The Farthest Shore

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It is philosophical fantasy's version of science fiction's handwavium. While scifi's knowledge most of the time doesn't reside in the specifics of the technicality, in this kind of fantasy the life lessons transmitted depend on a solid foundation, or they become mere catchphrases.

There is merit in Le Guin's Taoism and whatever school of thought that spurs contemplation and acceptance, but the entire being vs. doing trope seems to be born out of a trick language plays. It seems clever and deep to make a dichotomy of these two verbs. It seems clever because it's fun: both verbs are among the few auxiliary verbs we have and as such take up a central place in our linguistic minds, both verbs are very short, 2 sounds only, and as an ing-form they even rhyme. So yes, it appeals to the nursery rhyme part of our mind and that tricks our slow brain into perceiving depth, but a dichotomy they are not. For living beings there's simply no doing without being, and no being without doing.

Part of this is a matter of taste (...)

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