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Ursula Le Guin has died

nytimes.com

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Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#91

Post by mercutio2 »

bad-joke wrote: post #81
mercutio2 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We didn’t really learn much about the communists in the Dispossessed. Most of the novel is about the anarchists. Anarchists generally get along with communists even worse than capitalists do, so I don’t think this distinction is just pedantry.

As the linked article mentions, The Dispossessed was inspired by the works of Peter Kropotkin, the prominent anarcho-communist.

I missed that in the article, thanks! Indeed the anarchism on display in the Dispossessed was very collectivist, I hadn’t realized how directly it was based on Kropotkin.

My experience of anarchists is such that I happily group most anarchists together, and place them ideologically far, far away from Stalinists.

Are you thinking Kropotkin’s ideals are close enough to communism that I shouldn’t belabor the distinction?

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#92

Post by sjclemmy »

I read “The Lathe of Heaven” when I was younger. I remember being fascinated by it, as only a young person can be.

I hadn’t really thought to look at her other books since then (which is probably about 35 years). I’ll definintely be reading “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Dispossessed” due to the comments on here. Thanks HN! And thank you U.K. LeGuin for introducing me to a world of ideas and possibilities.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#93

Post by labster »

stcredzero wrote: post #59
sampo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> neither system People often miss it, but the planet Urras has many countries and actually two superpowers: A-Io (conservative capitalist parliamentary democracy) but also Thu (a totalitarian socialist regime). A very cold war like setting. A-Io allowed the Odonian rebels (anarchists) to exile to the moon, but their counterparts in Thu we never hear much about. Possibly their fate was more gruesome.

There should be a sequel where there is a Project where A-Io gives rise to a successor society A-Jo, which doesn't work out, but then gives rise to another successor using the same iterative naming scheme. Then that successor should then switch to a successor naming scheme advancing only the 1st letter, and the whole story series should be directed by Katsuhiko Nishijima.

For this terrible pun, I am sending Akagiyama missiles your way.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#94

Post by shaunxcode »

sjclemmy wrote: post #92

I read “The Lathe of Heaven” when I was younger. I remember being fascinated by it, as only a young person can be. I hadn’t really thought to look at her other books since then (which is probably about 35 years). I’ll definintely be reading “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Dispossessed” due to the comments on here. Thanks HN! And thank you U.K. LeGuin for introducing me to a world of ideas and possibilities.

The dispossessed is quite possibly one of the most important books I have ever read.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#95

Post by labster »

macrael wrote: post #9

I am not trying to say that I was happy, during those weeks of hauling a sledge across an ice-sheet in the dead of winter. I was hungry, overstrained, and often anxious, and it all got worse the longer it went on. I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy. —T…

There's a lot in The Left Hand of Darkness, but the thing I got out of it is there are some things that can't be learned by being told the answer. I could tell you what the left hand of darkness is right now, but if you didn't read the book, you'd be none the wiser. Some things can only be taught through experiencing it yourself, or through the proxy of storytelling.

Storytelling is the greatest tool we have for passing down wisdom to the next generation. Ursula LeGuin, we celebrate what you have taught us and will continue to teach us, and we mourn your passing.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#97

Post by ars »

bolasanibk wrote: post #46
tunesmith wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone remember the source of the essay about the town where everyone was happy, and how it feels unbelievable until you find it has a horrible secret, which somehow makes it more believable? I think that is her writing.

That story always makes me question what decision I will make if in a similar situation.

I wondered the same thing.

But then I wondered "Why did they walk away? Why not comfort the child and end it?"

In the story she says a single kind word to the child would end it. I can understand living there, but I don't understand walking away.

By walking away you are not helping the child. So what does it matter that you are not benefiting?

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#98

Post by downvote_me »

macrael wrote: post #9

I am not trying to say that I was happy, during those weeks of hauling a sledge across an ice-sheet in the dead of winter. I was hungry, overstrained, and often anxious, and it all got worse the longer it went on. I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy. —T…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dispossessed one of her best as well.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#99

Post by dmitriid »

kiliantics wrote: post #77
viburnum wrote: post #69

"We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art."

Ursula Le Guin was an ardent socialist and it comes through in all her writing. I don't understand why the only comments and quotes about her politics are all downvoted in this thread. But I guess that's the average Hackernews reader for you... EDIT: the quote is from a speech, which you can hear/see in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf-rsALk

She also warns how socialism can be easily turned into the power of the few. See The Dispossessed.
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