Ursula Le Guin

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  • eighthobstruction
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 6447

    Ursula Le Guin

    Tonight 1845 hr profile od Le Guin....I have never read her Earthsea books but I have read several of her other books like The Dispossessed....https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sn2p I have enjoyed them, but not been convinced by some of them....
    bong ching
  • french frank
    Administrator/Moderator
    • Feb 2007
    • 30451

    #2
    I scuttled to Wikipedia and was astonished to read that she had been awarded eight Hugos, six Nebulas, and twenty-two Locus Awards​ ... all of which confirmed that she inhabited a different realm from me. When you say you haven't 'been convinced' by some of them, what do you mean exactly - or even approximately, vaguely, or in a je ne sais quoi manner of speaking? Always willing to expand my horizons

    It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

    Comment

    • eighthobstruction
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 6447

      #3
      ....I have re-read The Dispossessed several times ....The others enhabit worlds that Le Guin seems unable to fully create as viable entities to make the plots and characters work completely /fairly seamlessly - so these other novels I only read once and never returned to ....It is a problem with science fiction sometimes Le Guin doesn't deal with the 'machine worlds'; more withideas/ sexuality/politics /personality/philosophy....
      ....who you might have read is Herman Hesse : Le Guin has a similar style....
      bong ching

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      • french frank
        Administrator/Moderator
        • Feb 2007
        • 30451

        #4
        Originally posted by eighthobstruction View Post
        ..who you might have read is Herman Hesse : Le Guin has a similar style....
        I have indeed read several novels of Hesse. One I have, but have not yet read is Siddartha. It sounds more like what you describe than the ones I have read. And I've now missed the programme. Zounds!

        It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

        Comment

        • eighthobstruction
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 6447

          #5
          ....Ref Hesse I meant really use of words and placing ( in ULG's case almost like it is a translation from another language)....shame you missed it - I thought it very endearing (made me want to have met her)....[in a similar way I'd have loved to have met Georgia O'Keefe]....Here is a quote from greenilix in 2019 <<She used science fiction as a vehicle for acute analysis of the human condition. She never compromised, never gave up, always remained positive. A real hero >>
          bong ching

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          • eighthobstruction
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 6447

            #6
            New documentary shows author confiding that she once struggled to picture ‘a woman wizard’ and that ‘the Earthsea books as feminist literature are a total complete bust’
            bong ching

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            • french frank
              Administrator/Moderator
              • Feb 2007
              • 30451

              #7
              Originally posted by eighthobstruction View Post
              I can relate to, "You write well but ...". I don't think there was much difference between my men and women, characters other than their names

              I've learned something anyway: I've always called her Ursula le Gang. May catch the programme later, though the subject matter doesn't appeal greatly. But my brother is always telling me that Star Trek and Doctor Who are many-layered and deeply philsophical, not just children's stories.
              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

              Comment

              • DracoM
                Host
                • Mar 2007
                • 12986

                #8
                Read a lot of Le Guin. BUT......

                Prog made me realise I had NOT read them at all. Prog made her out to have written something way, way different to what I thought I was reading.

                Hmm..........silly me...maybe?

                Comment

                • eighthobstruction
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 6447

                  #9
                  Hmmmm....yes I've heard that as well....why don't you give your brother a couple of bob and tell him to bring you back something deeply philosophical; period.......
                  bong ching

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                  • Dave2002
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2010
                    • 18034

                    #10
                    Originally posted by french frank View Post

                    I have indeed read several novels of Hesse. One I have, but have not yet read is Siddartha. It sounds more like what you describe than the ones I have read. And I've now missed the programme. Zounds!
                    Here you go ---

                    Discover other ways of being, with science-fiction writer Ursula K Le Guin.



                    Comment

                    • french frank
                      Administrator/Moderator
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 30451

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post

                      Here you go ---

                      Discover other ways of being, with science-fiction writer Ursula K Le Guin.


                      Thanks Dave2002. It was actually a typo. I meant to write, 'I have NOT missed the programme. Zounds! ' (that bit wasn't a typo, just me being silly)
                      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                      Comment

                      • french frank
                        Administrator/Moderator
                        • Feb 2007
                        • 30451

                        #12
                        Originally posted by DracoM View Post
                        Read a lot of Le Guin. BUT......

                        Prog made me realise I had NOT read them at all. Prog made her out to have written something way, way different to what I thought I was reading.

                        Hmm..........silly me...maybe?
                        As a matter of interest, what did you read into them, Draco? You must have rated them to have read several.

                        Originally posted by eighthobstruction View Post
                        Hmmmm....yes I've heard that as well....why don't you give your brother a couple of bob and tell him to bring you back something deeply philosophical; period.......
                        He did a PhD in philosophy so he knows about these things

                        It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                        Comment

                        • DracoM
                          Host
                          • Mar 2007
                          • 12986

                          #13
                          'Wizard of Earthsea' series. Harmless, semi-magical, sort of nearly Tolkien-like fun. Huh! How wrong could I be? And me a literary student? Huh! Woops.

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                          • eighthobstruction
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 6447

                            #14
                            <<He did a PhD in philosophy so he knows about these things>>....you obviously gave him the 2 bob a while ago and he used it wisely....
                            definitely 2 sides to Le Guins works.....Earthsea....and her other novels
                            Last edited by eighthobstruction; 26-11-23, 22:15.
                            bong ching

                            Comment

                            • french frank
                              Administrator/Moderator
                              • Feb 2007
                              • 30451

                              #15
                              Originally posted by DracoM View Post
                              'Wizard of Earthsea' series. Harmless, semi-magical, sort of nearly Tolkien-like fun. Huh! How wrong could I be? And me a literary student? Huh! Woops.
                              Yes, but did you buy the interpretation being pushed on the programme, or did you think it didn't make its point?

                              Yes, you could get a PhD in philosophy for two bob back in those days, 8th.

                              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                              Comment

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