2011 Reading #56: Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
51. What I Didn't See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler.
52. Thunder and Roses: Volume IV: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon.
53. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.
54. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison.
55. Angela Davis: An Autobiography.
56. Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin. I forget what the "rule" about research is--no more than 10%, is it, that's supposed to actually show up on the page? And yet what this book feels like is Le Guin telling a part of the story, then doing a bit of world-building, a bit of research, a bit of background work, and doing it all on the page, and beautifully. The result is a multi-layered novel-like organism. It's "layered" in the sense that some of the pieces add layers while others peel layers back. At first it's a pastoral tale with elements of magic realism, then it becomes post-apocalypse SF, then a sort of epic, a love story, etc. But with all the pieces in conversation with each other, it seems to be closest to what it can be like to create a fictional world, to immerse yourself in it and then gradually, reluctantly, pull away.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
51. What I Didn't See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler.
52. Thunder and Roses: Volume IV: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon.
53. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.
54. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison.
55. Angela Davis: An Autobiography.
56. Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin. I forget what the "rule" about research is--no more than 10%, is it, that's supposed to actually show up on the page? And yet what this book feels like is Le Guin telling a part of the story, then doing a bit of world-building, a bit of research, a bit of background work, and doing it all on the page, and beautifully. The result is a multi-layered novel-like organism. It's "layered" in the sense that some of the pieces add layers while others peel layers back. At first it's a pastoral tale with elements of magic realism, then it becomes post-apocalypse SF, then a sort of epic, a love story, etc. But with all the pieces in conversation with each other, it seems to be closest to what it can be like to create a fictional world, to immerse yourself in it and then gradually, reluctantly, pull away.