The Word for World Is Forest

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There is a madness to this story, a sacred insanity. As Selver comes to grips with his own divinity and the vicious dreams that he sees seeping into reality around him, he has to battle that other insane divinity, the crazy God, the protagonist-antagonist, Davidson. With the knowledge of death and murder dawning upon him, Selver counters oppression with destruction, with rebellion. And what could be more punitive than a forced exile, than a prolonged life, to a God that wants an end? So Selver bestows upon Davidson with the one thing he has never known, the one thing he abhors: mercy. But the Athsheans’ existence proves that nature directly impacts people, regardless of their species. The Athsheans live in harmony with the forest, and their lives are inextricable from the nature that surrounds them: Athshean homes are built into the roots of trees, and their people are defined by the trees in their area. ( Selver, one of the novella’s protagonists, belongs to the “Ash” people.) At one point, the human anthropologist Raj Lyubov reveals that the Athshean word for “world” is also their word for “forest” (hence the title of the novella), which speaks to the interconnectedness of Athshean society and nature. Beyond their society’s structure, Athsheans’ customs and culture are also tied to nature. They spend large chunks of their day in a dream state, and their dreaming is frequently compared to tree growth. When Selver became unable to dream after experiencing violence, he worries that he was “cut off from his roots”—and after Selver introduces this violence to his people, Lyubov notes that Selver has changed “from the root.” In other words, Athsheans’ lives are so intertwined with the forest that any violence against them is likened to violence against nature. The plot is pretty basic, though I do like the details with which LeGuin fills out her indigenous culture, and in particular, its dreaming state. It's a short book, but it features three different perspectives: that of Davidson (human alpha male), Lyubov (human translator), and Selver (Athshean). Although they are more mouthpieces than characters, their perspectives shed light on all sides of the conflict. The tone is muted, and the last chapters are particularly somber and reflective: regardless of what happens to the humans, the innocence of the Athsheans is over - "There is no use pretending, now, that we do not know how to kill one another." The writing is good, utilitarian for the humans, rhythmic and a little outré for the Athsheans. Trees have disappeared from Earth of future, so every log is worth its weight in gold (if not more), making it perfectly profitable to send a space ship on a remote planet. The human society of the future naturally doesn't allow for colonization of any kind, but as always where there is money, people find it easy to invent new names for old evils. As I already said this story is mostly about the conflict and bloodshed between Terra men (us Earthlings) and Athshe people but there is mention of other alien races and they have a small (but apparently important) role to play. Specifically, Hatians and Cetians appear as observers. “The most winning characteristic of the rather harsh Cetian temperament was curiosity, inopportune, and inexhaustible curiosity; Cetians died eagerly, curious as to what came next.” These humanoids from other planets at one point become worried observers of shameful human treatment of Athshe's natives.

If I had read this when it first came out in 1972, it could have seeded my future as a misanthropic ecologist. Here was a radical, table-turning book in which humans are the greedy, ecologically clueless aggressors who get their asses handed to them by the rusticated, forest-dwelling natives of an invaded planet.With The Word for World Is Forest , Le Guin gives us the literary gift of a protest novel(la) that makes inextricable the violences of genocide and ecocide. She argues the need for anti-colonial action and also recognizes that such action (like the violence that made it necessary) will forever change who and what we are. She asks us to dream possibilities into being, like Selver, once-god of the Athsheans, but to know that our dreams have consequences. We must take up the sword and shield. And we must be accountable for doing so, for the change we will bring.

This novel is a part of Le Guin's Hainish series, that is set in this future Universe of her creation where there are several humanoid races ( us humans, being just one of them and not the founding one). In fact, we humans were planted on Earth by the Haniish people and many years into the future they come looking for their offspring. You don't have to know a lot about the Hainish Universe to be able to read this novel, though. It can be read as a separate work. I found that things are explained along the way pretty well, but reading more about The Hainish Cycle and its alternative history/future might help to shed more light. The Word for World is Forest broke my heart, but I loved it. This is a short book but it is very eventful. I felt for the characters and was engrossed in the story. I read it in one breath, I simply couldn't put it down once I started reading it. This is the kind of science fiction novel that I love to read. Educating, intelligent and complex. The kind that makes you ask questions and keep you guessing. It's still very much a relevant read. There is one quote from the Dune series (by Frank Herbert) that kept hunting me while I was reading this novel: " There is no escape, we pay for the violence of our ancestors. " Is there any escape? Will there ever be any escape from violence? This novella doesn't give any clear answers on the future. You've got a forest planet, filled with furry little creatures about a meter tall. They’re described as looking quite a bit like teddy bears. They live in the forest city named Endtor. Some of them were being used as slaves. They eventually rise up and decide to take on their occupiers, and reclaim their planet. All of their names are exactly 2 syllables long. Hmm… sounds a little familiar.

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Earth men who come to colonize Athshe's are made aware that the creatures living there are as human as they (from a genetic point of view) but most of them to choose to ignore that and treat them worse than animals. Profit rules as always but there is more at work there. Le Guin digs into some shameful events of human history (genocides and colonization) and perhaps even warns us of how easy it will be to repeat those violent patterns in the future, for have we ever been truly free of them? “For if it's all the rest of us who are killed by the suicide, it's himself whom the murderer kills; only he has to do is over, and over, and over."