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Just found out my favourite writer died on Monday, aged 88. She had such a profound influence on my life it's hard to put it into words, but I felt the same way I did when David Bowie died; devastated.
The first work of hers I encountered was the Earthsea trilogy, which I started reading when I was about 9 years old. An incredibly profound work in itself, even though it's categorised as 'young adult' or even children's fiction.
All of her writing deserves to be read, from the Left Hand of Darkness to the Lathe of Heaven to the stunning The Dispossessed. For me The Dispossessed is one of the greatest novels ever written. It is the depth and breadth of her vision that is so incredible, and yet she is such an accessible writer. She has moved me to tears on many occasions, and now I am moved to tears again by the news of her death. God bless and rest in peace dear sister.
“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 source of human affection, and of sociality as a whole.”
“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 source of human affection, and of sociality as a whole.”
Ursula LeGuin: ‘The Dispossessed’
Fantastic quote, epitomises her vision and expresses better than anything else I've read or heard why money is not the great motivator it is purported to be, but a pale imitation of the true motivation of the spirit - be it child or adult. Thanks for posting that.
One might think though that The Dispossessed might be some dreary political tract, but it is far, far from that. A love story, a true hero's journey and a vision of an alternative way of living (with all its pitfalls and failures - this is not idealism) so profound it is unmatched in literature.
Only in silence the word, Only in dark the light, Only in dying life: Bright the hawk's flight On the empty sky
Earthsea Trilogy were the first fantasy books I ever read(even before I read Tolkein), and got me hooked on the science fantasy genre for life to the point where nearly the only books I get are science fantasy.
Wonderful writer, and the world is worse off without her.
“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 source of human affection, and of sociality as a whole.”
Ursula LeGuin: ‘The Dispossessed’
Fine words but as I cannot think of a single human being who is 'free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition' I'm curious on what this is factually based on.
i'm yet to meet a nursing mother, a scholar, a successful hunter, good cook, skillful maker or anyone doing needed work who is not also driven by money or the need for it.
Fine words but as I cannot think of a single human being who is 'free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition' I'm curious on what this is factually based on.
i'm yet to meet a nursing mother, a scholar, a successful hunter, good cook, skillful maker or anyone doing needed work who is not also driven by money or the need for it.
The Dispossessed is a fantasy novel. One of the worlds in the novel is organized by anarchist or I guess more accurately anarcho-syndicalist principles.
Unless you're saying "there's no examples where things have got done without the perssure of economic competition so this is false"? In which case that's not true, lots of productive behaviour has taken place within the cracks of capitalism. Spain 1936, the Zapatistas, the factory take-overs in Argentina etc etc. But this feels like an argument brewing which I don't have time for!
Fine words but as I cannot think of a single human being who is 'free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition' I'm curious on what this is factually based on.
i'm yet to meet a nursing mother, a scholar, a successful hunter, good cook, skillful maker or anyone doing needed work who is not also driven by money or the need for it.
Fine words but as I cannot think of a single human being who is 'free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition' I'm curious on what this is factually based on.
i'm yet to meet a nursing mother, a scholar, a successful hunter, good cook, skillful maker or anyone doing needed work who is not also driven by money or the need for it.
Really?
I know plenty people who love the vocation of being a mother, a scholar, a skillful maker or come to that a father, a teacher, a care worker, volunteer or possessor of various types of vocations and have dedicated their lives to it.
I'm sure we all do if we think about it.
As for the writer, I hadn't heard of her but will check her stuff out.
RIP.
"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
I know plenty people who love the vocation of being a mother, a scholar, a skillful maker or come to that a father, a teacher, a care worker, volunteer or possessor of various types of vocations and have dedicated their lives to it.
I'm sure we all do if we think about it.
As for the writer, I hadn't heard of her but will check her stuff out.
RIP.
Well worth a look, Brian. The original "Earthsea Trilogy" was aimed at teenagers ("young adults" these days) - not childish but worth bearing in mind the context. She wrote two more in the series much later with a more mature feel.
The hero goes from being the usual teen hero in the first book, to maybe his thirties in the second, then a sort of elder statesman figure in the third, which is essentially about death; in the last two he is an old recluse and death and the point of life is well to the fore.
Ursula Le Guin, amazing woman, amazing writer.......... Anarchist. (Sorry, but a very important word hitherto missing from this thread, and vital if we are to remember and celebrate her life and work.)
‘morbid curiosity about where this is all going’
Ursula Le Guin, amazing woman, amazing writer.......... Anarchist. (Sorry, but a very important word hitherto missing from this thread, and vital if we are to remember and celebrate her life and work.)
Ursula Le Guin, amazing woman, amazing writer.......... Anarchist. (Sorry, but a very important word hitherto missing from this thread, and vital if we are to remember and celebrate her life and work.)
Ursula Le Guin, amazing woman, amazing writer.......... Anarchist. (Sorry, but a very important word hitherto missing from this thread, and vital if we are to remember and celebrate her life and work.)
