Ursula Le Guin has passed away

!!!

(!!!)

((!!!))

I knew something bad was in the air today. The finest writer in the English language and a person who taught me more about life than anyone except my mama. May the Farthest Shore await you, Ursula, and may it look a lot like Oregon except without survivalists occupying public land.

I'm sorry to see her go! I've heard so many good things about the Earthsea series. I should pick one up in her honor.

Oh how sad!Her works shaped my adolescence. The Earthsea trilogy was unforgettable, together with The Left Hand of Darkness, and so many more. May she rest in peace.

I saw the news on Twitter, then went to verify. Which has not been easy. Apparently only the NYT obits has a story, and a couple of other places that seem to be using NYT as their source.

ETA: Okay, now Locus has something about it.

And now my Twitter feed is dominated by it. I guess it must be true.

I literally looked up her first book for myself last night, Left Hand of Darkness which is a PDF online. After hearing about her for years, and most recently my sister describing a cool world le Guin built in the atmosphere of Jupiter, I believe.

I'm sorry to hear this, and condolences to all those on the forum to whom she is a more direct mentor and role model.

This is indeed sad news. She was one of the finest writers of all time.

Arg, and of course I open the NYT article and there's another one two from years ago about how she's 'not a science-fiction author'. LIES! Of course, I think Le Guin was always comfortable being classified as 'literary', and the perceived literary establishment was always a little more comfortable with her than other SFF authors of the time. Philip K. Dick wrote some very nasty things about her being perceived this way, and there may have been some male insecurity there.

Anyways, her non-fiction is rather excellent as well and she spent a large portion of her later years ranting at the greedheads in delightfully excoriating blog posts. Thinking of how I can convince my girlfriend to name our next female dog Ursula (A fine human name too, but we're not having any of those).

I'm currently working my way through Steering the Craft for the second time. Easily the best exercise-based writing book I've ever used. It's sparse enough not to overwhelm, but the instructions are specific and the examples useful. I got so many good pieces out of it the first go through. Le Guin was a titan in the field. She wasn't just a great writer, she was a great teacher.

I knew she wasn't getting any younger, but somehow I thought she'd be with us forever. She will be in our hearts. Few have created such a legacy as she has.

Walk in the Light, Ms. LeGuin.

Kjbartolotta said:

Anyways, her non-fiction is rather excellent as well and she spent a large portion of her later years ranting at the greedheads in delightfully excoriating blog posts. Thinking of how I can convince my girlfriend to name our next female dog Ursula (A fine human name too, but we're not having any of those).

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I was just thinking hers would be a good name for a female cat (though all mine have been boys so far).

Roxxsmom said:

I knew she wasn't getting any younger, but somehow I thought she'd be with us forever.

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Check your library - she will be. They all will be.

Brightdreamer said:

Check your library - she will be. They all will be.

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Yes, it's the closest thing to immortality a human is capable of.

'We will need writers who remember freedom.' -- Herself

She made 'em look at the National Book Awards a few years ago, comparing the perceived inescapability of the grip of capitalism to the once-assumed inescapability of the divine right of kings.

http://nhpr.org/post/book-news-ursula-k-le-guin-steals-show-national-book-awards#stream/0

Earthsea, The Lathe of Heaven, The Wind's 12 Quarters, and The Left Hand of Darkness were fantastic. So many more still remain on my ever-lengthening list.

Oh well. I sigh when the legends die.

She was, in my opinion, one of the greatest writers of our time. Such a sad loss.

Think I'll read Lathe of Heaven again in her honor.

Oh - there's an idea: Everyone, what's your favorite Le'Guin novel?

So sad. I knew she wasn't getting any younger, but I thought she'd be around for a few years more. I've pretty much everything of hers, except the Orsinian novels.

My favorite? An obscure one, City of Illusion. A wonderful combination of the far-future US under a mysterious alien race with Native American-inspired mythology.

It's the end of an era.

RIP, Ursula.

I think I'll say the Dispossessed, though I read and reread the Wizard of Earthsea books when I was a kid and young adult.

Cobalt Jade said:

My favorite? An obscure one, City of Illusion. A wonderful combination of the far-future US under a mysterious alien race with Native American-inspired mythology.

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I'm with Cobalt. Close second, Tombs of Atuan (a slender volume that contains quite a bit). Third, Left Hand, fourth, Dispossessed. And I would highly recommend Orsinian Tales to everyone, underrated and very close to her other works for not being SFF.

Again, there's so much of her work I haven't read! Of what I have, 'A Wizard of Earthsea'. I liked her spare, less-is-more style of fantasy writing. Like Tombs of Atuan-- a slender volume that contains quite a bit.

kobold said:

Like Tombs of Atuan--

as you said,
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a slender volume that contains quite a bit.

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Because I have a way with word-things I might suggest to everyone here who's maxed themselves out on Le Guin a long time ago to take a look at Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff. Closest thing to Le Guin I've read in a long time.

Also, and before everyone is sick of me, I just wanna say Ursula had the best dragons.

Kjbartolotta said:

Also, and before everyone is sick of me, I just wanna say Ursula had the best dragons.

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Agreed.

They were simply awesome.