|
Anachronist posted:I enjoyed lathe of heaven. Read it on a backpacking trip and tbh gave myself the heebie jeebies. I can see why one wouldn’t put it in their top top tier though. It’s the only one I’ve read besides omelas I guess. Sounds like I need to check out some other books of hers. Having read The Lathe of Heaven in one sitting, and coming off re-reading the rest of her back catalogue - I think it's a great allegory for how we all influence and change the world, which fits well with the Earthsea books and The Dispossessed. We start off with a world wrecked by mankind collectively, afflicted by climate change and war. Haber uses Orr's ability to try and change the world to fit his own ideals, but each time has to grapple with the unintended consequences of that utopia. it's clear that Orr's Taoist ideals of living in peace with the consequences of your actions is for the best from Le Guin's perspective. I'm glad I left this as the last book as I think on its own it's not quite as strong, but it resonates a lot with her other works.
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2023 21:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 01:51 |
|
|
I'm not joking that reading her rendition of the Tao Te Ching makes The Lathe of Heaven a lot more enjoyable, especially with the theme of "uncut wood"
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2023 21:12
|
|
|
A Strange Aeon posted:I just finished the Dispossessed a week or so ago and loved it. It does something subversive which most speculative fiction pretends to do by presenting ideas that can't exist outside the framework of the fiction, whereas the Dispossessed seems like an actual honest exploration of real world philosophy and presents a plausible depiction that's far from utopian. slightly annoyingly her short stories have been published in a million different overlapping groupings. I think the easiest way to read them are in the two volumes of The Unreal and the Real, as that's the most complete.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2023 14:50
|
|
|
distortion park posted:slightly annoyingly her short stories have been published in a million different overlapping groupings. I think the easiest way to read them are in the two volumes of The Unreal and the Real, as that's the most complete.  Sounds good! I just ordered the Unreal and the Real the other week, on a whim.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2023 16:00
|
|
|
BeastOfTheEdelwood posted:For what it's worth, I don't think Le Guin would appreciate Rowling. Ursula Le Guin posted:I have no great opinion of it. When so many adult critics were carrying on about the ‘incredible originality’ of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid’s fantasy crossed with a ‘school novel’, good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2023 07:56
|
|
|
I haven't read any of her work, but she's been on my to-read list for a long time. But I have some Lem to finish first before I get started on another author.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2023 14:24
|
|
|
The Lathe of Heaven still has some lovely imagery and exploration of consciousness and being, but it has a slightly leaden quality as an actual novel imo. I felt like I was being beaten over the head with how bad Haber’s utilitarian proto-Yudkowsky philosophy is even though I completely agree that it’s bad. For such a short novel on such a huge concept it manages to go a bit aimless and draggy for thirty pages near the end as well. I did really like the revelation about April 1998 and the questions it poses about the story’s reality.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2023 21:23
|
|
|
Just finished The Word for World is Forest. A lot more ‘simple’ than a lot of her work and definitely a lot more on the nose, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it’s nice to read a short story with obvious good guys and bad guys. Definitely worth a read, and easily doable on one long journey.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2023 20:24
|
|
|
E: oops
Jakabite fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Apr 12, 2023 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2023 20:24
|
|
|
Okay, I've read two short stories that I think are set in the Earthsea setting and dug them. Same with a story that seemed set on the world of Left Hand of Darkness judging from her introduction. And my wife remembered reading the Lathe of Heaven in her book club a few years ago and liking it. So I guess my question is, is Left Hand good to read on its own if I've only read the Dispossessed and Winter's King? And is Earthsea just 3 books set in the fantasy world depicted in the Rule of Names and the Word of Unbinding? And Lathe is stand alone, right?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 01:28
|
|
|
1. The Hain novels share a continuity, but every novel is completely standalone. You don't need to know anything about any other Hain book to enjoy any one of them. 2. Earthsea is six books divided into two trilogies, and yes, The Rule of Names and The Word of Unbinding are both part of it. 3. Lathe is completely standalone and connected to nothing else.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 01:43
|
|
|
Youremother posted:1. The Hain novels share a continuity, but every novel is completely standalone. You don't need to know anything about any other Hain book to enjoy any one of them. And I guess unspoken is that they are all worth reading if I think I'd enjoy them?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 02:52
|
|
|
Well, I'd tell you what I honestly think, which is that she is the singular absolute greatest science fiction and fantasy writer of the 20th century, perhaps ever, but that might be selling her a bit hard.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 02:56
|
|
|
I'm getting there and I've barely read any of her stuff yet!
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 03:10
|
|
|
i read Left Hand first and had no issues. really beautiful book, especially in the 2nd half
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2023 15:00
|
|
|
Youremother posted:I'm not joking that reading her rendition of the Tao Te Ching makes The Lathe of Heaven a lot more enjoyable, especially with the theme of "uncut wood" Her rendition of the Tao Te Ching? Where can I check that out
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2023 17:22
|
|
|
MNIMWA posted:Her rendition of the Tao Te Ching? Where can I check that out Unfortunately I don't think it's anywhere online legally, but why not consider asking Your Local Library?
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2023 19:40
|
|
|
Youremother posted:Unfortunately I don't think it's anywhere online legally, but why not consider asking Your Local Library? I'll give that a shot, though my library is rural and tiny they do interlibrary loans
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2023 22:07
|
|
|
Been blasting through Earthsea books on the thread’s recommendation and I would say they’re good. Fun also seeing how more recent books that I’ve read are really just aping Le Guin.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2023 00:24
|
|
|
Anachronist posted:Been blasting through Earthsea books on the thread’s recommendation and I would say they’re good. Fun also seeing how more recent books that I’ve read are really just aping Le Guin. Her influence over both genres is so huge. Even at a explicit reference level, the first sequence in Ancillary Justice is a long ode to The Left Hand of Darkness, and I've read multiple books which use the word "ansible".
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2023 11:20
|
|
|
I recently picked up the large Books of Earthsea and read Lathe of Heaven due to discussions in this thread in part. The current Book of the Month in the other book forum is Rocannon's World and I was able to pick up Worlds of Exile and Illusion (of which Rocannon's is the first) for cheap on Kindle. Am now reading it, just read the prologue short story The Necklace, and wow is it ever good, if a sad, short story.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 05:27
|
|
|
How timely for this thread to pop up again! I've just been playing an rpg called Colony Ship and it reminded me of Paradises Lost from her Birthday of the World collection.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 15:48
|
|
|
I should read more of her stuff, more to add to my ever-growing list. I didn't realize that she was the author of Catwings, I remember reading and enjoying some of those as a child. I have never read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, and that is a failing of mine because I know all about it and the concept of it, and it's one of those concepts I can't help but keep coming back to as I live my life. Really need to fix that and read it soon, never enough time.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 20:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 01:51 |
|
|
Mind over Matter posted:I should read more of her stuff, more to add to my ever-growing list. I didn't realize that she was the author of Catwings, I remember reading and enjoying some of those as a child. It's a good story but really even she admits that the core is borrowed from others. In fact, the central premise of the Brothers Karamazov explores the idea thoroughly, though it's a much bigger commitment of course.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 15:29
|
|