#urusla k le guin

[gravity-rainbow]

“They have no gods. They work magic, and think they are gods themselves. But they are not. And when they die, they (…) become dust and bone, and their ghosts whine on the wind a little while till the wind blows them away. They do not have immortal souls.” Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan

#urusla k le guin #the tombs of atuan #no gods

[hizerain]

Summer TBR

Given I wanted to spend the majority of my summer reading, in an attempt to recover from the tumultous spring semester and I wanted to be a bit more active on here I thought I'd keep track of my list on this post.

La Chute, Albert Camus

The Dispossessed, Urusla K. Le Guin

Finished 2 July. I really enjoyed this, it was quite an easy read but I mean that in the best way possible. It passed around a lot of interesting ideas in a way that is easily graspable and I liked the switch of perspectives between the planets/past and present.

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

Finished 7 July. I have had this on my shelf since 2018, and finally finished reading it. Subject matter aside, it was a surprisingly easy read as the language was surprisingly simple to comprehend and the pace, at times, rather high. It was revolting in the exact way I had anticipated and the book definitely lives up to its status as a classic.

Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami

Finished 5 July. I'm not the biggest fan of Murakami, but I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book and the story unravelling slowly before my eyes.

The Gebroeders Kramazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Leadership, Henry Kissinger

Transgender Marxism, Gleeson & O'Rourke

De metamorfose van de wereld, Jurgen Österhammel

De Consultancy Industrie, Mazzucato & Collington

Finished 4 July. One of the most frustrating books I've read all year in the best way possible, that is, by exposing one of the fundamental structures that keeps out current world running in a clear and comprehensive way.

Additional books I've read

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

I reread this book about every year during the summer as it perfectly encapsulates my melancholy. Surprisingly, I found it particularly insightful this time around. Perhaps because I'm a little older, perhaps a bit more experienced, but I felt that for the first time I was able to fully see both stories unfolding (The great tragedy and the satire) and it made the book all the greater to read again

#study #studyblr #studyspo #dark academia #studyinspo #mathblr #math student #stem student #stemblr #fountain pen #fountain pens #dark academia aesthetic #academia #handwriting #studystudystudy #uniblr #study aesthetic #uni student #stem #math #mathematics #langblr #da #da aesthetic

[dairogo]

It took me a while to think of what to recommend in return for The Ten Thousand Doors of January. My first thought was that it ought to be another portal fantasy, especially one involving books. I thought of Seven-Day Magic or even Myst (because the novels don't require knowledge of the games, and that world is based around the ability to write books that become portals to other worlds), and for a while I was seriously considering The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones because it captures so well that aching for a world you can call home. But the one book I couldn't get out of my head was Voices by Urusla K. Le Guin, so I think I'm going to have to go with that one. I can't remember if you've read it already or if I've talked your ear off about it before.

Voices is actually the second book of her Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, but each book has a different protagonist in a different location, and can be read separately. The protagonists of the first book, Gifts, show up in Voices and have a part to play, but you don't really need to know what they've been up to previously. Anyway, Voices is about Memer, a girl growing up in a city that is occupied by an invading people who believe the written word is evil, so they have burned all the books they could get their hands on and forbid reading and writing. But Memer discovers a hidden library in her home, where many forbidden books are kept out of the invaders' hands, and she learns to read - something that will prove influential in ultimately saving her city. I think you can already see some similarities to January here, but I also want to note that Memer is also biracial (due to…unseemly events during the invasion), and thus has this "in-between" look that sets her apart from her people as well as the invaders.

In terms of content, it's pretty tame, and I don't think you'd have too much of a problem with it, but for anyone else who might be reading, there's lots of discussion about pagan religions on both sides of the conflict. Also mentions of aforementioned wartime atrocities, but nothing in detail :S

P.S. Not a book, so not part of the deal, but I have to mention the movie Belle starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw. It's another story of a biracial girl raised by a rich family while her father is off working, where she's raised with wealth and privilege but never quite fits in the usual boxes because of the way she looks. When January would wear a fancy dress to one of Mr. Locke's society dinners or something, I couldn't help picturing some of Dido's dresses in that movie.

Ooh, thank you!! You know, I haven't actually read any of the books you considered, but I've read others by several of those writers and thought quite highly of them! I'll start looking for the LeGuin one and work backwards from there if I can find them in my library :D Looking forward to it!

