posted
Let me just say that I have read 52 of OSC's books -- out of the nearly 70 he has written, co-authored, edited, or anthologized. I avoided the Homecoming saga for a long time because two of my friends told me it was not as good as his other works - but now I am mid-way through Earthfall, and although I am sure I have missed most of the "allegory" concerning Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I think this series is one of Card's most consistently enjoyable efforts.
None of the books has the same emotional punch of Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, or Seventh Son but I think the five novels hold together better than either the Ender or Alvin Maker books -- which have spanned decades in their creation and seem to be more a franchise of characters, rather than a cohesive tale.
But my question is this:
In Chapter 2 in Memory of Earth (page 18, 1st ed) Issib tells Nafai that he has had sex with an "auntie" - an older woman who tutors young men in sexual matters. Issib says he did not enjoy it much because there was no emotional connection. Issib says, "It felt like it was something that was being done to me, rather than something we were doing together".
In Chapter 4 of Ships of Earth, Issib couples with his wife-to-be Hushidh. Here is the emotional connection he was wanting. But in that chapter, when Hushidh undresses (p 135), the text says "no woman had ever done such a thing in front of him". Later the same night, Issib says "This is the most wonderful night of my life, most because...because I thought it would never happen" (p 140). The "it" appears to be the sexual act itself, not just the intimacy of the act.
The implication in Ships of Earth seems to be that Issib has never had sex with a woman before, but doesn't this contradict the "auntie" experience in Memory?
posted
I don't know the answer, but perhaps Issib was referring to a woman taking him out of desire rather than tutoring. And it is possible that the auntie did not do as she did. It is also just as possible that OSC messed up. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Don't have the books in front of me, but as splendid of a writer that Card is, it could possibly be that he forgot that Issib had been tutored sexually once. It seems to me that the first sexual experience that Issib has in EarthFall is really his loss of virginity. Card doesn't seem to make too much note that this is the first time that he has been INTIMATE emotionally during sex. Instead, Card seems to play up the fact that Issib the cripple is FINALLY GETTING LAID.
So my vote is for inconsistency. But Card is still one of the best modern writers and HomeComing is still a more then decent set of books.
Talking just about Homecoming, I have to say I was dissapointed by it's conclusion. No spoilers here, but EarthBorne just didn't seem to have any of the weight and gravitas that the rest of the series did. Actually, It was the first two books of the series that grabbed me the most. I'm not a Mormon so I don't know what these stories were based on, but I immediatly picked up on the Genesis story of Jacob stealing his older brother Essau's birthright from their father Issac. I have always loved that story because both Jacob and Essau develop into seperate nations which is very powerful. Basilica was described so well I could practically smell it. And Moozh in the second novel has got to be one of the most deliciously exciting, tragic and human characters that Card has ever written. Moozh would have put Euripides and Sophocles to shame as far as how a Classical Tragic Hero is supposed to be written.
Akma in the last book is a great character as well. But he's basically a Moozh wannabe.
The Homecoming Series. I can't say that it had great potential, because there is a whole lot of quality in there. It's just that it kinda fizzled towards the end.
When Nafai is talking to Hushidh on his and Luet's wedding night, he tells her "Issib is as much a virgin as I am." This was right after his first night with Luet, so obviously he wasn't totally a virgin.
I think when Issib says, "...because I thought it would never happen" that he meant that a woman would never WANT to have sex with him of her own free will, or that he would never have a loving relationship with a woman. Meaning that no woman would ever want to take on the "task" of having sex with him because she chose to.
That doesn't leave out Issib's experience with the auntie. When he talks about it, it didn't seem to mean much to him. I think he only did it because he was curious and was hoping to learn how to give pleasure to a woman despite his physical problems. I don't think he really gave it much importance, and it doesn't really qualify as "losing his virginity" since the auntie didn't care about him and it was all contrived.
But I have considered that Card forgot...I just don't think it has to be that way.
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