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Sure, it's a collection of blog posts and not a novel. But what an incredible insight into intricate, carefully observed lens through which she views the world.
I've never wanted to just keep reading someone talk about their new cat more.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Srsly. Earthsea is the most potent of all her work.
Well said, but your word choice ("potent") reminded me of this great essay of hers: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ursula-k-le-guin-the... tl;dr she's making a feminist argument that a lot of our stories (Joseph Campbell, monomyth, etc) involve this phallic potency of going out into the world with our pointy sticks and poking wooly mammoths or whatever. she thinks maybe instead of pointy sticks we could thin…
Re potency, I think she’s saying it is more common, if less glamorous, to receive and collect than to fight and conquer. Perhaps she chooses to collect and share stories and questions rather than tell you what to do. That is why her tales can seem slow to some - there is a lot under the surface, a lot of meaning nameless or unsaid.
I think of her stories more as questions than answers.
As a huge fan of the Wizard of Earthsea , I could never bring myself to read the other big wizard school books: Harry Potter . Harry Potter just seemed so trite, superficial, and generic by comparison.. but since I never actually read them I can't say if my impression of them from the outside was accurate. Would any other Wizard of Earthsea fans who've actually read Harry Potter be so kind as to compare and contrast…
Ignoring wizardry and fantasy for a moment, Harry Potter is also a “school adventure”, which is a staple of British children’s literature, including works such as Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers.
Anyway — there’s so much good children’s literature out there. Read (or procure for the kids in your life) what you want!
As a huge fan of the Wizard of Earthsea , I could never bring myself to read the other big wizard school books: Harry Potter . Harry Potter just seemed so trite, superficial, and generic by comparison.. but since I never actually read them I can't say if my impression of them from the outside was accurate. Would any other Wizard of Earthsea fans who've actually read Harry Potter be so kind as to compare and contrast…
What a coincidence, I just finished The Lathe of Heaven by her this morning. It's not on the list here but I enjoyed it quite a bit (4/5 stars I would say), so I'm even more excited to check these out. The Lathe of Heaven is about a man whose dreams change reality—rewriting the past so everything fits—but his therapist is trying to use that power for his own gain and to create a utopia. Things don't exactly go as pla…
I'd recommend The Wind's Twelve Quarters (a collection of short stories) as a good introduction to Le Guin's work. Many of those stories later sprouted into separate novels. Outside of the Hainish Cycle The Lathe of Heaven is also worth checking out.
The 1980 film The Lathe of Heaven is wonderfully done, especially when you consider it was made as a PBS project for $250,000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lathe_of_Heaven_(film)
Those who haven't seen it should be prepared for a very low-budget film which definitely feels like a 1980 period piece, but I personally enjoyed it anyway.. and conceptually it's way better than a lot of much higher budget, newer movies.
It's for people who prefer to watch something that makes them think, instead of the usual scifi fare of effects, explosions, fights, and people running around in skin-tight outfits.
If I would allowed to only own one book, it would be "The Dispossessed". This books explains so many different sides of humanity. On a more personal note: After reading it a dozen times there are still parts I need to cry. Just thinking about the strong emotions in parts of the book waters my eyes right now.
What, no Earthsea?
I like all of Earthsea. But what really surprised me about the Earthsea "trilogy" was how interesting the later three books were, and how much they subtly reflected, I suppose, changes in her philosophy about feminism and culture. [For those of you who don't know, Le Guin wrote the original trilogy early in her career, then wrote the last three books much, much later, with a big gap between].
If I would allowed to only own one book, it would be "The Dispossessed". This books explains so many different sides of humanity. On a more personal note: After reading it a dozen times there are still parts I need to cry. Just thinking about the strong emotions in parts of the book waters my eyes right now.
Good to know. I tried "the left hand of darkness" and didn't like it. Somehow it read more like mediocre fantasy than scifi.