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Ursula K. Le Guin

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Ursula K. Le Guin

in Berkeley, California, The United States

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mi

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

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Ursula K. Le Guin isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.

Neil Gaiman Reads Ursula K. Le Guin���s Ode to Timelessness to His 100-Year-Old Cousin

How It Seems To Me
By Ursula K. Le Guin, read by Neil Gaiman

Published on January 28, 2019 22:05

A Wizard of Earthsea (Earth... A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) 4.01 avg rating — 331,386 ratings — published 1968 —8 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Left Hand of Darkness The Left Hand of Darkness 4.10 avg rating — 194,452 ratings — published 1969 —271 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Dispossessed: An Ambigu... The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia 4.25 avg rating — 132,791 ratings — published 1974 —202 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Tombs of Atuan (Earthse... The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2) 4.13 avg rating — 124,006 ratings — published 1971 —7 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Farthest Shore (Earthse... The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3) 4.13 avg rating — 118,238 ratings — published 1972 —10 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Lathe of Heaven The Lathe of Heaven 4.12 avg rating — 78,490 ratings — published 1971 —116 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4) Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4) 4.04 avg rating — 53,534 ratings — published 1990 —12 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Ones Who Walk Away from... The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 4.37 avg rating — 45,174 ratings — published 1973 —25 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Word for World Is Forest The Word for World Is Forest 4.05 avg rating — 35,598 ratings — published 1972 —90 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
The Other Wind (Earthsea Cy... The Other Wind (Earthsea Cycle, #6) 4.19 avg rating — 29,514 ratings — published 2001 —11 editions Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

More books by Ursula K. Le Guin…

“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

Polls

What would you like to read January through March? You can only select one answer on GR polls, so if there are not 3 clear winners we can just do runoff polls for February/March.
Please vote only if you will return to discuss. The discussions open on the 1st of the month, so our first book from this selection can be read anytime before then. See you there!

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
1963, 240 pages, 4.04 stars
At library, 7.98Kindle,printstartingat7.98 Kindle, print starting at 7.98Kindle,printstartingat10.95

"First published to acclaim in Germany, The Wall chronicles the life of the last surviving human on earth, an ordinary middle-aged woman who awakens one morning to find that everyone else has vanished. Assuming her isolation to be the result of a military experiment gone awry, she begins the terrifying work of survival and self-renewal. This novel is at once a simple and moving tale and a disturbing meditation on humanity."

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
2020, 209 pages, 3.82 stars
At library, 23.99Kindle,printstartingat23.99 Kindle, print starting at 23.99Kindle,printstartingat7.66

"Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans —though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved."

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia Ursula K. Le Guin
1974, 387 pages, 4.24 stars
At library, 10.49Kindle,printstartingat10.49 Kindle, print starting at 10.49Kindle,printstartingat10.46

"Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change."

Ubik by Philip K. Dick
1969, 288 pages, 4.10 stars
At library, 12.99Kindle,12.99 Kindle, 12.99Kindle,6 and up print.

"Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all."

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
1949, 345 pages, 3.95 stars
May be at library, 14.99Kindle,printstartingat14.99 Kindle, print starting at 14.99Kindle,printstartingat5.16

"A disease of unparalleled destructive force has sprung up almost simultaneously in every corner of the globe, all but destroying the human race. One survivor, strangely immune to the effects of the epidemic, ventures forward to experience a world without man. What he ultimately discovers will prove far more astonishing than anything he'd either dreaded or hoped for."

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