Ursula K. Le Guin 1929-2018
I think I'm ready to write about Ursula Le Guin. I started writing on the night she passed, but I couldn't do it. So I tweeted a couple of tweets and cried my tears and went to bed.
Image: theNerdPatrol published under CC BY 2.0
There are a handful of authors who have had a profound and powerful effect on my life. But none great that Le Guin. I already loved sff when I first encountered her work, it was already my favorite thing to read (or things, but this is not the post for defining genres and sub genres). But the sff I loved was a limited thing. Sure, it wasn't all spaceships and dragons (which, to be clear, I LOVE), but the depth in which it dealt with social issues was still quite shallow.
And then came Ursula Le Guin.
With one series, Earthsea, Le Guin changed fantasy forever. With two novels, THE DISPOSSESSED and THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS she changed science fiction forever. With the rest of her stories and novels and such brilliant essays, she continued to change sff. Her immortal short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," dismantled the very concept of Utopia.
Your fave could never.
The child of two of the most prominent anthropologists of the 20th century, Le Guin was always steeped in how societies work, how people work, how language works.
I have, for several years now, agitated on twitter for her to be awarded the Nobel Prize In Literature. The committee's failure to honor her (the Nobel is never given posthumously, unless the winner has died after the award was announced) will, to my mind, be an enduring black mark.
Le Guin has fought for justice and equality her entire life. She was ahead of the curve on pretty much every curve you could think of. And she has always defended sff as the genre it CAN be.
For me, reading her work in my late teens has been defining.
I have have been involved in sff, as an editor, publisher, translator, reviewer, and fan for most of my life. And Le Guin has never stopped being an influence on me. I only wish I could have met her and thanked her in person for her amazing words.
Further reading: The essential novels of Ursula K Le Guin
Isn't it amazing the way an author or other artist can have such a profound impact on our lives? Thank you for writing this sweet post, for sharing your sorrow and your gratitude for her writing. Blessings to you. ((hugs))
Thank you for your empathy.
I am probably as bad as nobel prize. I honestly have not read and followered her enough, not that my opinion is worth much in that world lol. I look forward to catching up and discussing her work with you. Thank you so much for honoring her.
Your opinion is worth as much as anyone's, but you can certainly add to your life by reading some Le Guin.
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" is always with me. She was a wonderful writer and she will be missed. hug
I noticed her passing the other day. A very big loss, to literature, and for the world in general. In a class of her own.
I couldn't agree with your sentiment more, and indeed wrote a post about her passing myself. She was a HUGE influence on my life. Thanks for this
Oh my, I didn't realize she had passed. She really was a giant in her field. Earthsea has been a classic for longer than I've been alive.
Her work really is incredible. I'm taking a university course on Utopian and Dystopian literature. We read "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" and will read The Lathe of Heaven in a few weeks. Literature can speak so profoundly and memorably into social issues and Le Guin demonstrates this with excellence.