Interesting. I've only scratched the surface on Le Guin; the only complete novel I've read is one you didn't mention ("The Lathe of Heaven"), but I thought it was terrific, deserving of its "modern classic" status.
It's not part of a series, so maybe it gets overlooked a little? But if you're only a part-time SF reader like me, it's a good choice for that reason (in addition to being a good story and fairly short). BTW there's a nice film version of it that was made for PBS around 1978. Anyone who likes the look and trappings of SF films of that time would enjoy it.
Whoa, I didn’t know about the Bookshop registry. I only got around to making an account for affiliate links that only my mom has used, once. Thanks for the pro tip!
And just a warning that (in spite of the clickbait-y title) this is by no means a comprehensive overview of LeGuin! I’m not as well versed in (or enthusiastic about) her fantasy/historical fiction corpus. I look forward to reading your thoughts on her whenever you get around to her.
I like that the Hainish Cycle is a cycle rather than a series in that it doesn’t demand the reader to approach it as a consecutive series of entries. I read somewhere that the books don’t actually have an internally consistent continuity. To me even raising it to the level of cycle might be more a publisher’s conceit than an author’s one, though I haven’t really sought to occupy Le Guin’s brain other than reading her books and casually reading Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.
My personal read thru has been something like: The Dispossessed — “Coming of Age in Karhide” (short story) — Rocannon’s World — City of Illusion — The Left Hand of Darkness — Rocannon’s World (again) — Planet of Exile — The Word for World is Forest — The Dispossessed (again). Note a ten year gap between my first reading of The Dispossessed and “Coming of Age in Karhide.” I think I probably vibed most with The Word for World is Forest.
Contra the Lillian Review of Books, I remember liking City of Illusion better than Rocannon’s World and Planet of Exile and this may hinge on her use of the Tao-te-Ching and Paul’s letters to bring out the story’s themes. Like her protagonist much of my memory of the book is now largely lost beyond these references and an impression of the King of Kansas as an imposing figure. I’ve been meaning to read it again for a couple years now.
I have also read somewhere that LeGuin didn’t really think of it as a “cycle” or series, and that she didn’t strive for internal consistency, but having read several of these books I’m skeptical— I think she was being coy. I’ll accept that she may not have had some explicit timeline worked out that she referred to when writing every story, but my experience of the books as a reader is of a cohesive universe, small pockets of which are skillfully revealed in each story. The cumulative impression is of a self-sustaining future history that lives in some Platonic ideal plane of existence, imo.
I liked The Word for World is Forest and found it invigorating (especially as a college student grappling with the history and legacy of imperialism for the first time), but I felt that its naked political message made it a weaker piece of art. Terran imperialists bad, native aliens good. But the spirit of the story is undeniably rousing.
I’ve never read the Tao Te Ching or done much thinking about Taoism— maybe I should and then re-read City of Illusions to enrich my reading. I took the book mostly at face value, which is probably unfair for a book that is literally about lies, appearances, and subterfuge lol
Love this. I have all of them in old paper back, but my old "City of Illusions" features a big cat-like eye, like the eye in the first edition, and a tree and two humanoids looking at a futuristic city. It's really beautiful which is what drew me to her work. That and a recommendation followed by a bookstore nearby that sold each book for whatever the ancient price tag said, if it said $1.75 it was 1.75.
I am terrifically jealous! I think the main factor (other than the price) why I passed on the first edition is that I’m not wild about the cover art. Your version sounds nicer!
Thanks. I am so, so grateful that "Atlas Shrugged" didn't turn you into a glassy-eyed acolyte making a religious fetish of selfishness. In the later stuff (all that I've read - love "The Dispossessed") you can feel LeGuin struggling to find a realistic way to dramatize humans creating a society that approximates what Dr. King called "The Beloved Community." (Had she lived, she may have achieved this in her last, incomplete work, "Get Off Your Phone, Dummy.")
There was a brief period when I was enchanted by the Randian virtue of selfishness—I think the left underestimates the attractiveness of Ayn Rand to otherwise bright and thoughtful youth. Then I read The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath and my pendulum swung towards socialism for many years. (Guess I was highly impressionable.) Now I’m not exactly sure where I stand, but these days I’m skeptical of ideologues of all stripes.
Lillian - Skepticism is a good quality to embrace, as long as it doesn't turn to cynicism. I've never been a Randian, but there's a part of her "philosophy" I embrace. She once said, "The question isn't who is going to help me. It's who is going to stop me." Yes! You need this quality to succeed. When you (Lillian) sit down to work on your book, nobody is there to "help" you (do it for you). It's up to you, and that's good news, because you only need you to finish. Ahh, but when it comes time to publish, that's where Socialism comes in. You need a publisher, allies, friends and fans...the insanity of the Randians is positing that the best societies are competitive, zero-sum-game, supermen and peasants iron cage matches. (For an example, see "Trump, Donald.") Rutger Bregman wrote a great book called 'Humankind" proving (!) that all human progress has come from cooperation, and that all thriving societies are built on both enterprise and compassion. (This is, of course, the core idea of "Prosperity" - it's meant to show how we can thrive when we embrace the best ideas of the Libertarians and the Socialists.)
Interesting. I've only scratched the surface on Le Guin; the only complete novel I've read is one you didn't mention ("The Lathe of Heaven"), but I thought it was terrific, deserving of its "modern classic" status.
I haven’t read The Lathe of Heaven but it’s definitely on my list. Just need to find a nice vintage copy to read!
