Ursula K. Le Guin

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* 21.10.1929

+ 22.01.2018

Lao Tzu - Ursula K. Le Guin - Tao Te Ching

No other English translation of this greatest of the Chinese classics can match Ursula Le Guin's striking new version. Le Guin, best known for thought-provoking science fiction novels that have helped to transform the genre, has studied the Tao Te Ching for more than forty years. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with Chinese scholars to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the poetic beauty of the work. Avoiding scholarly interpretations and esoteric Taoist insights, she has revealed the Tao Te Ching 's immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, in a way that shows better than ever before why it has been so much loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin's own personal commentary and notes on the text. This new version is sure to be welcomed by the many readers of the Tao Te Ching as well as those coming to the text for the first time. https://www.amazon.com/Lao-Tzu-Ching-About-Power/dp/1570623953

astudygroup.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/lao-tzu_-tao-te-ching_-a-book-a-ursula-k-le-guin.pdf

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„We read books to find out who we are.

What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.“ Ursula K. LeGuin

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lithub.com/ursula-k-le-guins-best-life-advice== https://lithub.com/ursula-k-le-guins-best-life-advice/

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“The opposite of spare time is, I guess, occupied time. In my case I still don’t know what spare time is because all my time is occupied. It always has been and it is now. It’s occupied by living.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

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“Activist anarchists always hope I might be an activist, but I think they realize that I would be a lousy one, and let me go back to writing what I write.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

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"I believe that maturity is not an outgrowing but a growing up: > than an adult is not a dead child, but a child who has survived. > I believe that all the best faculties of a mature human being exist in > the child, and that if these faculties are encouraged in youth they > will act wisely and well in the adult, but if they are repressed and > denied in the child they will stunt and cripple the adult personality. >

"[...] Normal children do not confuse reality and fantasy - they > confuse them much less often than we adults do [as a certain great > fantasist pointed out in a story called "The Emperor's New Clothes"). > Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren't real, but they also > know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true > books. All too often it's more than Mummy and Daddy know; for, in > denying their childhood, the adults have denied half their knowledge, > and all are left with the sad, sterile little fact: "unicorns aren't > real". And that fact is one that never got anyone anywhere [except in > the story "The Unicorn in the Garden", by another great fantasist, in > which it is shown that a devotion to the unreality of unicorns may get > you straight into the loony bin]. It is by such statements as "once > upon a time there was a dragon", or "in a hole in the ground there > lived a hobbit" - it is by such beautiful non-acts that we fantastic > human beings may arrive, in our peculiar fashion, at truth." >

URSULA K. LE GUIN - "Why Americans Are Afraid of Dragons?" in the > essay collection "The Language of the Night" (GP Putnams, 1979).

“I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin== isbn=1857230744

That indelible relationship between suffering and life is what Ursula K. Le Guin (October 21, 1929–January 22, 2018) explores throughout The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (public library) — the superb 1974 novel, part science fiction and part philosophy, that gave us Le Guin’s insight into time, loyalty, and the root of human responsibility.

https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/11/29/ursula-k-le-guin-the-dispossessed-suffering

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Ursula Le Guin, who was praised as bringing "literary depth and a tough-minded feminist sensibility to science fiction and fantasy," was born on this day in 1929. Famous for such works as The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and the Earthsea series, Le Guin, who died in 2018 at the age of 88, was known for tackling complex and often challenging social issues in her work and frequently exploring themes of gender, race, and identity. She believed that writing that drew readers into the "inner lands" of the imagination could be a moral force, observing that "if you cannot or will not imagine the results of your actions, there’s no way you can act morally or responsibly. Little kids can’t do it; babies are morally monsters — completely greedy. Their imagination has to be trained into foresight and empathy.” For readers who would like to delve into Ursula Le Guin's most famous works, we highly recommend the "Earthsea" series (https://amzn.to/3PzvqLB), "The Dispossessed" (http://amzn.to/2Du0VRL), "The Left Hand of Darkness (http://amzn.to/2GaavLx), and "The Lathe Of Heaven" (http://amzn.to/2GcdrqM) Three volumes of her lesser-known work have also been released: "The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin" (http://amzn.to/2G7iMjg), "The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin" (http://amzn.to/2rzm4IQ); and "The Complete Orsinia", which collects her realistic fiction (http://amzn.to/2eplpRa) For teen readers interested in exploring her work, in her novel "Voices", Le Guin creates a world where books are forbidden and a young woman must decide what her role will be in a rebellion fomenting against the oppressive occupiers of her city -- recommended for ages 12 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/voices For books to help cultivate children's empathy for others, you can find many reading recommendations in our blog post "25 Children's Books That Teach Kids to Be Kind," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=19359 And, for many girl-empowering fantasy stories for children and teens, visit our "Fantasy & Science Fiction" book section at http://amgrl.co/2wfKIOZ

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/ Ursula Le Guin /

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"All of us have to learn how to invent our lives , make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don't, our lives get made up for us by other people."

