The Telling

Lore & Background

The Telling follows Sutty, a woman from Earth who travels to the planet Aka as an Ekumen observer. On Aka, all traditional customs and beliefs have been outlawed by the state. Sutty experiences and reports on the conflicts between the repressive state capitalist government and the native people who resist through the practice of storytelling, locally called 'the Telling.' Le Guin constructed the recent historical situation of Aka as a parallel to China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. The practice of the Telling is analogous to Taoist and Hindu practices and philosophy, and its suppression mirrors the suppression of religious practices by the Chinese government at that time.

Reader's Guide

The Telling is significant as Le Guin's return to a full novel in the Hainish Cycle after The Dispossessed, and for its exploration of religion, politics, and storytelling. Critics have noted it is as much about religion and politics as about storytelling, and that it follows Le Guin's standard approach with a clear outside observer and contrasting civilizations. Gerald Jonas of The New York Times described it as 'an anthropological puzzle story,' but found the main character Sutty to be 'little more than a mouthpiece for the author's personal vision of the good society.' The novel won the Endeavour Award and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2001, and has been translated into Hebrew, German, Turkish, and Italian.

Did You Know?

• The Telling is one of Le Guin's later novels in the Hainish Cycle, following The Eye of the Heron (1978) and the collection Four Ways to Forgiveness (1995).
• The novel's title refers to the indigenous storytelling tradition called 'the Telling.'
• Le Guin modeled Aka's history on China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.
• The Telling won the Endeavour Award in 2001 and was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, which went to The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod.