Paradises Lost

by Ursula K. Le Guin

From "Birthday of the World"

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Audiobook, Queer

113 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly modern take on a space ark and the implications on humanity. The outcome is grim and realistic and would make for an excellent mini-series
History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.

Again awed at the excellence of Ursula K. Le Guin her science fiction writing. This feels incredibly modern and even though the pace at times felt a bit weird, the narrative delivers and is still interesting today, with the lure of VR and strong overtures of Brave New World. People are a risky business so on this space ark VR childrearing of supernatural people is used to ensure that the risks are controlled. With only 4.000 in a gene pool, racism takes hold in the space ark, despite comments lik: History must be what we escaped from, it is what we were, not what we are.

A new religion is emerging, whose followers start to question if living on a planet is such a joy:
Freedom is what your mind does, what your soul is.
This invariably leads to polarisation: People need god like a three year old needs a chainsaw

People start being labelled per their generation, with every iteration more risk averse to a new world and a new system of life to embrace: Our job is to travel, a different job from arrival.

Overarching importance of recycling adds a nice dash of environmentalism.
This could definitely be a good miniseries, it feels like a mix between Brave New World and the Passengers film with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, and raises interesting questions on change, and what kind of people would want to risk the loss of the comfortable and controlled world they are accustomed to: I like what I know, and I know what I like

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paradisi Perduti è un libro corto, quasi un lungo racconto piuttosto che un romanzo: appena 150 pagine che ci narrano la storia della Discovery.
Ogni capitolo è un momento a sé stante, il piccolo pezzo di un puzzle che ci mostra una storia: la Le Guin non ci racconta niente.
Non ci racconta di Luis e di Hsing, ma ce li fa vedere nella loro vita, nella loro amicizia, nelle loro scelte, e tratteggia con precisione e poesia la vita quotidiana in un ambiente che per noi è alieno, eppure comprensibile: la prima pagina, in cui un padre spiega alla propria figlioletta (nata e cresciuta in un'astronave) il concetto di pianeta è genialità pura e semplice, perchè è ovvio che il semplice, assodato fatto che vivi fuori dal pianeta e non dentro il pianeta crei confusione in qualcuno che ha sperimentato solo il vivere dentro qualcosa perchè fuori c'è il niente.

Il ciclo di evluzione/vita che si vede sulla Discovery è particolare ed interessante: non importa quanto tutto sia progettato nei minimi particolari per permettere la sopravvivenza nella migliori condizioni possibili, sono i fattori psicologici umani a sfuggire al controllo, in particolare la necessità di avere fede in qualcosa, di trovare un significato più profondo e spirituale alla propria vita. Ed è lì che nasce la fonte di conflitto: una religione che vede nel viaggio il punto più alto dell'esistenza, e la tentata manipolazione per impedire l'atterraggio così da continuare una vita sicura e prive di sorprese, ed evitare il salto nel buio, nell'incertezza che comporta lo scoprire di nuovo come si vive in un'ambiente naturale, dove la luce delle stelle brucia, dove la pioggia non ha orari precisi, dove le stagioni cambiano.

Alla fine lo scontro è tra due modi di vivere: quello certo, sicuro, dove sai esattamente come e quanto morirai (perchè una nave non può andare avanti in eterno) e quello incerto, alla giornata, dove non sai quello che ti aspetta.
La narrazione di una vita, più che delle vicende di alcuni personaggi.

Lo stile della Le Guin è perfetto. Semplicemente perfetto.
Ogni singola parola è al suo posto, si può quasi immaginare l'autrice che corregge e corregge per trovare la descrizione migliore, la costruzione della frase migliore, il vocabolo migliore. Il risultato è un esempio di stile, uno scritto dalla meticolosa precisione e privo di qualsiasi sbavatura.

In sostanza, questo libro per me è un piccolo gioiello della fantascienza.

[Andrea Zanotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oggi ci diamo alla fantascienza con un’autrice di fama internazionale: Ursula K. Le Guin e il suo Paradisi Perduti.
Nulla da dire, la La Guin scrive bene ed è capace di tenerci incollati alle pagine anche per i primi due terzi dell’opera che si avvicina più a un saggio sociologico più che a un romanzo vero e proprio.
La vicenda per ogni buon studioso delle abitudini e attitudini umane rimane comunque interessante. Tutto questo rimuginare, ben inteso, facendo trapelare le informazioni attraverso i comportamenti dei protagonisti, senza mai perdersi in sermoni descrittivi e prolissi, è volto a edificare un bel finale.
Si tratta di scontri di visioni molto affascinanti e capaci di far riflettere ognuno di noi. Sfido chiunque, giunto a conclusione di questo romanzo breve, andiamo poco oltre le 100 paginette, a non avere il dubbio amletico su che via avrebbe intrapreso se si fosse trovato nei panni degli abitanti della Discovery. Recensione completa: https://www.scrittorindipendenti.com/...

