The Beginning Place
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted May 29, 2023
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This might be Le Guin's least known novel, certainly by me, since it is not connected to any of her more famous series. I don't recall reading or hearing anything about it, and I'm not sure how long I've had the paperback. Maybe only since 2016 when I started reviewing her award winners first, then others later. Or I spotted it in a used bookstore sometime before that. According to the copyright page, The Beginning Place was "serialized" in Redbook magazine in December, 1979. I found an archive site with cover images of their issues, and the December one mentions her new novel, but not the title. There is nothing about it on either the November or January cover. If December was the only time it appeared that probably should have read "excerpted." It is a short novel, but if presented complete in the magazine it would have been extremely small print. Its first hardcover publication came in February, 1980, with three printings by March. It has had several foreign editions, and in the UK it was released as Threshold.
The threshold is a portal, a gate in a field, beyond which is a mysterious place, perpetually in either twilight or early dawn. The light never changes, the sun is never seen, and there is only very rare glimpses of a star, or more likely it is Venus. Hugh Rogers first finds the "evening place" when he leaves his home in disgust, running to exhaustion. When he wakes he explores the area briefly, finding a stream from which he drinks the freshest, purest water he has ever had. When he goes back through the gate he is in darkness, the same darkness he left when he first went through. By his watch it seems only a minute or two has passed, but he thought he had been in the evening place for hours. Hugh is 20 years old, still living with his mother, with whom he argues frequently. His father had abandoned them years before. He wants to go to college to get a degree in library science, but he can't afford it, working as a checker in a supermarket. In the second chapter we meet a woman who had found what she calls the "beginning place," but that seems to be just from her perspective, since neither Irena or Hugh can tell at what time of day their special place is frozen. It's hard for them to tell east from west, north from south. Irena had discovered the portal years before, and had visited many times, exploring well beyond the stream, going into foothills and finding a small town, which she calls Mountain Town. The residents call it Tembreabrezi, although I'm not sure if that's just the town or the country of which it is a part. It seems to be stuck in a time a hundred years or more ago. I've read quite a bit by Le Guin, but I'm beginning to realize not as much as I had thought, perhaps only about a fourth of her output, considering the non-fiction and poetry, including several other stand-alone books. This is different than others I've read, but it may have more in common with some I haven't, Orsinia for instance. I don't want to spoil anything, so the rest of my comments will be brief.
Irena and Hugh are antagonists at first, since both felt this was their place, not wanting to share it. Both had been running away from something, even if they didn't realize it at the time. Irena's father had died of cancer, and she did not get along with her mother's new husband. She was upset enough about her real life, but even more upset when Hugh discovers Mountain Town. The situation had already changed even before Hugh's arrival there. Irena had been welcomed by the townsfolk, learned their language, even fallen in love with the man known as Master Sark. The traders from the City stopped coming, and the local shepherds were not able to get to their normal pastures. No one has been able to leave the town; something prohibits them from leaving, but it seems to be more a psychological thing rather than physical. Irena can still come and go, even though she had decided she would rather stay in Mountain Town. But Lord Horn has welcomed Hugh, and thinks of him as the hero they've been waiting for, the one who will end their troubles. We don't know if what they endure ended Mountain Town's troubles. They don't go back to Mountain Town to find out, instead make their way to the gate by an alternate route. They were alone at the start, both in the real world, and when they had discovered the beginning place on their own. Both realized their adventure was for them, to overcome their fears, to face the problems they had in the "real" world. The way was not easy, they resented each other many times, but they made it through together, when they cooperated. Neither wants to return to the beginning place. They have other beginnings to occupy their time.
It's hard deciding how to rate this. I did like it, but also felt there was something missing, something never revealed about Hugh and Irena, or about Tembreabrezi, and what threatened it. Then again, that's a lot like life. We never learn everything, no matter how much we want to, and we can end our life not knowing if we have made a difference. Even if the only difference here is what Hugh and Irena did for each other, it was a worthy journey. Frequently dreamlike, always fascinating, even with my misgivings. I'm pretty sure if and when I re-read it, I will find more answers. If I didn't have so many other books waiting I'd re-read it now. Recommended.
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