[emevergreen]

where's that post that says urusla k le guin was right about everything. i need it bc she is

#not to put her on a pedestal but man

[independentzaun]

(Only doing Silco for now. If someone wants Sevika though ask or tag me.)

List five songs, that inspire you to write your muse.

Paint My Face by The Devil Makes Three

Broken Bones by KALEO

Resistance by Black Tiger Sex Machine

Which side are you on Pete Seeger

Dead God by Skold

List five quotes, that inspire you to write your muse.

“Have you forgotten where we came from? The mines they had us in? Air so thick it clogged your throat. Stuck in your eyes. I pulled you all up from the depths. Offered you a taste of top side, and fresh air. I have you life, purpose. But you’ve grown fat and complacent. Too much time in the sun. We came from a work were there was never enough to go around. That is why we fight.” Silco. (And yes I know long quote but I consider it a very important one that honestly forms a lot of the core of my Silco).

“We had nothing. You know what bore us through those times? Brothers and sisters back-to-back against whatever the world threw at us. Now I'm forced to share the air with parasites like you, who leach off their legacies. But I still believe in loyalty.” Silco. (Another long quote, but another important one)

You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere." Urusla K. Le Guin

“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.” Bob Marley

“When we can’t dream anymore we die.” Emma Goldman.

Tagged by: @misstantabismuses

Tagging: You if you want.

#justsilcothings

[straykats]

i think you knew i was coming HSJHS also it’s getting kinda late for us so you can respond to this in the morning 🤣

numbers 1, 9, 18, 66, 92, 99, 102, 121, 135 for the book recs ask game please!!

toff!! toffee!!! that gif is an accurate presentation of what i experienced last night when i was juuuust about to go to sleep and then got ur ask AHAHHA anyways, sorry for such a late response!! had to do some stuff this morn <//3

[ send me book rec asks! ]

1. a book that is close to your heart

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky &lt;3

9. your favourite book of 2020

of 2020?? defs chain of gold by cassandra clare. why, you ask? idk im just a bitch for the shadowhunter books 💀💀 nah jokes there are defs reasons, but me already being in love w the shadowhunter universe definitely plays a major part. ummm fav book of 2022 ?? on earth, maybe. it's not a '22 book but i didnt read it until this year i think. tbh i'm not sure when i read it AHHA (i just know i havent read much this year sigh)

18. your least favourite book ever

i... don't know. if i dont like a book i dont tend to finish it? but i easily get invested in and love the media i consume so there's none i would consider my 'least favourite'.. even the ones we read in school, i found something to love about them. but, uh. city of bones is always very difficult to reread. can't ever really do it. i tend to just skip it HAHAHA

66. a book that fucked you up

on earth, but not in a bad way. and the perks of being a wallflower as well, but in a different way as well. i fell like if i read a little life it'll probably be here HAHAHA. OH WAIT OH WAIT release by patrick ness. i??? i dont remember why i bought it but i know that i got to some scenes that i was not expecting and it made me really??? confused and uncofmortable at the time, but i don't remember why.

92. a book about a redeemable villain

i.. am going to tentatively say dark rise by c.s.pacat. the more i think about it the more i think it counts, but i dont wanna spoil anything so... anyways 10/10 rec this book/series.

99. a book with a strong female protagonist

the last hours trilogy, my beloved, by cassandra clare. cordelia carstairs <3 <3 <3 BUT UH too many shadowhunter books so uh instead. throne of glass series by sarah j. maas! not only the main protag, but also lysandra ! defs grew on me.

102. your favourite dark academia read

UHHHHHHHH off the top of my head u cant think of anything that actually fits the da genre/aes, but i have the atlas six on my to be potentially read list?? wait. idk if the his dark materials trilogy by philp pullman counts as DA but if it does... yes.

121. a book that makes you nostalgic

pjo/hoo by rick riordan, guardians of ga'hoole by kathryn lasky, his dark materials by philip pullman. nostalgic bc i read them all in primary/middle school ig lol . ih and ofc, harry potter.

