planet is inhabited by the Creechies, a small humanoid sapient people who are covered with green fur. The humans enslave some of them (as we do) and force them to work menial jobs. When one of the colonising officers rapes and murders the wife of one of these Creechies, it sets off a series of events that threatens the human existence on the planet.
We have of course seen this story before: The Ewoks in Return of the Jedi, and James Cameron’s Avatar, immediately come to mind. However, there is absolutely no subtlety in The Word for World is Forest. No nuance. The bad guys are very bad. The good guys are very good. It all very much undermines the story. I actually believe that Cameron (in particular) told this story much better, and I hate Avatar.
One thing that Le Guin did very well was her world-building. The civilisation and mythology she created for The Creechies is wonderfully enchanting and rich. Better, unlike in The Left Hand of Darkness, she doesn’t allow it to distract and sidetrack the story she tells.
Overall, I enjoyed the novel, but it has its flaws.