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this, I'm struck by how insightful it seems. Le Guin offers some highly thoughtful and credible theories on how a people/society in a generations long itinerant state might begin to think and act. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on words and how words lose meaning as interpretants when the signs themselves disappear from the world (if I didn't get my semiotics backwards there). The introduction of people born into space onto a planet leads to a rediscovery of the meaning of words, because words that previously lacked any referant (e.g. sunlight, clouds, wind) suddenly become a tangible part of your reality. I thought the end of the story captured very well the onslaught of new experiences and hardships for a people completely unaccustomed to either.

Thinking on that last bit, I'm struck by the thought of someone quibbling that people born into space couldn't adapt to planetary living. And while it might be a fair point that Le Guin never addresses, I also don't care. I think that there is enjoyable hard sci-fi that is crafted with exacting realism (e.g. the Martian). And I personally do find those oversights or errors quite irritating in unrealistic sci fi that doesn't have anything interesting or meaningful to say (e.g. Long way to an angry planet). But Le Guin's genius has always been that she is doing several interesting and innovative things wrt the exploration of the human condition, and it just happens to be in space or on another planet. When the writing is brilliant and the ideas engaging, the small plot holes aren't noticed. At no point during this book did I ever think about or look for such points because I was constantly engaged by the interesting ideas Le Guin was presenting. As usual, I'm extremely impressed by her mastery of writing and elevation of the sci-fi genre.

Aside aside it's a very well told novella - the pacing is perfect and keeps you interested as the plot and setting are developed in perfect tandem. The use of religious powerseekers as a dangerous influence on a ship which is run on rational principles seems quite apt and well developed. I think it maybe could have been done a bit more subtly, but as a fairly skeptical person who is hihgly critical of religion's role in causing conflict throughout history, I'm easily sold on the idea. I think knowing Le Guin's background in / fondness for Taoism helps too, as I don't perceive her as using religion as a boogeyman entirely. Taken from a different perspective, the novella can also be seen as a contrast in Western religion vs Eastern and the implications of both (a not uncommon theme in Le Guin's writing). The monotheistic religions are frequently mentioned in the beginning of the story and, by extension, they can be (and have been - looking at you Teillhard) interpreted as being entirely anthropocentric. An idealized world is one of just humans and whatever is required for their basic needs as they seek communion with God. By contrast the Visitors seek out meaning on a planet, in a wider ecological context. In a more Eastern tradition they seek meaning in life in relation to the rest of life, not simply in relation to a spiritual Other that doesn't exist in this material plane. True happiness and meaning isn't going to be found by constraining one's experience of life to a narrow subset of the human possibility, as the Angels who remain on the ship do. It's like a blind person starting a religion and converting everyone to blindness so they can more fully experience life. It might make some sense if you live somewhere with no light, but it makes no sense if you have the possiblity of seeing things.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a part of The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin

This is another sci-fi novella, but not set in a pre-existing universe like the other sci-fi stories in this collection. The world is setup gradually and deliberately, giving one a satisfying sense of what's going on, unlike the other books where you pretty much needed some pre-existing knowledge to fully appreciate. The writing is once again very good and the characters are unique and interesting. Most were a bit odd but made sense within the context of the world. The themes brought up were also explored nicely and worked well in the story which the author seems to do consistently well, albeit heavy-handedly at times.

I've complained about the story telling before in this collection and while this is one of the better stories, it still had some unsatisfying aspects. The main conflict is never really resolved and we're left with everyone begrudgingly compromising. It's not that I mind that kind of resolution to a story, it's more that apart from the brief time we have with the arising of the conflict, the story is otherwise quite ordinary and slow. The details of the world and some of the interactions were nice to read, but for a short story such as this, it really needed an impactful climax.

[Emily M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really unusual generation ship story in that nothing goes wrong with the ship, nor are their notable social problems within it. No, the threat is that one element of society - a new religion - has adapted TOO well to the ship environment and now doesn't want to stop when they reach the new planet. But entropy is still a thing!