It's not part of a series, so maybe it gets overlooked a little? But if you're only a part-time SF reader like me, it's a good choice for that reason (in addition to being a good story and fairly short). BTW there's a nice film version of it that was made for PBS around 1978. Anyone who likes the look and trappings of SF films of that time would enjoy it.
I have never read LeGuin but want to and plan to in the next couple years. Appreciate this overview.
You know you can create a registry on Bookshop.org and then your fans can buy you books? :)
Whoa, I didn’t know about the Bookshop registry. I only got around to making an account for affiliate links that only my mom has used, once. Thanks for the pro tip!
And just a warning that (in spite of the clickbait-y title) this is by no means a comprehensive overview of LeGuin! I’m not as well versed in (or enthusiastic about) her fantasy/historical fiction corpus. I look forward to reading your thoughts on her whenever you get around to her.
Yeah, I think in two years I have only made about $20 from affiliate links. But I have had about 20 readers buy me a book.
That’s amazing! Wow, what a gift. If that ever happens to me I will know that I have Made It(tm)
Yup!! The Dispossessed is life-changing!!
I like that the Hainish Cycle is a cycle rather than a series in that it doesn’t demand the reader to approach it as a consecutive series of entries. I read somewhere that the books don’t actually have an internally consistent continuity. To me even raising it to the level of cycle might be more a publisher’s conceit than an author’s one, though I haven’t really sought to occupy Le Guin’s brain other than reading her books and casually reading Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.
My personal read thru has been something like: The Dispossessed — “Coming of Age in Karhide” (short story) — Rocannon’s World — City of Illusion — The Left Hand of Darkness — Rocannon’s World (again) — Planet of Exile — The Word for World is Forest — The Dispossessed (again). Note a ten year gap between my first reading of The Dispossessed and “Coming of Age in Karhide.” I think I probably vibed most with The Word for World is Forest.
Contra the Lillian Review of Books, I remember liking City of Illusion better than Rocannon’s World and Planet of Exile and this may hinge on her use of the Tao-te-Ching and Paul’s letters to bring out the story’s themes. Like her protagonist much of my memory of the book is now largely lost beyond these references and an impression of the King of Kansas as an imposing figure. I’ve been meaning to read it again for a couple years now.
I have also read somewhere that LeGuin didn’t really think of it as a “cycle” or series, and that she didn’t strive for internal consistency, but having read several of these books I’m skeptical— I think she was being coy. I’ll accept that she may not have had some explicit timeline worked out that she referred to when writing every story, but my experience of the books as a reader is of a cohesive universe, small pockets of which are skillfully revealed in each story. The cumulative impression is of a self-sustaining future history that lives in some Platonic ideal plane of existence, imo.
I liked The Word for World is Forest and found it invigorating (especially as a college student grappling with the history and legacy of imperialism for the first time), but I felt that its naked political message made it a weaker piece of art. Terran imperialists bad, native aliens good. But the spirit of the story is undeniably rousing.
I’ve never read the Tao Te Ching or done much thinking about Taoism— maybe I should and then re-read City of Illusions to enrich my reading. I took the book mostly at face value, which is probably unfair for a book that is literally about lies, appearances, and subterfuge lol
Love this. I have all of them in old paper back, but my old "City of Illusions" features a big cat-like eye, like the eye in the first edition, and a tree and two humanoids looking at a futuristic city. It's really beautiful which is what drew me to her work. That and a recommendation followed by a bookstore nearby that sold each book for whatever the ancient price tag said, if it said $1.75 it was 1.75.
I am terrifically jealous! I think the main factor (other than the price) why I passed on the first edition is that I’m not wild about the cover art. Your version sounds nicer!
Really enjoyed reading this!
Thanks, Haru!! ☺️
Thanks. I am so, so grateful that "Atlas Shrugged" didn't turn you into a glassy-eyed acolyte making a religious fetish of selfishness. In the later stuff (all that I've read - love "The Dispossessed") you can feel LeGuin struggling to find a realistic way to dramatize humans creating a society that approximates what Dr. King called "The Beloved Community." (Had she lived, she may have achieved this in her last, incomplete work, "Get Off Your Phone, Dummy.")
There was a brief period when I was enchanted by the Randian virtue of selfishness—I think the left underestimates the attractiveness of Ayn Rand to otherwise bright and thoughtful youth. Then I read The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath and my pendulum swung towards socialism for many years. (Guess I was highly impressionable.) Now I’m not exactly sure where I stand, but these days I’m skeptical of ideologues of all stripes.
Lillian - Skepticism is a good quality to embrace, as long as it doesn't turn to cynicism. I've never been a Randian, but there's a part of her "philosophy" I embrace. She once said, "The question isn't who is going to help me. It's who is going to stop me." Yes! You need this quality to succeed. When you (Lillian) sit down to work on your book, nobody is there to "help" you (do it for you). It's up to you, and that's good news, because you only need you to finish. Ahh, but when it comes time to publish, that's where Socialism comes in. You need a publisher, allies, friends and fans...the insanity of the Randians is positing that the best societies are competitive, zero-sum-game, supermen and peasants iron cage matches. (For an example, see "Trump, Donald.") Rutger Bregman wrote a great book called 'Humankind" proving (!) that all human progress has come from cooperation, and that all thriving societies are built on both enterprise and compassion. (This is, of course, the core idea of "Prosperity" - it's meant to show how we can thrive when we embrace the best ideas of the Libertarians and the Socialists.)
Shake it don’t break it