Ursula Le Guin has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#151

Post by muricula » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 5:18 PM UTC

frostwhale wrote: post #145

nkoren wrote: post #106

My favourite living author is now my favourite dead author. It has been such a privilege to read her works. Ursula Le Guin conjured new worlds and and lay them out before my mind's eye -- but that's not what made her special. Many writers have done that. What she could do -- almost uniquely -- was to conjure a new mind's eye . She understood that the world exists at the point of perception, so she built her worlds ou…

Pretty big sci-fi reader and have never read her (to my shame), can you recommend where to start?

Her most well known sci-fi novels are probably the Left Hand of Darkness, Winter, and The Dispossessed. They are well summarized in the obituary. If you prefer fantasy, she wrote The Wizards of Earthsea series as well.

Le Guinn explores social and political questions overlooked by those who came before, and has had a profound impact on those who came after. The recent Hugo winner Ancillary Justice was heavily inspired by Winter, for instance.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#152

Post by nkoren » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

muricula wrote: post #151

frostwhale wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty big sci-fi reader and have never read her (to my shame), can you recommend where to start?

Her most well known sci-fi novels are probably the Left Hand of Darkness, Winter, and The Dispossessed. They are well summarized in the obituary. If you prefer fantasy, she wrote The Wizards of Earthsea series as well. Le Guinn explores social and political questions overlooked by those who came before, and has had a profound impact on those who came after. The recent Hugo winner Ancillary Justice was heavily inspire…

Winter? That's not a novel of hers... do you mean the short story Winter's King?

Anyhow, the Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed are great books. I actually didn't get into the Wizard of Earthsea for some reason, but this was probably a problem with my teenage brain; I need to go back and give it another chance. I'm also very partial to her short stories, with The Birthday of the World containing several of my favourites.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#153

Post by teachrdan » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 6:20 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #62

KingMob wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Butler's books made my skin crawl in the best possible way. I can't think of another author in SF who so thoroughly conveyed the feeling of rape to a man who'd never experienced it. Her books were potent brews of control, acceptance, family, and love. I keep hoping Kindred will be made into a mini-series one day.

I'm from the 90's, partially. I hope your username is a reference to The Invisibles .

When I was deep into The Invisibles, I looked up "King Mob" and learned the character was likely inspired by the real-life radical group of the same name from 60s-70s London.[0]

0 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Mob]

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#154

Post by ixtli » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

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

I have also found that socialist positions get downvoted here. I'd recommend that people read the works of socialists (Marx, Rosa, etc.) because most of my negative associates came from liberal insinuation I received growing up in the US :) The very word has had a campaign against it for a long time because of the 20th century relations between America and Russia (which, btw, hasn't been anything remotely socialist in a very very long time.)

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#155

Post by ixtli » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

ghostcluster wrote: post #121

mmustapic wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, she warns about the creation of hierarchies even in a purely anarchist society.

Hierarchies are necessary for complex systems to function. The way that it is used as a boogeyword by ideologues is exhausting.

I'm not sure why this comment was downvoted. I read it as a valid criticism of anti-state discourse. While I'm amenable to quite a bit of left-libertarian philosophy/ideology, I agree from lived experience that hard problems require complex systems to solve them EVEN IF the solutions themselves are simple!

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#156

Post by MaysonL » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 7:30 PM UTC

ixtli wrote: post #154

kiliantics wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I have also found that socialist positions get downvoted here. I'd recommend that people read the works of socialists (Marx, Rosa, etc.) because most of my negative associates came from liberal insinuation I received growing up in the US :) The very word has had a campaign against it for a long time because of the 20th century relations between America and Russia (which, btw, hasn't been anything remotely socialist i…

And yet there seems to be a fair amount of support here for guaranteed basic income / guaranteed employment.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#157

Post by muricula » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 7:32 PM UTC

nkoren wrote: post #152

muricula wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Her most well known sci-fi novels are probably the Left Hand of Darkness, Winter, and The Dispossessed. They are well summarized in the obituary. If you prefer fantasy, she wrote The Wizards of Earthsea series as well. Le Guinn explores social and political questions overlooked by those who came before, and has had a profound impact on those who came after. The recent Hugo winner Ancillary Justice was heavily inspire…

Winter ? That's not a novel of hers... do you mean the short story Winter's King ? Anyhow, the Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed are great books. I actually didn't get into the Wizard of Earthsea for some reason, but this was probably a problem with my teenage brain; I need to go back and give it another chance. I'm also very partial to her short stories, with The Birthday of the World containing several of…

I was thinking of the Lathe of Heaven, sorry!

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#158

Post by hi41 » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 7:32 PM UTC

mmustapic wrote: post #124

“A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skillful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well – this durable joy is perhaps the deepest so…

Those words are so beautiful!

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#159

Post by MaysonL » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 7:33 PM UTC

ghostcluster wrote: post #121

mmustapic wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, she warns about the creation of hierarchies even in a purely anarchist society.

Hierarchies are necessary for complex systems to function. The way that it is used as a boogeyword by ideologues is exhausting.

True, but not hierarchies of control over people's lives.

Re: Ursula Le Guin has died

#160

Post by MaysonL » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

mmustapic wrote: post #124

“A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skillful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well – this durable joy is perhaps the deepest so…

Over the years I've done a fair amount of good work as a programmer. These days, I get as much joy as I ever got programming by cooking some vegetable soup and sharing it with friends. (And it's cheap: $10 makes about 2 gallons [~7 liters]).