Full review: https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2...

[pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of The Birthday of the World collection. It was a wonderful story.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Middle Passage.

Le Guin's Paradises Lost takes place aboard a generation ship traveling through space on a centuries-long voyage to colonize a distant planet. The story spans multiple generations, focusing on the lives of the descendants of the original crew who were born aboard the ship and have never experienced life on Earth. As the journey progresses, the peoples in the "middle generations" -- those who were never expected to see the new planet -- start to lose their sense of purpose and develop their own religion that being and living on the ship is Heaven itself and that they are already angels, and the only true death is leaving the ship. It's a fascinating little twist that gets further entangled in the fact that the ship is scheduled to arrive at the new planet early. Le Guin's ability to organically develop this new "religion" to make it seem plausible is masterful and represents the best kind of thought-experimental SF.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was thoroughly enjoying this but it really started to drag going into the second half. Still good, but it could have been a shorter short story.

[Amelia Jarvinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! A wonderful way to get back to reading for pleasure.

[Colton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

What if the muscles that would have unveiled Paradise to you had atrophied?

What if Eve's discovery of overgrowth found in Milton's Eden had come to pass, not in the garden, but in language?

A game of Telephone across generations of the kind that Robert Frost predicted?

Or an argument about whether a Generation owes anything to any other, that Thomas Jefferson famously rejected?

What is History, and can it be important?

The novella holds all of these things with an acuity most authors can only dream about.

[Totarota · Rating 4 out of 5]

In dieser utopischen Novelle schickt Le Guin ein Schiff mit 4000 Menschen auf eine Erkundungsreise zu einem fernen erdähnlichen Planeten, den voraussichtlich erst die sechste Generation erreichen wird. Die „Welt“ der Reisenden ist ein abgeschlossenes Paradies, in dem Krankheiten, Abstammung oder Geschlecht kaum eine Rolle spielen. Aber was bedeutet Freiheit in dieser Welt? Wenn man nur die Reise kennt, wie kann man dann ankommen? Und will man das überhaupt?

[Peter Tillman]

Novella, from The Birthday of the World and Other Stories. Library copies available.
Jo Walton lists this as one of the 10 best SF novellas in this century!

See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... for my (partial) review of that collection. It's great.

[Harper North · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the journey of this novella (the characters, the writing style, the complexity of society on The Discovery), but the ending left me wanting more - I live for a good nature/new world description and I got NOTHING

[Mario Pacchiarotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anche questa volta devo fare un'onesta premessa prima di passare a parlarvi del libro letto. Le cose stanno così: io amo Ursula Le Guin e probabilmente vi parlerei bene dei suoi scritti anche se pubblicasse la lista della lavanderia. Ecco l'ho detto, regolatevi voi :-)

Questo breve romanzo conferma il genio di questa autrice.
Una delle domande che prima o poi capita di porci durante la vita riguarda il nostro destino, il fine della vita stessa. Dove andiamo, chi siamo, perché esistiamo? Qualche volta la domanda rimane sospesa e ci accontentiamo di vivere senza uno scopo dichiarato, altre volte, magari spinti dalla religione, dall'amore o da altri potenti sentimenti, ci figuriamo che la nostra esistenza abbia una ragione, un fine ultimo magari sconosciuto. Che la vita non sia un semplice istante senza senso è una necessità per molti di noi, così spesso finiamo per credere che un senso ci sia, pur senza afferrarlo.

Ursula è come sempre abile nel creare un mondo che gli permetta di dimostrare quello che vuole. In questo caso ci troviamo su un'astronave generazionale. Non si tratta certo di un'idea nuova, eppure quando veniamo messi accanto ai personaggi di questo libro ci rendiamo subito conto che Ursula vuole farci riflettere su qualcosa di speciale, qualcosa che aveva bisogno di questa ambientazione per poter essere analizzato.
Siamo su una nave generazionale, una nave che viaggia verso una destinazione lontana, una destinazione che solo l'ultima delle tante generazioni di viaggiatori potrà toccare con mano. E allora, quale è lo scopo per le generazioni che viaggiano senza alcuna speranza di poter vedere quella meta? Che senso hanno le loro vite? E ancora, ammesso che il senso sia quello di consentire all'astratta umanità di raggiungere quella destinazione, perché quelli che viaggiano se ne dovrebbero occupare?

Ma non basta, perché si va oltre con le domande esistenziali. E forse, come vedrete leggendo, per alcuni la meta non ha alcun senso, mentre è il viaggio il vero scopo, la vera ragione, l'unica cosa desiderabile. Molte domande vi gireranno nella testa se leggerete il libro con l'animo curioso e indagatore che si richiede a un lettore di Ursula Le Guin. Poche le risposte, ma è giusto così. Potrete affrontare il conflitto tra scienza e religione, tra spinta all'esplorazione e desiderio di protezione, tra sicurezza senza cambiamenti e lotta per la sopravvivenza. Gli umani, come sempre, sceglieranno ognuno per proprio conto.

Come vi ho detto, sono un fan vero e proprio e la mia opinione forse non conta molto, però vi dico lo stesso che è un gran bel libro e che vale la pena comprarlo e leggerlo.

[Simar · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was so beautful what the hell !!!!

[Ida Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one book by Ursula K. le Guin takes place not on a far removed planet in an alien society, but on a ship sent from the Earth to explore a distant planet. It described a society of humans who don't belong to any planet and whose only home is their ship.

The brilliance of le Guin is that she always considers the situations she writes about very thoroughly and raises points you probably didn't think about but which logically absolutely have to be there. Did you think that in a society made of people of various religions who have to live in peace with each other to preserve their fragile home could emerge a new religion, which is all about being content all the time, not doing any harm to anything, and not questioning anything? And if you lived there, would you also practice that religion? Or would you choose to go exploring an unknown planet full of dangers, brutal accidents and ugly illnesses, all to fulfill a goal set by your predecessors, who haven't ever known peace themselves, but who accidentally created a world of prosperity for those who they thought they locked in a cage? At least that's how the Angels see it. I like to think that if I were a part of that crew, I would fulfill my duty no matter what, that I would not be afraid of any dangers on the ground, but would I really? And would you?

"We aren’t in control. None of us. Ever.
I know. But we’ve got a good imitation of it, here. VR is enough for me. " - Paradises Lost

[Brenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

LeGuin be like, can humanity escape its instincts for division and strife in the context of a utopian society where all basic needs are met? No, even on the arc escaping a dying earth we would get The Turd Faction.

Anyway this was gorgeous.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most enjoyable science fiction I've read. Creative and smart, with interesting characters. Lots of politics, especially between leaders, religious leaders, navigators, etc.

The idea is a group of humans were sent on a comfortable space craft, to a habitable planet years away, in space. Generations live and die on the spacecraft before it arrives. Some people, especially the older generation, subscribe to the religion of Bliss - the state of a blissful journey, with no end. For them Bliss is the only reason to stay alive.

For others, they are excited by the idea of Discovery, a planet to explore and send information back to the human species.

The book questions what is natural and what isn't:

On this ship, 'nature' was the human body. And to some extent the plants, soils, and water in hydroponics; and the bacterial population. Those only to some extent, because they were so closely controlled by the techs, even more closely controlled than human bodies were.

"Nature" on the original planet, had meant what was not controlled by human beings. "Nature" was what was substantially previous to control, the raw material for control, or what had escaped from control. This is areas of Dichew [earth] where few people lived, quadrants that were undesirably dry or cold or steep, had been called 'nature', 'wilderness' or 'nature preserves'. In these areas lived the animals, which were also called 'natural' or 'wild'. And all the 'animal' functions of the human body were therefore 'natural' - eating, drinking, pissing, shitting, sex, reflex, sleep, shouting, and going off like a siren when somebody licked your clitoris.

Control over these functions wasn't called unnatural, however, except possibly by Ed. It was called civilisation. Control started affecting the natural body as soon as it was born. And it really began to click in, Luis saw, at seven when you put on clothes and undertook to be a citizen'

[Melondrop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the writing was great, the premise was interesting - a fresh take on the space ship of humans gone to explore a new planet after leaving a barely-habitable earth, fundamental questions of what humans are at all once they leave the home planet. However, i was very distracted by some things i found problematic: both the main characters (Hsing and Luis) are people of color, and witnessing UKLG attempt to consider race from their point of view is uncomfortable to read and often feels like it misses the mark in some serious ways. Dialogue between the two of them about race/racism is sometimes weird and wrong-feeling, like how Luis calls Hsing "flatface" affectionately even though Hsing says it's a racist thing to say. Also, how indigenous people are portrayed in the virtual reality experiences of Old Earth on the ship; in an extremely racist and paternalistic way. This feels like it's done on purpose, hopefully to prove a point about what kind of people originally organized this space-colonial mission from earth to begin with, who originally designed these VR materials? But the point didn't feel like it was made well, or overtly enough. I also squirmed through a lot of the writing about gender/sex, which fell along similarly uncomfortable/essentializing lines. All in all a book full of truly engaging philosophical questions about the purpose of life; but not one of UKLG's more carefully heart-rendered works.