135. recommend any book you like

urusla k. le guin's the left hand of darkness!! it's scifi (and fantasy?? idk) and there's a lot of world building and new terms that can be really confusing (but there are a multitude of lists online w the different terms and definiitions) but the concept and the ideas/social commentary is >>> it was one of my favourite texts to study in school, and now that i'm older and have studied it, i really want to reread it again! (it was a yr12 lit text so.. i'm not really that much older but still AHAH)

#kat answers #the majority of my readings is defs ya unfortunately so 😔 but im trying to Open My Horizons #i just havent read anything sigh so its the same old books ig #kat plays games #neo-shitty

[bookish-soliloquies]

Reviewing “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

The short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin is quite short, but extremely powerful. It reminds me of a mix of Lois Lowry's The Giver with Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities; yet it has its own voice and holds up well on its own. Without spoilers--this potent read causes the reader to ask themselves questions, such as: Would they be one of the ones who walk away from Omelas? And also, what is our Omelas? (ie. reality's; whatever society you are a part of). I am using this text for the first time with college ENG 102 students and I am enjoying the class conversation it is creating. A deep read for sure, and so short there is no excuse not to read it! (It is available for free online here). 

#urusla k le guin #the ones who walk away from the omelas #read a short story today #literature #literature quotes #literature review #stories I teach #personal #trying to do more literary reviews again #if you read it tell me what you think! #college instructor #happy saturday

[spohkh]

i had a mtg w one of my managers today just to check-in about how im feeling abt us reopening soon and i was like bro im fine im excited but honestly the only thing im truly nervous about is if a customer asks me for book recommendations like .... i know NOTHING!!!! i just read my little fantasy books and thats it 😭 

#my manager was like lkfldasfda... king..... #IM GENUINELY WORRIED ABOUT THAT THO !!!! #tbh a customer could ask for a rec of ANY genre and i could safely rec urusla k le guin #she is in like EVERY FUCKING SECTION!!!!! i love her

[theworstofworst]

I could possibly be able to read nearly 35 books this year judging by the pace I've been going!

I truly wish to be able to comprehend and absorb as much as possible and feel them in my soul, I love reading truly and dearly. Beautiful words, stretching my thoughts and perceptions...!

#I am nearly finished with the farthest shore by urusla k le guin #but i have uni and a lot of work #i have to do a lot of things and i cannot read tgat very often #maybe I should instead if hanging at my grandma's place upstairs #i should stay home and read or wake up earlier mayhaps #all scattered is my brain

[alannajoanne]

This is why utterance is magic. Words do have power.

Ursula K. Le Guin

#Urusla K. Le Guin #power of words #human conversation #communication #brainpickings

[duncanpubliclibrary]

It’s Short Story Day! 

Today is the day to celebrate that elusive written art form: the short story! While it might be short, it is almost always satisfying. And hard! To pack all of that story into so few words is a challenge not to be underestimated. 

So why not take today to read some amazing short stories with Duncan Public Library? We have several collections on the shelf and online with Libby and Hoopla! Some of our recommendations include Full Throttle by Joe Hill, 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories edited by Lorrie Moore, and The Unreal and the Real - Selected Stories of Urusla K. Le Guin: Volume One: Where on Earth by Ursula K. Le Guin. 

Check out these links to find more!

Short Stories in our catalog

Short Stories on Hoopla (single author)

Short Stories on Hoopla (multiple authors)

[image description: a white background with moving fuchsia, yellow, and robin egg blue polka dots. A white square with a fuchsia border sits in the middle with Duncan Public Library Logo watermark. It reads: Short Story Day / Who’s got time to read a whole novel? / Grab a Short Story Collection today! Under that are three book covers that were recommended in this post. Under those are the logos for Hoopla and Libby.]

#duncan public library #short story #joe hill #lorrie moore #ursula k. le guin #book recommendations #readers advisory

[literature-islit]

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Lathe of Heaven (1971)

I’ve been reading a lot about the future lately and unfortunately things don’t exactly look fantastic for us homo sapiens as a species. 

TLDR summary: once companies are able to replace human workers with machine robots and algorithms, it’s over for us as human workers because why wouldn't they want to make the cash money savings, and even with the universal basic income they only want to introduce so we don’t hunt down the 0.001% of business owners that will remain, social mobility will be eviscerated and we will live in a feudal society. Except at least in a feudal society the monarchs needed the labour of the plebs to get resources. We’ll basically be surplus to the requirements of the people on the top of the ladder. Economies will crash, because a healthy economy needs the workers to have enough purchasing power to support other industries. There’s a huge argument in this book FOR the eradication of crony capitalism and the reversal of all cuts to government services, arts bodies, etc because the more secure our jobs and the better wages the average person is able to earn, the more wealth inside the community generally BUT NOBODY WANTS TO TELL YOU ABOUT THAT WEARING THEIR CHINOS AND RM WILLIAMS BOOTS DEBATING WITH YOU ABOUT THE ECONOMY ONLINE FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM. Sorry for getting heated. 

And this book 

In one word: terrifying. Like the atomic bomb dance, Bostrom sees a super intelligence as an inevitability, and argues we need to get there before threatening foreign powers get there first. He thinks we will inevitably (without presenting evidence as to why) be ruled by a superintelligence under a one world government, but basically acknowledges that a truly super superintelligence would be much smarter than its controllers, would know how to spread its tentacles through everything and basically achieve world domination over us poor human beings, the children playing with blocks who accidentally press the wrong buttons and eviscerate ourselves. 

Bro, I just want to be Amish. 

Like, seriously, sometimes i think about the future and find comfort in the idea of becoming Amish, or joining a Monastery, or moving to Pete Evan’s commune in the NSW hinterlands. 

I am more serious than you’ll ever know. 

Because right now our species is fxxxing around with some stuff that we have the technical knowledge to understand, without countering that arrogance with an understanding of the soul.

And Urusla K Le Guin knows that, and has been knowing that for a long time. And that’s why this book is a cautionary tale that I think is more applicable now, than ever before. 

So, The Lathe of Heaven is about this guy who has dreams that change the world. He’ll go to sleep, the world will be one way, he’ll have a dream and wake up to find that the events of his dream have changed reality completely. 

Understandably, this makes him terrified of sleep. 

He overdoses on a drug that stops you from dreaming and has to go to a therapist, who convinces him that he thinks he is insane. BUT - the therapist actually believes him - and sees a way to harness this power for his own benefit. Soon, the therapist is manipulating his dreams for his own benefit. The therapist first improves his own material position, then sets himself about using the dreams to bring about desirable outcomes for humanity like world peace. Only, things always have sneaky little inadvertent outcomes, don’t they? 

Problem --> solution --> solution creates bigger problem - the summary of many of humanity’s efforts to “fix” the world so far

He wants to eliminate racism, so everyone’s skin becomes grey and the beautiful diversity of different cultures on the planets is lost.

An attempt to solve “overpopulation” reduces the population via devastating plague (lil too close for comfort in our current times)

And, desiring world peace, he inadvertently creates an alien invasion on the moon, which unites the people of earth against this existential threat. 

(side note - the aliens are truly my favourite characters in the book. LOVE them.)

Says George Orr the protagonist, witnessing the problem after problem caused by his therapist’s ignorant, egotistical efforts to play God and fix things that are not his to solve: 

“To be God you have to know what you’re doing. And to do any good at all, just believing you’re right and your motives are good isn’t enough. You have to … be in touch. “

IMO the true mysteries of the world are the sacred knowledge of the people who knew how to live in harmony with the earth’s natural processes. 

And i really hope our scientists and tech barons realise that before we’re all left behind. 

#ursula k le guin #the lathe of heaven #aliens

[erandir]

30 Days of Queer Reads

A prompt list for Pride Month by queer author @gailcarriger

I gave up posting these daily because reasons, but have my full list of LGBT book recs. And if you’re looking for a list of LGBT Sci-Fi/Fantasy books where being queer is a sidenote to the plot, this has many things for you.

(My definition of “LGBT book” got a little fast and loose a couple times, but if a character isn’t explicitly cis or straight then you can pry the headcanon from my cold dead hands.)

Day 1: The first queer book you remember reading: The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner. A scholar and a noble discover Old Magic.

Day 2: Queer book that reminds you of home: Passing Strange by Ellen Klages. Lesbians in 1940 San Francisco.

Day 3: Queer book been on your to-be-read for way to long. The Left Hand of Darkness by Urusla K Le Guin. I’m a bad queer scif-fi fan for not reading this yet.

Day 4: Queer book with a name or number in the title: George by Alex Nino. An elementary-school aged trans girl comes into her own.

Day 5: Queer book where protagonist has a cool job: Flesh & Fire by Laura Anne Gilman. Maker of magical wines. 

Day 6: Favorite queer graphic novel: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. Everything Noelle touches is gold.

Day 7: Queer book you often re-read: Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga. This and the Zelda adaptations are the only manga I still own.

Day 8: Queer book with a happy ending: Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin. Princesses fighting dragons.

Day 9: Queer book over 100 pages: Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly. Jazz age spies.

Day 10: Favorite queer genre novel: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Lesbian necromancers in space.

Day 11: Queer book you love in a genre you don’t read: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I’m pretty staunchly a SFF reader, but this was bomb.

Day 12: Queer book with a strong sense of place: Starless by Jaqueline Carey. Incredible worldbuilding.

Day 13: Queer book that really made you think: Planetfall by Emma Newman. Mass Effect: Andromeda but it’s a cult.

Day 14: Queer book that made you cry: Time Was by Ian McDonald. Two lovers unstuck in time leave messages for each other.

Day 15: Queer book that made you laugh out loud: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman. Ya’ll know this one.

Day 16: Queer book that is really personal to you: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. Obvious reasons?

Day 17: Favorite queer book sequel or spin-off:  A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. Set in the same world as Wilson’s previous novel, but a stand alone story.

Day 18: Favorite queer book by a favorite author: Knight of Ghosts and Shadows by Mercedes Lackey. Mercedes Lackey never fails me, love triangle turned polycule.

Day 19: Queer book that changed your life:  The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek. Still readable on Jesse’s LiveJournal.  My first exposure to self published original queer fiction.

Day 20: Favorite queer book series: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Murderbot is my favorite agender android with PTSD.

Day 21: Queer book that you recommend a lot: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Space opera with lots of very good aliens, minimal plot.

Day 22: Queer book that made you take action: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy. Fuck the police. By summoning the elder gods.

Day 23: Queer book by an author who is dead: Maurice by E.M. Forster. The OG gay novel (in the west).

Day 24: Queer book you wish you’d read when younger: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. Wish I’d had an asexual main character as a teen.

Day 25: Queer book in a historical setting: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. The Illiad from the pov of Achilles’ boyfriend.

Day 26: Queer superhero book or comic: Hero by Perry Moore. Gay son of a disgraced superhero becomes one himself.

Day 27: Favorite queer children’s picture book: And Tango Makes Three. Classic gay penguins.

Day 28: Queer book that made you feel uncomfortable: Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. Android changes gender just because boyfriend has internalized homophobia? Paladin is bad trans rep.

Day 29: Queer book that made you want to fall in love: Witchmark by C.L. Polk. We all want an elf prince who adores us, right?

Day 30: Queer book with your favorite ending: The Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale. 

#readingpride #reading pride #queer reads #lgbt reads #lgbt books #book rec #book rec list

[aftermoonbaby]

While on self quarantine, I decided that it’s a great time to pick up my old hobbies. I’ve been so caught up in assignments, projects, and all these things that I completely forgot about the things that I love to do during my free time. It’s so easy to just get on my phone and scroll through social media or get on my laptop and watch Netflix as a form of relaxation. This time I thought I’d pick up a book that I’ve been wanting to read.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Urusla K. Le Guin

Omelas is a place described as a joyous city, almost perfect. Everyone is happy, educated, and living in harmony. However, all their happiness and prosperity is only possible by the suffering of one child. Hidden in a basement, this one child is meant to starve, suffer, and be unhappy. If this child were to be taken out of its misery, comforted and fed, all of the beauty and happiness in Omelas will disappear.

“Those are the terms. To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement,: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed.”

So what does this all have to do with social media? 

We live in a world full of dilemmas. Social media influencers, public relations managers, companies and organisations, everyone goes through it! We’re often put in complex situations where the decisions we make will either have a good outcome or a bad outcome. In difficult situations, it’s important to make a choice that will benefit everyone. Although we can’t please everyone, and just because we made the best decision doesn’t mean everything will be perfect, it doesn’t mean everyone will agree.

Just like in the story, some citizens of Omelas understood why they had to treat that child poorly and were able to live with it. Some who found out about the child chose to walk away from Omelas and find another place to call home. Every individual made their own decision.

Are you willing to sacrifice one person’s happiness for the happiness of thousands of people?

Questions are asked before making a decision. Decisions are made to please the majority.

#aftermoonbaby #socialmedia #PR #publicrelations #college #student #study #study notes #study blog #studyblr

[tereze20]

Soon finished reading this 📖 😊

#the left hand of darkness #books #urusla k le guin

[thirteen-abalone]

I’ve been reading Urusla K. Le Guin essays again and mostly I am just desperate to know what she thought of TTRPGs. She’s really quite harsh about pulp sci-fi, the golden age of comics, and what she sees as ‘irresponsible best-selling trash.’

But she defines writing as a way to go into the soul, to find a Truth that we cannot say in words. To connect the ineffable world to the everyday one. I just would love to know what she would have thought about humans trying to do that together, except with slinky elves and stout dwarves and goblin caves and such.