I don't think 'anarchist' alone does her justice, K. For sure, she explores the theme of anarchy in many guises; in The Word for World is Forest, for example, which is in part an allegory for the horrors of the Vietnam war, she looks at the idea of community in connection and in harmony with its surroundings and nature on a profound level - as well as the impact that a rabid capitalist culture has on that community. This novella was basically ripped off by James Cameron in his film 'Avatar'.
In The Dispossessed, we encounter a world where the people have lived as anarchists for over 150 years, having broken away from their home planet. But it's important to acknowledge its full title: The Dispossessed, An Ambiguous Utopia. For me it's such a brilliant book, that covers so many themes - time, love, meaning... that it's better to simply say: read it! Brian, this is a great book to start with.
The Earthsea trilogy (and the subsequent two later books) explores personal will, desire, ego, humility, the gaining of wisdom, and balance. Beyond any political ideologies, Ursula Le Guin was a Taoist. And I think that is perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind. She was also a gentle, egalitarian feminist and an atheist, whilst still being deeply spiritual. Even though, as Cider says, it is written for a young audience, its themes are adult and it is far, far from being winsome or sentimental; it is challenging, deep and magical in a way that Harry Potter could only dream of. The exploration of death in all the novels in the series is profound, and it's worth repeating that quote from it again, to give a measure of its poetry and its depth and a clear insight into Ursula Le Guin's guiding philosophy:
Only in silence the word, Only in dark the light, Only in dying life: Bright the hawk's flight On the empty sky.
It's also worth remembering that she was a pioneer - a woman writing in an up to then exclusively male field - Science Fiction. That she became a multiple award winner - speaks volumes about how influential she has been and how loved her work is. The following list from her wikipedia page should give those who are new to UKLG some idea of the scope of her work:
Selected works Main article: Ursula K. Le Guin bibliography Ursula K. Le Guin has written fiction and nonfiction works for audiences including children, adults, and scholars. Her most notable works are listed here.
A Wizard of Earthsea, 1968 (named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 1979) The Tombs of Atuan, 1971 (Newbery Silver Medal Award) The Farthest Shore, 1972 (National Book Award) Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, 1990 (Nebula Award; Locus Fantasy Award) Tales from Earthsea, 2001 (short stories) The Other Wind, 2001 (World Fantasy Award, 2002) Hainish science fiction series Main article: Hainish Cycle Rocannon's World, 1966 Planet of Exile, 1966 City of Illusions, 1967 The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969 (Hugo Award; Nebula Award) The Dispossessed, 1974 (Nebula Award; Hugo Award; Locus Award) The Word for World Is Forest, 1976 (Hugo Award, best novella) Four Ways to Forgiveness, 1995 (Four Stories of the Ekumen) The Telling, 2000 (Locus SF Award; Endeavour Award) Miscellaneous The Lathe of Heaven, 1971 (Locus SF Award) The Wind's Twelve Quarters, 1975 Orsinian Tales, 1976 The Eye of the Heron, 1978 (first published in the anthology Millennial Women) The Beginning Place, 1980 (also published as Threshold, 1986) The Compass Rose, 1982 Always Coming Home, 1985 Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand, 1991 Annals of the Western Shore, 2004—2007 (Powers, the third volume, won the Nebula Award for Best Novel) Lavinia, 2008 (Locus Fantasy Award)
When I was at primary school in the late 60s our teacher read 'The Wizard of Earthsea' aloud to us in class when it was first published.
In my teens I decided to put aside what I considered to be childish things (science fantasy/science fiction) for realist fiction.
Things came full circle last year when I listened to four of the Earthsea audio books ('A Wizard of Earthsea', 'The Tombs of Atuan', 'The Farthest Shore', 'Tehanu'). These are works of incredible detail and imagination. The audio versions are excellent (narrated by Robert Inglis).
I felt there was a Chinese influence in 'The Tombs of Atuan'. Its story of a child priestess at the head of a dying religion brought to mind the end of the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the Chinese court weighed down by tradition and cut off from reality in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
When I was at primary school in the late 60s our teacher read 'The Wizard of Earthsea' aloud to us in class when it was first published.
In my teens I decided to put aside what I considered to be childish things (science fantasy/science fiction) for realist fiction.
Things came full circle last year when I listened to four of the Earthsea audio books ('A Wizard of Earthsea', 'The Tombs of Atuan', 'The Farthest Shore', 'Tehanu'). These are works of incredible detail and imagination. The audio versions are excellent (narrated by Robert Inglis).
I felt there was a Chinese influence in 'The Tombs of Atuan'. Its story of a child priestess at the head of a dying religion brought to mind the end of the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the Chinese court weighed down by tradition and cut off from reality in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Sorry,couldn't get on with Feminist SF.The idea that all humans originated on Hain always dredged up mental pictures of ...
Mentioning her in the same breath as Tolkien(as some do)or Frank Herbert is stretching it a bit.I prefer Anne McCaffrey tbh. Do people still find Anarchy "cool"?How very sad.
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