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Lavinia - Ursula K. Le Guin
Lavinia
by: (author)
4.03 75
From a masterful writer of myth and fantasy, a beautiful reimagining of one of the most pivotal characters in Virgil's Aeneid   As the story goes, Virgil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to build an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now,... show more
From a masterful writer of myth and fantasy, a beautiful reimagining of one of the most pivotal characters in Virgil's Aeneid   As the story goes, Virgil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to build an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy. Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom until her suitors arrive. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner, that she will be the cause of a bitter war, and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands and tells us the story of her life—and her life's greatest love.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780156033688 (0156033682)
ASIN: 156033682
Publisher: Mariner Books
Pages no: 279
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Books by the Lake
Books by the Lake rated it
5.0 Lavinia
Inspired (as the afterword details) equally by the poetry of the Aeneid and by the ancient Roman religion, this book is an astonishing, exhilarating work on history, ritual, kingship, literature, and more -- kept surprising me, right up to the last page. Lavinia is a character who in the Aeneid is ...
Boston Bibliophile
Boston Bibliophile rated it
5.0 Lavinia
http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009/10/review-lavinia-by-ursula-k-le-guin.html
A Man With An Agenda
A Man With An Agenda rated it
4.0 Lavinia
Leave it to Le Guin to elevate fan fiction to high art. Lavinia, little more than a prop in Virgil's 'Aeneid' (though a necessary one as babies were going to be wanted), is allowed to voice her thoughts and piety and tell the story of her life and her Latium. At the same time, Lavinia is aware that ...
the reader in a quiet corner
the reader in a quiet corner rated it
4.0
Lavinia is a very minor character in the Aenid. I'm not one for Greek/Roman epics, and I surely can't remember who Aeneas was. (Btw, how do you pronounce Aeneas? I like to pronounce it Ay-ee-nay-ahs bahaha) Nothing to worry about, the Aenid can be understood in this book.*Random thought* Any retelli...
Meof50days
Meof50days rated it
A novel that's quiet, slow, filled with beauty and spirit like any of Le Guin's classic works. Those who read the Aeneid for the Augustan fervor might be disappointed at how domestic the whole thing is, but lovers of the author and of the history of the poem will find a lovingly crafted world.What I...
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