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"Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She was first published in 1959, and her literary career spanned nearly sixty years, producing more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Frequently described as an author of science fiction, Le Guin has also been called a "major voice in American Letters". Le Guin said she would prefer to be known as an "American novelist". Le Guin was born in Berkeley, California, to author Theodora Kroeber and anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber. Having earned a master's degree in French, Le Guin began doctoral studies but abandoned these after her marriage in 1953 to historian Charles Le Guin." W Born: Ursula Kroeber, October 21, 1929, Berkeley, California, U.S. Died: January 22, 2018, Portland, Oregon, U.S. Occupation: Author Education: Radcliffe College (BA), Columbia University (MA) Period: c. 1959 – 2018 Notable works: Earthsea (1964–2018), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974)

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About 20 years ago Modern Library was smart to ask Ursula K. Le Guin to edit and write introductions for some H.G. Wells books. From the Selected Stories: "For the last couple of centuries, people who live more than thirty years or so have been likely to realize, suddenly or gradually, that they are strangers in a changed, incomprehensible world: lands of exile for refugees, cities of ruin for those whose nation suffers war, a labyrinth of high technology in which the untrained mind strays bewildered, a world of huge wealth which the poor stare at through the impenetrable glass of a shop window or a TV set . . . . From the early nineteenth century on, the stable, single worlds of pre-industrial societies were broken down and drawn into a multiverse of constantly increasing variety and change." This explains cranky old duffers -- I am twice over a stranger in this world.

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Change is freedom, change is life.

It's always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don't make changes, don't risk disapproval, don't upset your syndics. It's always easiest to let yourself be governed. There's a point, around age twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities. Those who build walls are their own prisoners. I'm going to go fulfil my proper function in the social organism. I'm going to go unbuild walls.

Ursula Le Guin: The Dispossessed https://amzn.to/3QagHbd

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“As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

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Ursula K. Le Guin: I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries—the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings. … Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words.

Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" is a groundbreaking science fiction novel that explores themes of gender, sexuality, and identity. Set on the planet Gethen, where the inhabitants are ambisexual (they have no fixed gender), the story follows Genly Ai, a human envoy tasked with persuading the Gethenians to join the Ekumen, a galactic confederation of planets. Ai is initially baffled by Gethenian culture and their lack of gender roles. He finds it difficult to connect with the Gethenians, who see him as an anomaly and a potential threat. However, he eventually develops a close friendship with Estraven, a Gethenian diplomat who becomes his guide and mentor. Through his relationship with Estraven, Ai begins to understand the Gethenian perspective and to appreciate the beauty and complexity of their culture. He also comes to terms with his own gender identity and sexuality, realizing that he does not have to conform to traditional human norms. "The Left Hand of Darkness" is a challenging but rewarding novel that forces readers to question their own assumptions about gender, sexuality, and identity. It is a celebration of diversity and a powerful reminder that there is no one right way to be human. In addition to its exploration of gender and sexuality, "The Left Hand of Darkness" is also a meditation on the nature of power, diplomacy, and the importance of understanding other cultures. Ai's journey on Gethen is a learning process for both him and the reader. He comes to realize that he cannot simply impose his own values and beliefs on the Gethenians, but must instead learn to respect their culture and find ways to work together. "The Left Hand of Darkness" is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today. It is a thought-provoking and beautifully written novel that challenges us to think about the world in new and different ways. Book: [ad] https://amzn.to/4crekK9

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The book itself is a curious artifact, not showy in its technology but complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often very pleasant to look at and handle, that can last decades, even centuries. It doesn't have to be plugged in, activated, or performed by a machine; all it needs is light, a human eye, and a human mind. It is not one of a kind, and it is not ephemeral. It lasts. It is reliable. If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell it to you again when you're fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you're reading a whole new book." Ursula K. Le Guin - from Staying Awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading, Harper's Magazine, February 2008.

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