annieb123's review
5.0
First published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
I've been heavily influenced throughout my life by books and reading. I have been shaped and guided by the things which I've read which have resonated with and awakened me. I distinctly remember reading the Earthsea books as well as The Left Hand of Darkness, sometime in the mid 1970s and being completely electrified. This was it. This author 'got it'. She was speaking to me and people like me. The author of course, was Ursula K. Le Guin and I've been a lifelong fan.
This book is a collection, arranged thematically, of her ruminations, many of which appeared on her blog (a word she disdains). If it's not as tidy as her books (and how could it be), it's still beautifully written and well worth reading. Le Guin is such an artist with words and there are many passages about her love affair with the written word. She talks briefly of poetry and the meaning of words and writing and nuance. She spends some time talking about the evolution of language and usage and what that means for readers and writers. There are tiny glimpses here and there of her incredible facility in choosing the words she uses, but not enough that it doesn't just look like magic to me every time.
I enjoyed reading this book immensely and even though I swore to myself that I was going to delicately ration out the entries and read them over a respectful period of time; I wound up devouring the entire book in two sittings.
She's an amazing author, quite possibly my favorite living author. She's lived on this planet for 88 years and has an incredibly profound amount of wisdom to offer, and she does so. She claims that a lot of it has to do with just living, but I'm not so sure. A simple search of current news headlines will show an awful lot of unpleasant puerile immature divisive arrogant privileged supposed adults who display a shocking and dangerous lack of maturity or wisdom.
The book is profound, exquisitely written and topically relevant. I loved it.
Five stars (and a solid four and a half even for non-fans)
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
I've been heavily influenced throughout my life by books and reading. I have been shaped and guided by the things which I've read which have resonated with and awakened me. I distinctly remember reading the Earthsea books as well as The Left Hand of Darkness, sometime in the mid 1970s and being completely electrified. This was it. This author 'got it'. She was speaking to me and people like me. The author of course, was Ursula K. Le Guin and I've been a lifelong fan.
This book is a collection, arranged thematically, of her ruminations, many of which appeared on her blog (a word she disdains). If it's not as tidy as her books (and how could it be), it's still beautifully written and well worth reading. Le Guin is such an artist with words and there are many passages about her love affair with the written word. She talks briefly of poetry and the meaning of words and writing and nuance. She spends some time talking about the evolution of language and usage and what that means for readers and writers. There are tiny glimpses here and there of her incredible facility in choosing the words she uses, but not enough that it doesn't just look like magic to me every time.
I enjoyed reading this book immensely and even though I swore to myself that I was going to delicately ration out the entries and read them over a respectful period of time; I wound up devouring the entire book in two sittings.
She's an amazing author, quite possibly my favorite living author. She's lived on this planet for 88 years and has an incredibly profound amount of wisdom to offer, and she does so. She claims that a lot of it has to do with just living, but I'm not so sure. A simple search of current news headlines will show an awful lot of unpleasant puerile immature divisive arrogant privileged supposed adults who display a shocking and dangerous lack of maturity or wisdom.
The book is profound, exquisitely written and topically relevant. I loved it.
Five stars (and a solid four and a half even for non-fans)
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
ethemreal's review
4.0
Ursula's writing is always lovely, though overall this book (a collection of her blog posts) was a bit weirdly paced. Perhaps it would read better one section at a time, but I read in longer chunks than that so it didn't quite flow nicely for me.
msbethreads's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful compilation of essays that were originally written as blog posts when the author was in her 80's.
This was the audible version - the narrator was an older woman so it was easy to imagine it was being read by the author and gave the impression I was being told a story, a life experience, from someone in a conversation.
I think I'd like to read a printed version - she had some deep and interesting (and funny!) insights.
This was the audible version - the narrator was an older woman so it was easy to imagine it was being read by the author and gave the impression I was being told a story, a life experience, from someone in a conversation.
I think I'd like to read a printed version - she had some deep and interesting (and funny!) insights.
bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Love this book, love Le Guin as a writer and a thinker, love getting to revisit her thoughts through this collection of blog posts. Blog posts! Imagine.
Her stories about Pard remind me of one of my own cats.
Her stories about Pard remind me of one of my own cats.