[Susie Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a multi-generational voyage to a potentially habitable planet, Liu Hsing and Nova Luis are members of the fifth generation born on the space ship. The novella explores all aspects of space travel for a complex society, including isolation, religion and utopia. Many are excited by the idea of discovery, a planet to explore and send information back to the human species. But some people, especially the older generation, subscribe to the religion of Bliss – the state of a blissful journey, with no end. For them, Bliss is the only reason to stay alive. Liu and Nova are faced with followers of the religious cult who question if living on a planet is such a joy. There are also themes of an environmental nature, as well as the challenge of making change, and the overall question of what is natural and what is not. An interesting read, thought-provoking in content, and fascinating in texture and design.

[Percy Hanawalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le Guin is always spectacular. I came across a lovely small-press printing of this novella, which is a story about a generation ship headed to a distant planet that shows signs of habitability. As the generations feel more and more removed from Earth over time and distance, conflicts arise around whether their destination planet should be the end goal, or if they should continue on an endless journey through space.

Paradises Lost is brief (the edition I read clocks in at 186 pages), but never feels rushed. It takes its time with establishing the setting of the ship, but nevertheless, the climax and conclusion feel well-paced too. Touching on themes of human nature (and our frequent inability to see our own embodiments of it), religious faith and dogma, and the theoretical challenges of long-term human space travel, every brief chapter feels abundant in meaning. A beautiful little book.

[Bryan Cebulski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward generation ship narrative, a sci-fi trope that I love for some reason. Paradises Lost reminded me a lot of Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora, except here the focus was more on the nature of reality than the nature of consciousness. The use of virtual reality in the ship and the development of a VR-dependent spirituality on the ship was creative and took the novella in a direction that Aurora barely grazed. The way Le Guin challenges our notions of what nature and human culture are was brilliant (if unsubtle). It felt complete and well-paced, which is always pleasant to see in a novella. Characters could have been a bit stronger though.

[omes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I kept waiting for something truly disastrous to happen. The story turned out to be a net positive after a wobbly bit in the middle; I have to admit I'm glad everything turned out mostly okay. I still think it would have been more believable if the people killed one another and/or starved to death out in space before actually getting anywhere, but I understand that that definitely wasn't the message Le Guin wanted to get across. This is the joy of speculative fiction: we can see a way forward and choose to be hopeful.

[frabamakaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

People have been living on the spaceship for five generations, on a mission to colonize a new Earth. Your past and your present is the spaceship, the spaceship is a home. What might life be like there? What habits, customs, traditions and currents of thought could develop? What if the destination is closer than expected? In less than 150 pages, Le Guin tells us a story about being human with a great sense of language and a twinkle in her eye.

[Phoebe Meyerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novella, not a book. One of the most thought-provoking works I've ever read. The destination or the journey, the ends or the means, uncertainty or safety: these are all ways to describe the central tension as 5th-generation residents of a spaceship decide whether or not to eventually land at their destination planet. It reminded me of Adam and Eve—if humans had the chance to live in Eden once again, should we still choose to eat the apple?

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great version of the “ark in space” story. In this case, the ship is carrying people on a trip from Earth to another planet, a trip that will take six generations. This story concentrates mostly on the fifth generation and what might happen when no one onboard has ever been on a planet at all and some begin to question the meaning of the voyage.

This is a standalone story.

[George Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was super cool, exploring religion, society and human experience in generational space flight.

I was wondering if this was one of the many sci-fi books that inspired The Expanse and then in the last chapter I think I spotted an Easter egg.

[ellowyn moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le Guin is absolutely, unquestionably a master of her craft. there is a tangible difference between an author who *tells you a story,* no matter how good it is or isn’t, and an author who carefully describes a universe they see as vividly as our shared one.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of a woman on a generation ship from birth to old age, told in vignettes and glimpses. The central opponents (the followers of Bliss) are thematically powerful but a little too much like evangelical Christians. Some parts are profoundly moving, especially the landing on the new world.