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About Writing
The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader and the Imagination
Ursula K. Le Guin explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. The Wave in the Mind includes some literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, performance art pieces, and, most centrally, her reflections on the arts of writing and reading.
314 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2004
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
827 books27k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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January 20, 2022
“We find out who the good writers are, and then we look or wait for their next book. Such writers—living or dead, whatever genre they write in, critically fashionable or not, academically approved or not—are those who not only meet our expectations but surpass them. That is the gift the great storytellers have. They tell the same stories over and over (how many stories are there?), but when they tell them they are new, they are news, they renew us, they show us the world made new.”Yes, this is exactly what happened when I read my first Le Guin over a decade ago. Ursula K. Le Guin is now my literary hero. And this book of her essays and talks gives a glimpse into the brilliant mind behind the brilliant stories.
“I think the imagination is the single most useful tool humankind possesses. It beats the opposable thumb. I can imagine living without my thumbs, but not without my imagination.”
The subjects she touches upon here are mainly related to writing, literature and imagination in different ways. Creating stories; rhythm in poetry and prose; fantasy as it relates to describing reality; the blurring of lines between fiction and libraries; the traditional silencing of female voice in literature; Mark Twain and female roles; Tolstoy and his “happy families” line criticism from the vantage point of years lived; her humorous and yet sharp takedown of Hemingway’s bravado-filled uber-machismo; her love ode to public libraries; the power of oral storytelling. And also thoughts on life, aging, oppression, freedom, power, and the art and craft of writing.
“I will tell you my private definition of freedom. Freedom is stack privileges at Widener Library.
I remember the first time I came outside from those endless, incredible stacks I could barely walk because I was carrying about twenty-five books, but I was flying. I turned around and looked up the broad steps of the building, and I thought, That’s heaven. That’s the heaven for me. All the words in the world, and all for me to read. Free at last, Lord, free at last!
I hope you’ll understand that I am not quoting those great words lightly. I do mean it. Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom.”
What shines through every piece is Le Guin’s intellect, inquisitiveness, feminism, ability to look at things from a viewpoint new and different, confidence mixed with a bit of self-deprecation — and what stood out for me especially, her razor-sharp wit and pointed humor.
I always think of Le Guin’s fiction as profound and serious. But in her essays she is surprisingly playful, making light even of serious themes while still somehow staying serious. Her sense of humor is spot-on, her delivery is precise, her wit is sharp.
“What it comes down to, I guess, is that I am just not manly. Like Ernest Hemingway was manly. The beard and the guns and the wives and the little short sentences. I do try. I have this sort of beardoid thing that keeps trying to grow, nine or ten hairs on my chin, sometimes even more; but what do I do with the hairs? I tweak them out. Would a man do that? Men don’t tweak. Men shave. […] But it doesn’t mean anything because I don’t really have a real beard that amounts to anything. And I don’t have a gun and I don’t have even one wife and my sentences tend to go on and on and on, with all this syntax in them. Ernest Hemingway would have died rather than have syntax. Or semicolons. […]
And another thing. Ernest Hemingway would have died rather than get old. And he did. He shot himself. A short sentence. Anything rather than a long sentence, a life sentence. Death sentences are short and very, very manly. Life sentences aren’t. They go on and on, all full of syntax and qualifying clauses and confusing references and getting old. And that brings up the real proof of what a mess I have made of being a man: I am not even young. Just about the time they finally started inventing women, I started getting old. And I went right on doing it. Shamelessly. I have allowed myself to get old and haven’t done one single thing about it, with a gun or anything.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, born in 1928, was one of the few women in a traditionally very male-dominated science fiction genre. She knows firsthand the difficulty that presented. She’s well-aware of the perception that if three women judges have only books written by women on a literary prize shortlist it will be seen as a feminist cabal conspiracy, but if men picked all books written by men it will be seen as credible. Or how about something closer to “real” life — “The question has been asked before but I haven’t yet got an answer that satisfies me: why do women cripple their feet while men don’t?”
“My society says it’s all right, nothing is wrong, women’s feet are there to be tortured and deformed for the sake of fashion and convention, for the sake of eroticism, for the sake of marriageability, for the sake of money. And we all say yes, certainly, all right, that is all right.”
Ursula K. Le Guin is the person I can listen to for hours and hours. She’s eloquent, she’s perceptive, she’s deliberate and funny and serious. My book was highlighted so much that it’s easier to see the non-highlighted parts. She has perfected her craft and knows that writing is as much - or more - of a craft you work on as it is art. Where does she get her ideas? Well, she works at it.
“I respect commas far more than I do congressmen. People who say that commas don’t matter may be talking about therapy or self-expression or other good things, but they’re not talking about writing. They may be talking about getting started, leaping over timidity, breaking through emotional logjams; but they’re still not talking about writing. If you want to be a dancer, find out how to use your feet. If you want to be a writer, find out where the comma goes. Then worry about all that other stuff.”
And Le Guin knows very well how it felt working in the genre that often gets dismissed as “inferior” to modern realism, the red-headed stepchild of literary world — fantasy and science fiction. Despite fantasy relying on imagination, daring to envision not just how things are but how they can be different — because imagination is central to us, important for our foundations.
“Imagination is not a means of making money. It has no place in the vocabulary of profit making. It is not a weapon, though all weapons originate from it, and the use, or nonuse, of all weapons depends on it: as do all tools and their uses. The imagination is a fundamental way of thinking, an essential means of becoming and remaining human. It is a tool of the mind.”
“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.”
————
Ursula K. Le Guin, you left behind a wonderful legacy in literature, and you were a true master.
“Words are what matter. The sharing of words. The activation of imagination through the reading of words.
The reason literacy is important is that literature *is* the operating instructions. The best manual we have. The most useful guide to the country we’re visiting, life.”
Thank you for choosing to share your intellect and perceptions and humor with us. We need people like you, the bright shining stars.
“She gets up
and writes it.
Her work
is never done.”
——————
Also posted on my blog.
May 31, 2020
Este libro contiene diferentes conferencias y artículos de Ursula K. Le Guin revisados por ella misma (y muchas veces ampliados) para aparecer en este volumen.
Llevo un mes saboreando cada uno de los artículos, ojalá este libro tuviera mil páginas y no 400. Aquí Le Guin nos habla de su experiencia como escritora, como lectora, como mujer. Conocemos retazos de su infancia, de las lecturas que le marcaron (Tolkien, Tolstoi y Virginia Woolf están muy presentes en este libro ♡), de sus colegas escritores, del machismo, del taoísmo...
Este volumen resume muy bien muchas de sus ideas y preocupaciones de manera ligera, muy entretenida, con ironía y sentido crítico. Tan solo en la parte central hay un par de ensayos que me resultaron un poquito más densos, pero de verdad que el 95 % del libro se lee solo y es un auténtico disfrute.
Hay muchas cosas sobre las que reflexiona Le Guin que acabaron rondándome la cabeza durante días, este es uno de esos libros. Me gustó muchísimo esa reivindicación de "contar historias", contarlas en voz alta (como hacen las madres, los abuelos, como se hacía al principio de los tiempos), esa reflexión sobre que la lectura no es algo pasivo y que la importancia del lector es enorme, sobre que la escritura es encontrar el ritmo, subirte a la ola, esperar pacientemente hasta que lo tienes y luego dejarse llevar... hay anécdotas que me impactaron especialmente, como esa en la que comenta cómo un jurado compuesto por mujeres le habría dado el primer premio y los de consolación a 4 mujeres y ante el miedo de que las tildaran de feministas radicales y eso influenciara negativamente a la ganadora, decidieron darle a dos hombres los segundos premios.
En fin, este es un libro maravilloso, y como dice la editorial en una nota: "un milagro" que haya llegado a nuestro mercado, así que toca disfrutarlo, leerlo y releerlo, aprender de todo lo que esta maravillosa autora tenía por enseñarnos.
Y sí, os gustará mucho más si sois fans de Ursula K Le Guin, pero no creo que sea necesario para disfrutarlo.
Llevo un mes saboreando cada uno de los artículos, ojalá este libro tuviera mil páginas y no 400. Aquí Le Guin nos habla de su experiencia como escritora, como lectora, como mujer. Conocemos retazos de su infancia, de las lecturas que le marcaron (Tolkien, Tolstoi y Virginia Woolf están muy presentes en este libro ♡), de sus colegas escritores, del machismo, del taoísmo...
Este volumen resume muy bien muchas de sus ideas y preocupaciones de manera ligera, muy entretenida, con ironía y sentido crítico. Tan solo en la parte central hay un par de ensayos que me resultaron un poquito más densos, pero de verdad que el 95 % del libro se lee solo y es un auténtico disfrute.
Hay muchas cosas sobre las que reflexiona Le Guin que acabaron rondándome la cabeza durante días, este es uno de esos libros. Me gustó muchísimo esa reivindicación de "contar historias", contarlas en voz alta (como hacen las madres, los abuelos, como se hacía al principio de los tiempos), esa reflexión sobre que la lectura no es algo pasivo y que la importancia del lector es enorme, sobre que la escritura es encontrar el ritmo, subirte a la ola, esperar pacientemente hasta que lo tienes y luego dejarse llevar... hay anécdotas que me impactaron especialmente, como esa en la que comenta cómo un jurado compuesto por mujeres le habría dado el primer premio y los de consolación a 4 mujeres y ante el miedo de que las tildaran de feministas radicales y eso influenciara negativamente a la ganadora, decidieron darle a dos hombres los segundos premios.
En fin, este es un libro maravilloso, y como dice la editorial en una nota: "un milagro" que haya llegado a nuestro mercado, así que toca disfrutarlo, leerlo y releerlo, aprender de todo lo que esta maravillosa autora tenía por enseñarnos.
Y sí, os gustará mucho más si sois fans de Ursula K Le Guin, pero no creo que sea necesario para disfrutarlo.
March 1, 2021
Ας φανταστούμε λοιπόν έναν κήπο με ρόδα. Ένας ροδώνας είναι τα κείμενα αυτά της Ούρσουλας Λε Γκεν. Μπαίνεις μέσα - η πόρτα είναι διάπλατα ανοιχτή - και κόβεις όσες θέλεις από τις μπουμπουκιασμένες σκέψεις της. Δε χρειάζεται φειδώ· είναι τόσο γόνιμο το έδαφος, που σίγουρα ό,τι έκοψες θα ξαναφυτρώσει, στην επόμενη ανάγνωση θα είναι και πάλι εκεί, να σου ξαναδιεγείρει τους νευρώνες, να αγγίξει μια άλλη χορδή.
Αυτό λοιπόν το βιβλίο είναι μια ευτυχία. Είναι παλλόμενο, ειλικρινές, δυναμικό, γεμάτο θέρμη. Το να διαβάζεις τα γραπτά μιας έξυπνης, δραστήριας γυναίκας, με τεντωμένες τις κεραίες της παρατηρητικότητας και της κριτικής σκέψης, αυτής που αναγνωρίζει και εξυψώνει ως μείζον ανθρώπινο προσόν τη φαντασία και την επινόηση, είναι ένα δώρο.
Η Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν είναι μια υπέροχη γυναίκα, φτιαγμένη από λάσπη – και όχι από γρανίτη – και μας αφήνει να αφήσουμε τα σημάδια μας και τις πατημασιές μας επάνω στο σώμα της, σε μια αμφίδρομη ανταλλακτική σχέση μεταξύ δημιουργού και αναγνώστη. Άξια υπερασπίστρια του είδους της, μας πείθει πως το σκαρφισμένο υλικό, το μυθιστόρημα φαντασίας, δεν είναι σε καμία περίπτωση υποδεέστερο από το ρεαλιστικό μυθιστόρημα. Η επινόηση έχει το πλεονέκτημα της εκτόξευσης της φαντασίας που μάλλον δεν ωχριά απέναντι στην κάθε μίμηση. Και η φαντασία είναι ένα πολυεργαλείο για τον ανθρώπινο νου· οφείλει να το χρησιμοποιεί.
Ένιωσα πως υπάρχει μια πολύ δυνατή ψυχική σύνδεση της Λε Γκεν με την Βιρτζίνια Γουλφ. Άλλωστε ο τίτλος της συλλογής αυτής είναι εμπνευσμένος από αυτήν. Και ένιωσα και εγώ με τη σειρά μου να συνδέομαι έντονα με αυτές τις δυο υπέροχες, πρωτοπόρες γυναίκες.
Μερικά από τα πολλά που σημείωσα για τη γεύση:
«Κάτω από τη μνήμη και την εμπειρία, κάτω από τη φαντασία και την επινόηση – κάτω από τις λέξεις, όπως λέει [η Γουλφ] – υπάρχουν ρυθμοί στους οποίους κινούνται η μνήμη και η φαντασία και οι λέξεις. Δουλειά του συγγραφέα είναι να κατέβει αρκετά βαθιά ώστε να νιώσει αυτό τον ρυθμό, να τον βρει, να κινηθεί σε αυτόν, να συγκινηθεί από αυτόν και να αφήσει τη μνήμη και τη φαντασία να κινηθούν για να βρουν τις λέξεις.»
«Ο Συγγραφέας, αυτή η ευγενική κι ηρωική φιγούρα που ατενίζει μια λευκή σελίδα και που είναι τόσο φοβερά βαρετός σε βιβλία και σε τ��ινίες επειδή δεν ανοίγει τρύπες στο μάρμαρο ή δεν απλώνει πινελιές στον μουσαμά ή δε διευθύνει τεράστιες ορχήστρες ή δεν πεθαίνει παίζοντας τον Άμλετ – μονάχα κάθεται κι ατενίζε��, και πίνει, και κατσουφιάζει, και τσαλακώνει σελίδες και τις πετάει στο καλάθι, που είναι τόσο ανιαρό όσο αυτά που κάνει στην πραγματική ζωή, που είναι να κάθεται εκεί, κι αν του πεις κάτι αναπηδάει και φωνάζει ΤΙ; - ο Συγγραφέας, λέω, δεν είναι μόνο ανιαρός αλλά και μοναχικός, ακόμα κι όταν, ίσως ιδιαίτερα όταν η οικογένειά της (μόλις άλλαξε φύλο, σαν τον Ορλάντο), είναι μαζί της, ρωτώντας πού είναι το μπλε πουκάμισο; πότε θα φάμε; Η Συγγραφέας είναι πιθανό να νιώσει σαν ένα ελάχιστο, μικροσκοπικό πρόσωπο, ολομόναχο σε μια έρημο που έχει λέξεις για άμμο. Γιγάντιες φιγούρες Μπεστ-Σέλερ και Μεγάλων Συγγραφέων ορθώνονται πάνω της σαν μνημειακά αγάλματα – Κοίτα τα έργα μου, τιποτένια εσύ, και απελπίσου! – Τούτο το μοναχικό άτομο που όλο κάθεται, μπορεί να ανακαλύψει ότι σ’ ένα επικεντρωμένο στο έργο εργαστήριο μπορεί να αντλήσει εκείνο το είδος της ομαδικής υποστήριξης και της συνεργατικής άμιλλας, της μοιρασμένης ενέργειας, που ηθοποιοί, χορευτές και μουσικοί, όλοι τους παραστατικοί καλλιτέχνες, έχουν στη διάθεσή τους διαρκώς.»
«Τι είναι αυτό που εμποδίζει τις ιδέες και τα οράματα να βρουν τον απαραίτητο υποκείμενο ρυθμό τους, γιατί δεν μπορούσε η Βιρτζίνια [Γουλφ] «να τα βγάλει» εκείνο το πρωινό; Θα μπορούσε να είναι χίλια δύο πράγματα, περισπασμοί, ανησυχίες, πολύ συχνά όμως, νομίζω, εκείνο που δεν αφήνει μία συγγραφέα να βρει τις λέξεις είναι ότι πάει να τις αρπάξει υπερβολικά γρήγορα, βιάζεται, γραπώνει, αντί να περιμένει να έρθει και να σκάσει το κύμα. Θέλει να γράψει γιατί είναι συγγραφέας, θέλει να πει αυτό, και να μιλήσει στους ανθρώπους για εκείνο, και να δείξει στους ανθρώπους κάτι άλλο, πράγματα που ξέρει, τις ιδέες της, τις γνώμες της, τις πεποιθήσεις της, ιδέες σημαντικές… όμως δεν περιμένει να έρθει το κύμα και να τη μεταφέρει πέρα απ’ όλες τις ιδέες και τις γνώμες, εκεί που δεν μπορείς να χρησιμοποιήσεις τη λάθος λέξη.»
Εξαιρετικά μαθήματα περί συγγραφής, θραύσματα σκέψεων περί λογοτεχνίας, φαντασίας και φεμινιστικών προβληματισμών· είναι όλα εδώ. Αδράξτε τα.
ΘΕΑΡΑ ΟΥΡΣΟΥΛΑ ΛΕ ΓΚΕΝ ΠΟΣΟ ΓΑΜΑΤΗ ΕΙΣΑΙ. ΟΡΙΣΤΕ, ΤΟ ΕΙΠΑ.
Αυτό λοιπόν το βιβλίο είναι μια ευτυχία. Είναι παλλόμενο, ειλικρινές, δυναμικό, γεμάτο θέρμη. Το να διαβάζεις τα γραπτά μιας έξυπνης, δραστήριας γυναίκας, με τεντωμένες τις κεραίες της παρατηρητικότητας και της κριτικής σκέψης, αυτής που αναγνωρίζει και εξυψώνει ως μείζον ανθρώπινο προσόν τη φαντασία και την επινόηση, είναι ένα δώρο.
Η Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν είναι μια υπέροχη γυναίκα, φτιαγμένη από λάσπη – και όχι από γρανίτη – και μας αφήνει να αφήσουμε τα σημάδια μας και τις πατημασιές μας επάνω στο σώμα της, σε μια αμφίδρομη ανταλλακτική σχέση μεταξύ δημιουργού και αναγνώστη. Άξια υπερασπίστρια του είδους της, μας πείθει πως το σκαρφισμένο υλικό, το μυθιστόρημα φαντασίας, δεν είναι σε καμία περίπτωση υποδεέστερο από το ρεαλιστικό μυθιστόρημα. Η επινόηση έχει το πλεονέκτημα της εκτόξευσης της φαντασίας που μάλλον δεν ωχριά απέναντι στην κάθε μίμηση. Και η φαντασία είναι ένα πολυεργαλείο για τον ανθρώπινο νου· οφείλει να το χρησιμοποιεί.
Ένιωσα πως υπάρχει μια πολύ δυνατή ψυχική σύνδεση της Λε Γκεν με την Βιρτζίνια Γουλφ. Άλλωστε ο τίτλος της συλλογής αυτής είναι εμπνευσμένος από αυτήν. Και ένιωσα και εγώ με τη σειρά μου να συνδέομαι έντονα με αυτές τις δυο υπέροχες, πρωτοπόρες γυναίκες.
Μερικά από τα πολλά που σημείωσα για τη γεύση:
«Κάτω από τη μνήμη και την εμπειρία, κάτω από τη φαντασία και την επινόηση – κάτω από τις λέξεις, όπως λέει [η Γουλφ] – υπάρχουν ρυθμοί στους οποίους κινούνται η μνήμη και η φαντασία και οι λέξεις. Δουλειά του συγγραφέα είναι να κατέβει αρκετά βαθιά ώστε να νιώσει αυτό τον ρυθμό, να τον βρει, να κινηθεί σε αυτόν, να συγκινηθεί από αυτόν και να αφήσει τη μνήμη και τη φαντασία να κινηθούν για να βρουν τις λέξεις.»
«Ο Συγγραφέας, αυτή η ευγενική κι ηρωική φιγούρα που ατενίζει μια λευκή σελίδα και που είναι τόσο φοβερά βαρετός σε βιβλία και σε τ��ινίες επειδή δεν ανοίγει τρύπες στο μάρμαρο ή δεν απλώνει πινελιές στον μουσαμά ή δε διευθύνει τεράστιες ορχήστρες ή δεν πεθαίνει παίζοντας τον Άμλετ – μονάχα κάθεται κι ατενίζε��, και πίνει, και κατσουφιάζει, και τσαλακώνει σελίδες και τις πετάει στο καλάθι, που είναι τόσο ανιαρό όσο αυτά που κάνει στην πραγματική ζωή, που είναι να κάθεται εκεί, κι αν του πεις κάτι αναπηδάει και φωνάζει ΤΙ; - ο Συγγραφέας, λέω, δεν είναι μόνο ανιαρός αλλά και μοναχικός, ακόμα κι όταν, ίσως ιδιαίτερα όταν η οικογένειά της (μόλις άλλαξε φύλο, σαν τον Ορλάντο), είναι μαζί της, ρωτώντας πού είναι το μπλε πουκάμισο; πότε θα φάμε; Η Συγγραφέας είναι πιθανό να νιώσει σαν ένα ελάχιστο, μικροσκοπικό πρόσωπο, ολομόναχο σε μια έρημο που έχει λέξεις για άμμο. Γιγάντιες φιγούρες Μπεστ-Σέλερ και Μεγάλων Συγγραφέων ορθώνονται πάνω της σαν μνημειακά αγάλματα – Κοίτα τα έργα μου, τιποτένια εσύ, και απελπίσου! – Τούτο το μοναχικό άτομο που όλο κάθεται, μπορεί να ανακαλύψει ότι σ’ ένα επικεντρωμένο στο έργο εργαστήριο μπορεί να αντλήσει εκείνο το είδος της ομαδικής υποστήριξης και της συνεργατικής άμιλλας, της μοιρασμένης ενέργειας, που ηθοποιοί, χορευτές και μουσικοί, όλοι τους παραστατικοί καλλιτέχνες, έχουν στη διάθεσή τους διαρκώς.»
«Τι είναι αυτό που εμποδίζει τις ιδέες και τα οράματα να βρουν τον απαραίτητο υποκείμενο ρυθμό τους, γιατί δεν μπορούσε η Βιρτζίνια [Γουλφ] «να τα βγάλει» εκείνο το πρωινό; Θα μπορούσε να είναι χίλια δύο πράγματα, περισπασμοί, ανησυχίες, πολύ συχνά όμως, νομίζω, εκείνο που δεν αφήνει μία συγγραφέα να βρει τις λέξεις είναι ότι πάει να τις αρπάξει υπερβολικά γρήγορα, βιάζεται, γραπώνει, αντί να περιμένει να έρθει και να σκάσει το κύμα. Θέλει να γράψει γιατί είναι συγγραφέας, θέλει να πει αυτό, και να μιλήσει στους ανθρώπους για εκείνο, και να δείξει στους ανθρώπους κάτι άλλο, πράγματα που ξέρει, τις ιδέες της, τις γνώμες της, τις πεποιθήσεις της, ιδέες σημαντικές… όμως δεν περιμένει να έρθει το κύμα και να τη μεταφέρει πέρα απ’ όλες τις ιδέες και τις γνώμες, εκεί που δεν μπορείς να χρησιμοποιήσεις τη λάθος λέξη.»
Εξαιρετικά μαθήματα περί συγγραφής, θραύσματα σκέψεων περί λογοτεχνίας, φαντασίας και φεμινιστικών προβληματισμών· είναι όλα εδώ. Αδράξτε τα.
ΘΕΑΡΑ ΟΥΡΣΟΥΛΑ ΛΕ ΓΚΕΝ ΠΟΣΟ ΓΑΜΑΤΗ ΕΙΣΑΙ. ΟΡΙΣΤΕ, ΤΟ ΕΙΠΑ.
April 9, 2010
Recently I’ve been working on a novel, wrote like the wind for two weeks. Then it stopped. Busy-ness interfered. This morning, to break the block, I lay on the couch at nine a.m. something I do not allow myself to do on a bright spring workday full of energy and ideas. Determined to do nothing unless the novel resurrect. What made me stop the flow? Some slight or silent criticism perhaps, the Easter Retreat, worry about money, wrinkles, the cat. Doesn’t matter – to an author any excuse will do in the moment – and I said I was fine with letting the new novel grow on its own. Maybe it’s not a real idea, or a good story, or too close to ‘fact’, or a million other rationalizations.
But I know, after so long practicing the craft, that I can break this inertia by reading another writer on writing. And I have renewed this book too many times, let fines build up, just couldn’t be finished with it. Finally I realized I did not want to finish it. I wanted always to be reading it. Always seeing it as it journeyed around my home from bed to table to kitchen to laptop case to guest room to coffee table again. I wanted this book to be mine. But, yet, the library far distant from which my library had obtained it, was determined to have it back. So yesterday I made the commitment to return it. And break the block – as I knew it would. Having this book to complete reading is like having a writer’s insurance policy that pays off with more words.
For starters, Virginia Woolf in 1926 in response to Vita Sackville-West letter:
As for the mot juste, you are quite wrong. (Already amazing, to say quite baldly to a lover, you are quite wrong, what courage!) Style is a very simple matter: it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong words. (Awed) But on the other hand here am I sitting after half the morning, crammed with ideas, and visions, and so on, and can’t dislodge them, for lack of the right rhythm. Now this is very profound, (n.b), what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it; and in writing – such is my present belief – one has to recapture this, and set this working - which has nothing to apparently to do with the words – and then as it breaks and tumbles in the mind, it makes words to fit it. But no doubt I shall think differently next year. (Parenthesis and bold are mine, not VW’s)
Ursula, pardon me I have to call her that, begins and ends her book with this quote. In the beginning I wasn’t sure I caught what Virginia really meant. Something about inspiration and the ocean possibly, yet more. By the end of book, I saw more clearly what they are both talking about, that writing that’s real comes from the profound place inside which carries the words across the sea of self, makes a big splash as the consciousness gets it, big enough to notice and wipe the drops onto paper. Playing by the sea, writing is bare feet with sand socks, maybe a pail and shovel, a sunhat if you are lucky to keep from being burned as the relentless motion brings the story forth. OK, I really did write that trying not to edit and adultize the feeling, just write. Just connect the poet said.
Whatever I understood that phrase to mean, while understanding it in the moment, also allowed my characters whom I have already grown fond of and missed hearing from, to break through my excuses. Here I am writing again, in a review, but at the same time, Sam, Dan, Alyce (working names) are pitching their book to me. I am making notes from them right along side the Ursula notes – since I have to return the book today.
Here are samples of key Ursula ideas that helped me get back on my novel’s tracks:
Page 234: Writing is a high wire act on cobwebs. Trust your own sense of balance.
Page 253: (I’m going to photocopy this whole passage to keep). The Papa’s (Hemingway and Freud) agree that writers write for money and women. Ursula says: writers don’t write FOR anything. Then she discusses the importance Hemingway attributed to ‘experience.’ I remember being eighteen, wanting to be a writer someday, lamenting to my girlfriends, who rolled their eyes at me, but how do I get that kind of experience in Bethesda?
Then on Page 273, Ursula explodes the Papas with “Aspiring writers keep telling me they’ll start writing when they’ve gathered enough experience. Usually I keep my mouth shut, but sometimes I can’t control myself and ask them, ah, like Jane Austen? Like the Bronte sisters? Those women with their wild, mad lives cram full of gut-wrenching adventure working as stevedores in the Congo and shooting up drugs in Rio and hunting lions on Kilimanjaro and having sex in SoHo and all that stuff that writers have to do – well, that some writers have to do?” Are we talking males here, of course, I answer myself. Ursula then concedes that writers need context of living in order to deepen their awareness. But what we really need, as Sinclair Lewis declared is “to apply seat to chair and get to work."
Page 261: The Question I Get Asked Most Often chapter: How do you get your ideas? Ursula answers: “I like what Willie Nelson says: the air is full of tunes, I just reach up and pick one.”
Page 276: “In my Earthsea books, particularly the first one, people sail around all the time on the sea in small boats. They do it quite convincingly, and many people understandably assume that I spent years sailing around on the sea in small boats.
“My entire experience with sailboats was in my junior semester in Berkeley High School, when they let us take Sailing for gym credit. On a windy day in the Berkeley Marina, my friend Jean and I managed to overturn and sink a nine-foot catboat in three feet of water. We sang “Nearer My God to Thee” as she went down, and then waded a half mile back to the boathouse. The boatman was incredulous. ‘You sank it? He said, How?'
Her point: do your research. Take your experience and expand through research of others, ask questions etc. What is my novel about? Well, the navigating the sea and boat building partially of which I have only web experience.
So Ursula Le Guin changed my mind. I arose full of wind, ready to resume the novel. But first I wish to honor the great writer willing to pass on her wisdom: remember fiction is basically a lie made into a story.
Now grab the skeins of your experience add with others’ knowledge and weave into whole cloth. May yours become cloth-of-gold.
I’m feeling so good about writing I do not care if the metaphors are mixed!
But I know, after so long practicing the craft, that I can break this inertia by reading another writer on writing. And I have renewed this book too many times, let fines build up, just couldn’t be finished with it. Finally I realized I did not want to finish it. I wanted always to be reading it. Always seeing it as it journeyed around my home from bed to table to kitchen to laptop case to guest room to coffee table again. I wanted this book to be mine. But, yet, the library far distant from which my library had obtained it, was determined to have it back. So yesterday I made the commitment to return it. And break the block – as I knew it would. Having this book to complete reading is like having a writer’s insurance policy that pays off with more words.
For starters, Virginia Woolf in 1926 in response to Vita Sackville-West letter:
As for the mot juste, you are quite wrong. (Already amazing, to say quite baldly to a lover, you are quite wrong, what courage!) Style is a very simple matter: it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong words. (Awed) But on the other hand here am I sitting after half the morning, crammed with ideas, and visions, and so on, and can’t dislodge them, for lack of the right rhythm. Now this is very profound, (n.b), what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it; and in writing – such is my present belief – one has to recapture this, and set this working - which has nothing to apparently to do with the words – and then as it breaks and tumbles in the mind, it makes words to fit it. But no doubt I shall think differently next year. (Parenthesis and bold are mine, not VW’s)
Ursula, pardon me I have to call her that, begins and ends her book with this quote. In the beginning I wasn’t sure I caught what Virginia really meant. Something about inspiration and the ocean possibly, yet more. By the end of book, I saw more clearly what they are both talking about, that writing that’s real comes from the profound place inside which carries the words across the sea of self, makes a big splash as the consciousness gets it, big enough to notice and wipe the drops onto paper. Playing by the sea, writing is bare feet with sand socks, maybe a pail and shovel, a sunhat if you are lucky to keep from being burned as the relentless motion brings the story forth. OK, I really did write that trying not to edit and adultize the feeling, just write. Just connect the poet said.
Whatever I understood that phrase to mean, while understanding it in the moment, also allowed my characters whom I have already grown fond of and missed hearing from, to break through my excuses. Here I am writing again, in a review, but at the same time, Sam, Dan, Alyce (working names) are pitching their book to me. I am making notes from them right along side the Ursula notes – since I have to return the book today.
Here are samples of key Ursula ideas that helped me get back on my novel’s tracks:
Page 234: Writing is a high wire act on cobwebs. Trust your own sense of balance.
Page 253: (I’m going to photocopy this whole passage to keep). The Papa’s (Hemingway and Freud) agree that writers write for money and women. Ursula says: writers don’t write FOR anything. Then she discusses the importance Hemingway attributed to ‘experience.’ I remember being eighteen, wanting to be a writer someday, lamenting to my girlfriends, who rolled their eyes at me, but how do I get that kind of experience in Bethesda?
Then on Page 273, Ursula explodes the Papas with “Aspiring writers keep telling me they’ll start writing when they’ve gathered enough experience. Usually I keep my mouth shut, but sometimes I can’t control myself and ask them, ah, like Jane Austen? Like the Bronte sisters? Those women with their wild, mad lives cram full of gut-wrenching adventure working as stevedores in the Congo and shooting up drugs in Rio and hunting lions on Kilimanjaro and having sex in SoHo and all that stuff that writers have to do – well, that some writers have to do?” Are we talking males here, of course, I answer myself. Ursula then concedes that writers need context of living in order to deepen their awareness. But what we really need, as Sinclair Lewis declared is “to apply seat to chair and get to work."
Page 261: The Question I Get Asked Most Often chapter: How do you get your ideas? Ursula answers: “I like what Willie Nelson says: the air is full of tunes, I just reach up and pick one.”
Page 276: “In my Earthsea books, particularly the first one, people sail around all the time on the sea in small boats. They do it quite convincingly, and many people understandably assume that I spent years sailing around on the sea in small boats.
“My entire experience with sailboats was in my junior semester in Berkeley High School, when they let us take Sailing for gym credit. On a windy day in the Berkeley Marina, my friend Jean and I managed to overturn and sink a nine-foot catboat in three feet of water. We sang “Nearer My God to Thee” as she went down, and then waded a half mile back to the boathouse. The boatman was incredulous. ‘You sank it? He said, How?'
Her point: do your research. Take your experience and expand through research of others, ask questions etc. What is my novel about? Well, the navigating the sea and boat building partially of which I have only web experience.
So Ursula Le Guin changed my mind. I arose full of wind, ready to resume the novel. But first I wish to honor the great writer willing to pass on her wisdom: remember fiction is basically a lie made into a story.
Now grab the skeins of your experience add with others’ knowledge and weave into whole cloth. May yours become cloth-of-gold.
I’m feeling so good about writing I do not care if the metaphors are mixed!
February 23, 2021
1η δημοσίευση, Book Press:
https://bookpress.gr/kritikes/texnes/...
Ας μιλήσουμε λίγο για τη φαντασία, τη δημιουργική φαντασία: το primum mobile και τη Μεγάλη Πορεία που οδηγεί στη μοναδική άξια λόγου ουτοπία, εκείνη του έργου τέχνης. Η τέχνη, έχει πολλάκις ειπωθεί, δεν είναι αναπαράσταση, δεν είναι αναπαραγωγή του υπάρχοντος. Χρησιμοποιεί τα υλικά της εμπειρικής πραγματικότητας, τσαλαβουτάει στα ρηχά νερά της, αλλά αυτό που αναδύεται από εκεί είναι κάτι παντελώς διαφορετικό: είναι επινόηση, πάει να πει φαντασία.
Αν αναζητήσουμε ένα λογοτεχνικό παράδειγμα, το πλέον τρανταχτό είναι το τέρας του Frankenstein, όπως απεικονίζεται στο σπουδαίο έργο της Mary Shelley. Από τη μία πλευρά ο Δημιουργός και ο ρεαλιστικός κόσμος στον οποίο κατοικεί. Από την άλλη το Δημιούργημα, ένα πλάσμα τεχνητό, από αποδιαλέγια σωμάτων, ενδεδυμένο με κουρέλια, συρραφή, άρνηση του υπάρχοντος, ύβρις στην κατεστημένη πράξη πραγμάτων, τη θεϊκή μα και ανθρώπινη κυριαρχία. Κι αυτό που δίνει ζωή στην επινόηση, το ηλεκτρικό ρεύμα, ο σπινθήρας που ενώνει δια παντός τον Δημιουργό και το Δημιούργημα (και ως κατάληξη τους αναγνώστες) είναι η φαντασία.
Η Ursula Le Guin (είχε προτίμηση στο Λε Γκουίν ως προφορά) υπήρξε συγγραφέας της fantasy, της science fiction, του φανταστικού, του παράδοξου. Η Le Guin δεν έκανε τίποτα περισσότερο ή λιγότερο από εκείνο που έκαναν και κάνουν όλοι οι συγγραφείς από καταβολής: επινόησε χαρακτήρες, επινόησε τόπους και κόσμους για να τους τοποθετήσει εντός, και στη συνέχεια εμφύσησε πνοή (πάντα ο συγγραφέας σε ρόλο Frankenstein) για να τους δώσει ζωή. Σκηνοθέτησε τη δράση, αναμόχλευσε τα πάθη, εμβολίασε με αντισώματα φαντασίας την παθογόνο πραγματικότητα, συγγράφοντας βιβλία και νουβέλες και διηγήματα που κοσμούν τη λογοτεχνία, μα όχι αποκλειστικά τη λογοτεχνία είδους (genre). Το μαρτυρούν βέβαια τα βραβεία και οι πλείστες διακρίσεις, αλλά και κάτι σημαντικότερο: η διάρκεια, η επίδραση του έργου της τόσο σε ομοτέχνους της όσο και γενικότερα (θυμίζω δύο βασικά έργα: «Ο αναρχικός των δύο κόσμων» και «Το αριστερό χέρι του σκότους»).
Όλα αυτά θεωρούνται οικεία σε πολλούς. Σίγουρα, όμως, δεν είναι αποδεκτά από όλους. Η κοινότοπη αλήθεια είναι ότι ζούμε σε έναν κόσμο παρεξηγήσεων. Έναν κόσμο όπου ο «ρεαλισμός» στην τέχνη υμνείται, καθότι θωπεύει στοργικά το αίσθημα ανασφάλειας του αναγνώστη που είναι αναγκασμένος να ζει μια λειψή, πεπερασμένη ζωή σε έναν κόσμο ακατανόητο, μάταιο και μόνιμα ξένο στην αντίληψή του. Και η τέχνη ετούτου του κόσμου οφείλει να είναι στοργική, να υπενθυμίζει διαρκώς το οικείο, εξοβελίζοντας το αγνώστου ταυτότητος, επαναφέροντας στην τάξη το απείθαρχο, καθιστώντας το άρρητο. Η μοναχ��κή φωνή που καλεί στα όπλα φοβίζει, είναι άναρχη και δυσήνια.
Επιπρόσθετα, ο κόσμος αυτός κατοικείται από όντα τα οποία έχουν διαφορετικές αντιλήψεις, φερ’ ειπείν, για το ρόλο του φύλου όσον αφορά όχι μόνο την προσωπική /κοινωνική διάσταση της ύπαρξης, αλλά και τη δημιουργία (λογοτεχνίας, τέχνης εν γένει). Και εκεί το αλλότριο απωθείται, αν δεν εκπέσει σταδιακά σε μίμηση, παρωδία, σχετλιασμό, οπότε γίνεται ελεγχόμενο και ανενεργό. Μα οι παρεξηγήσεις δεν σταματούν στα προαναφερθέντα. Πώς θα μπορούσαν;
Ετούτο το βιβλίο, εσκεμμένα μακρηγορώ, είνα�� μια απάντηση ενάντια σε όλες αυτές τις παρεξηγήσεις. Όχι όμως με τη μορφή ενός ακόμα «Κατηγορώ». Η επιχειρηματολογία του δεν είναι αυστηρά πολεμική, εκείνη μιας έμπλεου οργής νεανικής γυναικείας φωνής που αναζητά στη μάχη το κλέος και την αυτοπραγμάτωση. Εδώ, στα κείμενα αυτά, ακούμε τη στεντόρεια και ταυτόχρονα πειστική φωνή της ηλικιωμένης συγγραφέως/ γυναίκας, η οποία καταθέτει το απόσταγμα της σκέψης της. Δηκτική, ως όφειλε, απέναντι στα στερεότυπα (οι παρεξηγήσεις που προανέφερα), δεν χαρίζεται ούτε φυγομαχεί όποτε κρίνει ότι το απαιτεί η περίσταση (το κείμενο για τα τακούνια, τη γυναικεία ομορφιά, τα λογοτεχνικά βραβεία), επιχειρώντας στο κέντρο του προβλήματος. Με λόγο στιβαρό, αλλά όχι απολυταρχικό, ex cathedra διδασκαλία, αποφεύγει αφορισμούς θεμελιωμένους στις αναφορές σε αυθεντίες που υποδηλώνουν ανασφάλεια και έλλειψη προσωπικού ύφους.
Η στόχευσή της Le Guin είναι ευρύτερη, διόλου περιοριστική. Η σιγουριά της ώριμης διανοούμενης ξεχειλίζει από κάθε κείμενο που περιέχεται στην όμορφη και προσεγμένη αυτή έκδοση (Στάσει Εκπίπτοντες). Συνομιλεί με ένα οικουμενικό κοινό, με το οποίο μοιράζεται τους προβληματισμούς της και τις απόψεις σχετικά με προσωπικές ανησυχίες, την τέχνη, τη συγγραφή και τα διαβάσματά της, μα και την ανθρωπολογία, την επιστήμη και το φύλο της. Μοιράζεται με εμάς, το κοινό της, τι συνιστά έργο τέχνης, ποιος είναι ο ρόλος του συγγραφέα, ποιες οι ανησυχίες του, τι τον καθιστά συγγραφέα (στο εξαιρετικό κεφάλαιο «Για τη γραφή»). Ταυτόχρονα στέκεται και στις προσδοκίες του αναγνώστη, τον ρόλο του, δεδομένου ότι πρόκειται περί σχέσης η οποία απαιτεί συμπόρευση, ανιδιοτέλεια, εμπιστοσύνη, ενός είδους αμφοτεροβαρούς συμβολαίου, προκειμένου να ευοδωθεί.
«Το διάβασμα είναι ένας τρόπος να αφουγκράζεσαι. Το διάβασμα δεν είναι τόσο παθητικό όσο το άκουσμα ή το κοίταγμα. Διαβάζεις με τον ρυθμό σου, με τη δική σου ταχύτητα, όχι με την αδιάκοπη, ασυνάρτητη, τρεχάτη, φωνακλάδικη φούρια των μίντια. Παίρνεις ό,τι μπορείς και ό,τι θέλεις ν�� πάρεις και όχι ό,τι ξεφορτώνουν πάνω σου τόσο γρήγορα, τόσο απότομα και τόσο μεγαλόφωνα ώστε να πνίγεσαι».
Η Le Guin επιμένει και επανέρχεται πεισματικά στη μαγική λειτουργία της ανάγνωσης, στον τρόπο με τον οποίο το έργο τέχνης, το βιβλίο εν προκειμένω, λειτουργεί ως εμβρυουλκός της φαντασίας, ως έναρξη διαλόγου του αναγνώστη με τον συγγραφέα και την ίδια στιγμή με τον εαυτό του. Διακρίνει δε την ανάγνωση από τις άλλες τέχνες -επ’ ουδενί κατατάσσοντάς τη αξιολογικά- θεωρώντας τη την πλέον ενεργητική όλων. Δικαίως, διότι πειθαρχεί μεν το εν εγρηγόρσει πνεύμα που εστιάζεται στις ανάγκες του κειμένου (εμπρός-πίσω, επανάληψη της σελίδας), ταυτόχρονα δε απελευθερώνει τη φαντασία του αναγνώστη, ο οποίος αποσπάται εξολοκλήρου από την εργαλειακή διάσταση του παρόντος, απελευθερωμένος από τα δεσμά που συνιστά η πεπερασμένη του ύπαρξη. Στη λογική αυτή, η ενεργητική ανάγνωση είναι ίσως από τις ελάχιστες συνειδητές πράξεις, αν όχι της εφήμερης ζωής μας, τουλάχιστον της καθημερινότητάς μας.
Η θεματολογία ποικίλει, το ύφος όμως είναι εκείνο μιας εξαιρετικής τεχνίτριας του λόγου. Ούτε στιγμή η Le Guin δεν ξεχνά ότι είναι πρώτιστα συγγραφέας και τούτη η ομολογία διατρέχει όλη την έκταση του βιβλίου ετούτου, καθιστώντας το απολαυστικό στην ανάγνωσή του. Ακόμα κι όταν προτάσσει την αιχμή της, καθότι το απαιτεί το θέμα με το οποίο ασχολείται, το πράττει με καλλιτεχνικό τρόπο, οπότε το επιχείρημα στιλβώνεται λογοτεχνικά. Το αποτέλεσμα είναι αφενός ο αναγνώστης να προδιατίθεται θετικά στα διακυβευόμενα κι αφετέρου να ευφραίνεται αναγνωστικά. Όσοι διαβάζουν τακτικά βιβλία κριτικής, δοκιμιακού λόγου, γνωρίζουν (συχνά πικρή εμπειρία) πόσο σπάνιο γνώρισμα είναι αυτό, δεδομένου ότι ο γράφων/ουσα δεν είναι απαραιτήτως συγγραφέας.
Καίτοι ο τόμος αυτός έχει έκταση περίπου 400 σελίδες, ο αναγνώστης δεν νιώθει σχεδόν καμία στιγμή είτε ότι η συγγραφέας πλατειάζει είτε την παραμικρή κόπωση ακόμα και στα κείμενα εκείνα που δεν εμπίπτουν στα άμεσα ενδιαφέροντά του. Η Le Guin έχει…διαβρώσει λογοτεχνικά τις σελίδες, προσφέροντάς μας μια συλλογή που ενεργοποιεί αυτούς τους περίφημους κυματισμούς στο μυαλό (ο φερώνυμος τίτλος εκπορευόμενος από τη Β. Γουλφ).
Καταλήγοντας, ακόμα κι αν αυτό το «κύμα», όπως αδευτέρωτα το περιγράφει, αφορά τους συγγραφείς και τη δημιουργία έργων, δεν θα ήταν υπερβολή να πούμε ότι τα απόνερα της διαδικασίας αυτής συμπαρασύρουν τον αναγνώστη στη χώρα της φαντασίας όπου εξαίσια πλάσματα (όπως εκείνα της Le Guin) κατοικούν.
https://fotiskblog.home.blog/2021/02/...
https://bookpress.gr/kritikes/texnes/...
Ας μιλήσουμε λίγο για τη φαντασία, τη δημιουργική φαντασία: το primum mobile και τη Μεγάλη Πορεία που οδηγεί στη μοναδική άξια λόγου ουτοπία, εκείνη του έργου τέχνης. Η τέχνη, έχει πολλάκις ειπωθεί, δεν είναι αναπαράσταση, δεν είναι αναπαραγωγή του υπάρχοντος. Χρησιμοποιεί τα υλικά της εμπειρικής πραγματικότητας, τσαλαβουτάει στα ρηχά νερά της, αλλά αυτό που αναδύεται από εκεί είναι κάτι παντελώς διαφορετικό: είναι επινόηση, πάει να πει φαντασία.
Αν αναζητήσουμε ένα λογοτεχνικό παράδειγμα, το πλέον τρανταχτό είναι το τέρας του Frankenstein, όπως απεικονίζεται στο σπουδαίο έργο της Mary Shelley. Από τη μία πλευρά ο Δημιουργός και ο ρεαλιστικός κόσμος στον οποίο κατοικεί. Από την άλλη το Δημιούργημα, ένα πλάσμα τεχνητό, από αποδιαλέγια σωμάτων, ενδεδυμένο με κουρέλια, συρραφή, άρνηση του υπάρχοντος, ύβρις στην κατεστημένη πράξη πραγμάτων, τη θεϊκή μα και ανθρώπινη κυριαρχία. Κι αυτό που δίνει ζωή στην επινόηση, το ηλεκτρικό ρεύμα, ο σπινθήρας που ενώνει δια παντός τον Δημιουργό και το Δημιούργημα (και ως κατάληξη τους αναγνώστες) είναι η φαντασία.
Η Ursula Le Guin (είχε προτίμηση στο Λε Γκουίν ως προφορά) υπήρξε συγγραφέας της fantasy, της science fiction, του φανταστικού, του παράδοξου. Η Le Guin δεν έκανε τίποτα περισσότερο ή λιγότερο από εκείνο που έκαναν και κάνουν όλοι οι συγγραφείς από καταβολής: επινόησε χαρακτήρες, επινόησε τόπους και κόσμους για να τους τοποθετήσει εντός, και στη συνέχεια εμφύσησε πνοή (πάντα ο συγγραφέας σε ρόλο Frankenstein) για να τους δώσει ζωή. Σκηνοθέτησε τη δράση, αναμόχλευσε τα πάθη, εμβολίασε με αντισώματα φαντασίας την παθογόνο πραγματικότητα, συγγράφοντας βιβλία και νουβέλες και διηγήματα που κοσμούν τη λογοτεχνία, μα όχι αποκλειστικά τη λογοτεχνία είδους (genre). Το μαρτυρούν βέβαια τα βραβεία και οι πλείστες διακρίσεις, αλλά και κάτι σημαντικότερο: η διάρκεια, η επίδραση του έργου της τόσο σε ομοτέχνους της όσο και γενικότερα (θυμίζω δύο βασικά έργα: «Ο αναρχικός των δύο κόσμων» και «Το αριστερό χέρι του σκότους»).
Όλα αυτά θεωρούνται οικεία σε πολλούς. Σίγουρα, όμως, δεν είναι αποδεκτά από όλους. Η κοινότοπη αλήθεια είναι ότι ζούμε σε έναν κόσμο παρεξηγήσεων. Έναν κόσμο όπου ο «ρεαλισμός» στην τέχνη υμνείται, καθότι θωπεύει στοργικά το αίσθημα ανασφάλειας του αναγνώστη που είναι αναγκασμένος να ζει μια λειψή, πεπερασμένη ζωή σε έναν κόσμο ακατανόητο, μάταιο και μόνιμα ξένο στην αντίληψή του. Και η τέχνη ετούτου του κόσμου οφείλει να είναι στοργική, να υπενθυμίζει διαρκώς το οικείο, εξοβελίζοντας το αγνώστου ταυτότητος, επαναφέροντας στην τάξη το απείθαρχο, καθιστώντας το άρρητο. Η μοναχ��κή φωνή που καλεί στα όπλα φοβίζει, είναι άναρχη και δυσήνια.
Επιπρόσθετα, ο κόσμος αυτός κατοικείται από όντα τα οποία έχουν διαφορετικές αντιλήψεις, φερ’ ειπείν, για το ρόλο του φύλου όσον αφορά όχι μόνο την προσωπική /κοινωνική διάσταση της ύπαρξης, αλλά και τη δημιουργία (λογοτεχνίας, τέχνης εν γένει). Και εκεί το αλλότριο απωθείται, αν δεν εκπέσει σταδιακά σε μίμηση, παρωδία, σχετλιασμό, οπότε γίνεται ελεγχόμενο και ανενεργό. Μα οι παρεξηγήσεις δεν σταματούν στα προαναφερθέντα. Πώς θα μπορούσαν;
Ετούτο το βιβλίο, εσκεμμένα μακρηγορώ, είνα�� μια απάντηση ενάντια σε όλες αυτές τις παρεξηγήσεις. Όχι όμως με τη μορφή ενός ακόμα «Κατηγορώ». Η επιχειρηματολογία του δεν είναι αυστηρά πολεμική, εκείνη μιας έμπλεου οργής νεανικής γυναικείας φωνής που αναζητά στη μάχη το κλέος και την αυτοπραγμάτωση. Εδώ, στα κείμενα αυτά, ακούμε τη στεντόρεια και ταυτόχρονα πειστική φωνή της ηλικιωμένης συγγραφέως/ γυναίκας, η οποία καταθέτει το απόσταγμα της σκέψης της. Δηκτική, ως όφειλε, απέναντι στα στερεότυπα (οι παρεξηγήσεις που προανέφερα), δεν χαρίζεται ούτε φυγομαχεί όποτε κρίνει ότι το απαιτεί η περίσταση (το κείμενο για τα τακούνια, τη γυναικεία ομορφιά, τα λογοτεχνικά βραβεία), επιχειρώντας στο κέντρο του προβλήματος. Με λόγο στιβαρό, αλλά όχι απολυταρχικό, ex cathedra διδασκαλία, αποφεύγει αφορισμούς θεμελιωμένους στις αναφορές σε αυθεντίες που υποδηλώνουν ανασφάλεια και έλλειψη προσωπικού ύφους.
Η στόχευσή της Le Guin είναι ευρύτερη, διόλου περιοριστική. Η σιγουριά της ώριμης διανοούμενης ξεχειλίζει από κάθε κείμενο που περιέχεται στην όμορφη και προσεγμένη αυτή έκδοση (Στάσει Εκπίπτοντες). Συνομιλεί με ένα οικουμενικό κοινό, με το οποίο μοιράζεται τους προβληματισμούς της και τις απόψεις σχετικά με προσωπικές ανησυχίες, την τέχνη, τη συγγραφή και τα διαβάσματά της, μα και την ανθρωπολογία, την επιστήμη και το φύλο της. Μοιράζεται με εμάς, το κοινό της, τι συνιστά έργο τέχνης, ποιος είναι ο ρόλος του συγγραφέα, ποιες οι ανησυχίες του, τι τον καθιστά συγγραφέα (στο εξαιρετικό κεφάλαιο «Για τη γραφή»). Ταυτόχρονα στέκεται και στις προσδοκίες του αναγνώστη, τον ρόλο του, δεδομένου ότι πρόκειται περί σχέσης η οποία απαιτεί συμπόρευση, ανιδιοτέλεια, εμπιστοσύνη, ενός είδους αμφοτεροβαρούς συμβολαίου, προκειμένου να ευοδωθεί.
«Το διάβασμα είναι ένας τρόπος να αφουγκράζεσαι. Το διάβασμα δεν είναι τόσο παθητικό όσο το άκουσμα ή το κοίταγμα. Διαβάζεις με τον ρυθμό σου, με τη δική σου ταχύτητα, όχι με την αδιάκοπη, ασυνάρτητη, τρεχάτη, φωνακλάδικη φούρια των μίντια. Παίρνεις ό,τι μπορείς και ό,τι θέλεις ν�� πάρεις και όχι ό,τι ξεφορτώνουν πάνω σου τόσο γρήγορα, τόσο απότομα και τόσο μεγαλόφωνα ώστε να πνίγεσαι».
Η Le Guin επιμένει και επανέρχεται πεισματικά στη μαγική λειτουργία της ανάγνωσης, στον τρόπο με τον οποίο το έργο τέχνης, το βιβλίο εν προκειμένω, λειτουργεί ως εμβρυουλκός της φαντασίας, ως έναρξη διαλόγου του αναγνώστη με τον συγγραφέα και την ίδια στιγμή με τον εαυτό του. Διακρίνει δε την ανάγνωση από τις άλλες τέχνες -επ’ ουδενί κατατάσσοντάς τη αξιολογικά- θεωρώντας τη την πλέον ενεργητική όλων. Δικαίως, διότι πειθαρχεί μεν το εν εγρηγόρσει πνεύμα που εστιάζεται στις ανάγκες του κειμένου (εμπρός-πίσω, επανάληψη της σελίδας), ταυτόχρονα δε απελευθερώνει τη φαντασία του αναγνώστη, ο οποίος αποσπάται εξολοκλήρου από την εργαλειακή διάσταση του παρόντος, απελευθερωμένος από τα δεσμά που συνιστά η πεπερασμένη του ύπαρξη. Στη λογική αυτή, η ενεργητική ανάγνωση είναι ίσως από τις ελάχιστες συνειδητές πράξεις, αν όχι της εφήμερης ζωής μας, τουλάχιστον της καθημερινότητάς μας.
Η θεματολογία ποικίλει, το ύφος όμως είναι εκείνο μιας εξαιρετικής τεχνίτριας του λόγου. Ούτε στιγμή η Le Guin δεν ξεχνά ότι είναι πρώτιστα συγγραφέας και τούτη η ομολογία διατρέχει όλη την έκταση του βιβλίου ετούτου, καθιστώντας το απολαυστικό στην ανάγνωσή του. Ακόμα κι όταν προτάσσει την αιχμή της, καθότι το απαιτεί το θέμα με το οποίο ασχολείται, το πράττει με καλλιτεχνικό τρόπο, οπότε το επιχείρημα στιλβώνεται λογοτεχνικά. Το αποτέλεσμα είναι αφενός ο αναγνώστης να προδιατίθεται θετικά στα διακυβευόμενα κι αφετέρου να ευφραίνεται αναγνωστικά. Όσοι διαβάζουν τακτικά βιβλία κριτικής, δοκιμιακού λόγου, γνωρίζουν (συχνά πικρή εμπειρία) πόσο σπάνιο γνώρισμα είναι αυτό, δεδομένου ότι ο γράφων/ουσα δεν είναι απαραιτήτως συγγραφέας.
Καίτοι ο τόμος αυτός έχει έκταση περίπου 400 σελίδες, ο αναγνώστης δεν νιώθει σχεδόν καμία στιγμή είτε ότι η συγγραφέας πλατειάζει είτε την παραμικρή κόπωση ακόμα και στα κείμενα εκείνα που δεν εμπίπτουν στα άμεσα ενδιαφέροντά του. Η Le Guin έχει…διαβρώσει λογοτεχνικά τις σελίδες, προσφέροντάς μας μια συλλογή που ενεργοποιεί αυτούς τους περίφημους κυματισμούς στο μυαλό (ο φερώνυμος τίτλος εκπορευόμενος από τη Β. Γουλφ).
Καταλήγοντας, ακόμα κι αν αυτό το «κύμα», όπως αδευτέρωτα το περιγράφει, αφορά τους συγγραφείς και τη δημιουργία έργων, δεν θα ήταν υπερβολή να πούμε ότι τα απόνερα της διαδικασίας αυτής συμπαρασύρουν τον αναγνώστη στη χώρα της φαντασίας όπου εξαίσια πλάσματα (όπως εκείνα της Le Guin) κατοικούν.
https://fotiskblog.home.blog/2021/02/...
June 13, 2021
In lieu of review:
We have been told that there is only one kind of people and they are men. And I think it is very important that we all believe that. It certainly is important to the men.
If I’m no good at pretending to be a man and no good at being young, I might just as well start pretending that I am an old woman. I am not sure that anybody has invented old women yet; but it might be worth trying.
I didn’t know enough French yet to read Cyrano, but that didn’t stop me. That’s when I learned you can read a language you don’t know if you love it enough. You can do anything if you love it enough.
Capitalism, which ceases to exist if it is not expanding its empire, establishes an ever-moving frontier, and its yang conquistadors forever pursue El Dorado. You cannot be too rich, they cry. My realistic fictions are mostly about people on the yin side of capitalism: housewives, waitresses, librarians, keepers of dismal little motels. The people who live, you might say, on the rez, in the broken world the conquistadors leave behind.
I used to be too respectful to disagree with Tolstoy, but after I got into my sixties my faculty of respect atrophied. Besides, at some point in the last forty years I began to question Tolstoy’s respect for his wife. Anybody can make a mistake in marriage, of course. But I have an impression that no matter whom he married Tolstoy would have respected her only in certain respects, though he expected her to respect him in all respects. In this respect, I disapprove of Tolstoy; which makes it easier to disagree with him in the first place, and in the second place, to say so.
There is solid evidence for the fact that when women speak more than 30 percent of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation; well, similarly, if, say, two women in a row get one of the big annual literary awards, masculine voices start talking about feminist cabals, political correctness, and the decline of fairness in judging.[...] the ensuing masculine furore would devalue and might destroy the prize.
Excellence in nonfiction lies in the writer’s skills in observing, organising, narrating, and interpreting facts— skills entirely dependent on imagination, used not to invent, but to connect and illuminate observation.
In children’s literature, where by my rough count there are twice as many women authors, men win three times as many prizes as women. Nearly two-thirds of mystery writers are women, but men get three times as many prizes as women, and since 1970, five times as many.
Beauty always has rules. It’s a game. I resent the beauty game when I see it controlled by people who grab fortunes from it and don’t care who they hurt. I hate it when I see it making people so self-dissatisfied that they starve and deform and poison themselves. Most of the time I just play the game myself in a very small way, buying a new lipstick, feeling happy about a pretty new silk shirt. It’s not going to make me beautiful, but it’s beautiful itself, and I like wearing it.
I know what worries me most when I look in the mirror and see the old woman with no waist. It’s not that I’ve lost my beauty—I never had enough to carry on about. It’s that that woman doesn’t look like me. She isn’t who I thought I was.
Sometimes Freud sounds as if that’s what he thought. If (as he said) the artist is motivated to make art by the desire for “fame, money, and the love of beautiful women,” then indeed Beethoven wrote the Ninth because it was mating season. Beethoven was marking his territory.
Above the level of the merely commercial, in the realm of art, whether it’s called mainstream or genre fiction, we can fulfill our expectations only by learning which authors disappoint and which authors offer the true nourishment for the soul. We find out who the good writers are, and then we look or wait for their next book. Such writers—living or dead, whatever genre they write in, critically fashionable or not, academically approved or not—are those who not only meet our expectations but surpass them. That is the gift the great storytellers have. They tell the same stories over and over (how many stories are there?), but when they tell them they are new, they are news, they renew us, they show us the world made new.
Working men watch their company’s CEOs get paid three hundred times what they are paid, and grumble, but do nothing. Women in most societies uphold the claims and institutions of male supremacy, deferring to men, obeying them (overtly), and defending the innate superiority of men as natural fact or religious dogma. Low- status males—young men, poor men—fight and die for the system that keeps them under. Most of the countless soldiers killed in the countless wars waged to uphold the power of a society’s rulers or religion have been men considered inferior by that society.
Dickens as a child was, in many respects, David, but Dickens the novelist does not confuse himself with that child. He keeps the complex, hard-earned vision. And so David Copperfield, fearfully acute in its understanding of how children suffer, is a book for adults. Contrast J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. The author adopts the childish view of adults as inhumanly powerful and uncomprehending, and never goes beyond it; and so his novel, published for adults, is better appreciated by ten-year-olds.
So fiction writers are slow beginners. Few are worth much till they’re thirty or so. Not because they lack life experience, but because their imagination hasn’t had time to context it and compost it, to work on what they’ve done and felt, and realise its value is where it’s common to the human condition. Autobiographical first novels, self-centered and self-pitying, often suffer from poverty of imagination.
We have been told that there is only one kind of people and they are men. And I think it is very important that we all believe that. It certainly is important to the men.
If I’m no good at pretending to be a man and no good at being young, I might just as well start pretending that I am an old woman. I am not sure that anybody has invented old women yet; but it might be worth trying.
I didn’t know enough French yet to read Cyrano, but that didn’t stop me. That’s when I learned you can read a language you don’t know if you love it enough. You can do anything if you love it enough.
Capitalism, which ceases to exist if it is not expanding its empire, establishes an ever-moving frontier, and its yang conquistadors forever pursue El Dorado. You cannot be too rich, they cry. My realistic fictions are mostly about people on the yin side of capitalism: housewives, waitresses, librarians, keepers of dismal little motels. The people who live, you might say, on the rez, in the broken world the conquistadors leave behind.
I used to be too respectful to disagree with Tolstoy, but after I got into my sixties my faculty of respect atrophied. Besides, at some point in the last forty years I began to question Tolstoy’s respect for his wife. Anybody can make a mistake in marriage, of course. But I have an impression that no matter whom he married Tolstoy would have respected her only in certain respects, though he expected her to respect him in all respects. In this respect, I disapprove of Tolstoy; which makes it easier to disagree with him in the first place, and in the second place, to say so.
There is solid evidence for the fact that when women speak more than 30 percent of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation; well, similarly, if, say, two women in a row get one of the big annual literary awards, masculine voices start talking about feminist cabals, political correctness, and the decline of fairness in judging.[...] the ensuing masculine furore would devalue and might destroy the prize.
Excellence in nonfiction lies in the writer’s skills in observing, organising, narrating, and interpreting facts— skills entirely dependent on imagination, used not to invent, but to connect and illuminate observation.
In children’s literature, where by my rough count there are twice as many women authors, men win three times as many prizes as women. Nearly two-thirds of mystery writers are women, but men get three times as many prizes as women, and since 1970, five times as many.
Beauty always has rules. It’s a game. I resent the beauty game when I see it controlled by people who grab fortunes from it and don’t care who they hurt. I hate it when I see it making people so self-dissatisfied that they starve and deform and poison themselves. Most of the time I just play the game myself in a very small way, buying a new lipstick, feeling happy about a pretty new silk shirt. It’s not going to make me beautiful, but it’s beautiful itself, and I like wearing it.
I know what worries me most when I look in the mirror and see the old woman with no waist. It’s not that I’ve lost my beauty—I never had enough to carry on about. It’s that that woman doesn’t look like me. She isn’t who I thought I was.
Sometimes Freud sounds as if that’s what he thought. If (as he said) the artist is motivated to make art by the desire for “fame, money, and the love of beautiful women,” then indeed Beethoven wrote the Ninth because it was mating season. Beethoven was marking his territory.
Above the level of the merely commercial, in the realm of art, whether it’s called mainstream or genre fiction, we can fulfill our expectations only by learning which authors disappoint and which authors offer the true nourishment for the soul. We find out who the good writers are, and then we look or wait for their next book. Such writers—living or dead, whatever genre they write in, critically fashionable or not, academically approved or not—are those who not only meet our expectations but surpass them. That is the gift the great storytellers have. They tell the same stories over and over (how many stories are there?), but when they tell them they are new, they are news, they renew us, they show us the world made new.
Working men watch their company’s CEOs get paid three hundred times what they are paid, and grumble, but do nothing. Women in most societies uphold the claims and institutions of male supremacy, deferring to men, obeying them (overtly), and defending the innate superiority of men as natural fact or religious dogma. Low- status males—young men, poor men—fight and die for the system that keeps them under. Most of the countless soldiers killed in the countless wars waged to uphold the power of a society’s rulers or religion have been men considered inferior by that society.
Dickens as a child was, in many respects, David, but Dickens the novelist does not confuse himself with that child. He keeps the complex, hard-earned vision. And so David Copperfield, fearfully acute in its understanding of how children suffer, is a book for adults. Contrast J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. The author adopts the childish view of adults as inhumanly powerful and uncomprehending, and never goes beyond it; and so his novel, published for adults, is better appreciated by ten-year-olds.
So fiction writers are slow beginners. Few are worth much till they’re thirty or so. Not because they lack life experience, but because their imagination hasn’t had time to context it and compost it, to work on what they’ve done and felt, and realise its value is where it’s common to the human condition. Autobiographical first novels, self-centered and self-pitying, often suffer from poverty of imagination.
March 17, 2018
Es un poco frustrante que hayamos tenido que esperar hasta 2018 para acceder a uno de los libros de ensayos de Ursula K. Le Guin. Entrar en contacto con su forma de ver la literatura y varios aspectos de su vida directamente sin necesidad de tener que ponerse a elucubrar a partir de su ficción. Y puede merecer la pena. Aunque Contar es escuchar es un poco popurrí, una heterogénea recopilación de textos de los últimos 30 años donde tanto caben recuerdos de la labor como antropólogos de sus padres, notas sobre escritores para alabar detalles muy concretos de sus obras (Cordwainer Smith, Tolkien), encargos diversos (un texto sobre una isla, la fantástica presentación de la antología de Ocampo, Borges y Bioy Casares...), prevalece su apreciación sobre el acto de crear y cómo lo cultivó. Los ensayos sobre su conflicto con la no-ficción, la percepción de la belleza, el funcionamiento y el poder de la comunicación oral o el compendio final sobre cómo concibe la escritura me han parecido, dentro de su inevitable subjetividad, magníficos. Una puerta abierta a una escritora irrepetible con una visión genuina de la literatura.
March 2, 2018
Para mí Contar es escuchar ha sido como si una voz familiar y lejana te contara cosas que ya sentías pero que no sabías explicar, que no sabías expresar en palabras, al mismo tiempo que te pone la mano en el hombro como diciendo: "¡No estás sola! A mí también se me da mejor pensar escribiendo y no hablando, a mí también me surgieron todas estas preguntas sobre lo que hago". Un libro para toda la vida. Gracias por toda la sabiduría, Maestra. <3
December 19, 2020
Full disclosure: I didn’t read the entire collection. My rating is based on the following essays:
1) Stress-Rhythm in Poetry and Prose
2) Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings
3) Off the Page: Loud Cows: A Talk and a Poem about Reading Aloud
4) The Writer and the Character
5) Prides: An Essay on Writing Workshops
6) The Question I Get Asked Most Often
If you enjoy reading essays, I highly recommend this collection, especially if you’re also a writer.
1) Stress-Rhythm in Poetry and Prose
2) Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings
3) Off the Page: Loud Cows: A Talk and a Poem about Reading Aloud
4) The Writer and the Character
5) Prides: An Essay on Writing Workshops
6) The Question I Get Asked Most Often
If you enjoy reading essays, I highly recommend this collection, especially if you’re also a writer.
May 23, 2015
Five essays stand out:
"Being Taken for Granite"
"Things Not Actually Present"
"Rhythmic Pattern in Lord of the Rings"
"Fact and/or/plus Fiction"
"Unquestioned Assumptions"
This is a REALLY important book to read. :)
"Being Taken for Granite"
"Things Not Actually Present"
"Rhythmic Pattern in Lord of the Rings"
"Fact and/or/plus Fiction"
"Unquestioned Assumptions"
This is a REALLY important book to read. :)
November 10, 2023
Ursula Le Guin denemeleriyle yeni beni mest etti. Denemeleri o kadar etkiliyor ki acaba kurgularına tekrar baksam mı diye düşündürüyor. Bu derlemede de kadın olma hali, yazarlık, okumak gibi temalar üzerine yazıyor. Tüm yazılarını samimiyetle yazıyor. Kendisinin de söylediği gibi yaşının getirdiği pervasızlık ve cesaretten güç alıyor, ne yapsa eleştirilecek olan kadınların tek sığınağının bu olması okurken bir an olsun aklımdan çıkmadı.
Yaşlı bir kadın ve yazar olmanın üstüne düşündüğü yazılar en sevdiklerim oldu. Hemingway gibi erkeksi yazarlarla olan farkını anlattıkça duygulandım diyebilirim. Özellikle yaşadığı dönemde karşılaştığı eleştirileri düşündükçe üzüldüm de. Ama çok güçlü bir kadın Ursula. Gücünü de granitten ziyade çamura benzetiyor. Zorlandığında kırılmıyor, üstüne basılsa da aldığı şekle nüfuz ediyor.
Yine yaşının verdiği yetkiyle Tolstoy’u eleştirdiği yazıda da çok eğlendim. Edebiyat tarihinin en sevilen girişlerinden birini yazıyor Tolstoy. “Bütün mutlu aileler birbirine benzer. Her mutsuz ailenin ise kendisine özgü bir mutsuzluğu vardır.” Ursula buna karşı çıkıyor. Her mutlu ailenin yalnızca mutlu zamanları olduğunu söylüyor. Tolstoy bizden çok bildiğinden değil bizden daha iyi ifade ettiğinden Tolstoy olmuş gibi bir tezi var. Tolstoy’un hayatını düşününce hak vermemek mümkün değil.
Ursula’nın jürideki tüm üyelerin kadın olduğu bir yarışma anısı en sevdiğim yazılarından biri oldu. Jüri tamamen kadın olduğunda, finale çıkan yazarların kadın olmasının güvensizlik yaratacağından bahsediyor. Hatta jüriden biri söylüyor bunu. Ursula bu senaryo erkeklerden oluşursa bir güvensizlik olur muydu diye sorguladığında tüm kadınlar olmazdı ama ne yapalım gibi bir teslimiyet içinde cevap veriyor. Üzerine düşündükçe kızdığım bir durum. Ödüller hiçbir zaman adil dağıtılmıyor. Ödülü verenler kadın olsalar dahi yine bir değerlendirmeye alınıyorlar.
Hemen her yazısı hakkında konuşasım var. Son olarak hikaye anlatıcılığı üzerine yazdıklarından bahsetmek istiyorum. Hikaye anlatıcılığı yüzyıllar içinde evriliyor. Sözlü anlatım için uygun destanların hala etkisinin sürdüğünü söylüyor Ursula. Nesirdeki sanatın göze ve kulağa nasıl farklı geleceğiyle alakalı örnekler veriyor. Örneklerinden biri Woolf’un To The Lighthouse’u. Okuması epey zor olan bir roman, tavsiyesine uyup bir de dinlemek istiyorum.
Kitap beni çok etkiledi. Yazarlar üzerine, yazmak üzerine düşünen herkesin göz atması gereken bir kitap. Fantastik edebiyat kadar diğer türlere de hakimiyeti bu kitapta daha çok belli oluyor.
Yaşlı bir kadın ve yazar olmanın üstüne düşündüğü yazılar en sevdiklerim oldu. Hemingway gibi erkeksi yazarlarla olan farkını anlattıkça duygulandım diyebilirim. Özellikle yaşadığı dönemde karşılaştığı eleştirileri düşündükçe üzüldüm de. Ama çok güçlü bir kadın Ursula. Gücünü de granitten ziyade çamura benzetiyor. Zorlandığında kırılmıyor, üstüne basılsa da aldığı şekle nüfuz ediyor.
Yine yaşının verdiği yetkiyle Tolstoy’u eleştirdiği yazıda da çok eğlendim. Edebiyat tarihinin en sevilen girişlerinden birini yazıyor Tolstoy. “Bütün mutlu aileler birbirine benzer. Her mutsuz ailenin ise kendisine özgü bir mutsuzluğu vardır.” Ursula buna karşı çıkıyor. Her mutlu ailenin yalnızca mutlu zamanları olduğunu söylüyor. Tolstoy bizden çok bildiğinden değil bizden daha iyi ifade ettiğinden Tolstoy olmuş gibi bir tezi var. Tolstoy’un hayatını düşününce hak vermemek mümkün değil.
Ursula’nın jürideki tüm üyelerin kadın olduğu bir yarışma anısı en sevdiğim yazılarından biri oldu. Jüri tamamen kadın olduğunda, finale çıkan yazarların kadın olmasının güvensizlik yaratacağından bahsediyor. Hatta jüriden biri söylüyor bunu. Ursula bu senaryo erkeklerden oluşursa bir güvensizlik olur muydu diye sorguladığında tüm kadınlar olmazdı ama ne yapalım gibi bir teslimiyet içinde cevap veriyor. Üzerine düşündükçe kızdığım bir durum. Ödüller hiçbir zaman adil dağıtılmıyor. Ödülü verenler kadın olsalar dahi yine bir değerlendirmeye alınıyorlar.
Hemen her yazısı hakkında konuşasım var. Son olarak hikaye anlatıcılığı üzerine yazdıklarından bahsetmek istiyorum. Hikaye anlatıcılığı yüzyıllar içinde evriliyor. Sözlü anlatım için uygun destanların hala etkisinin sürdüğünü söylüyor Ursula. Nesirdeki sanatın göze ve kulağa nasıl farklı geleceğiyle alakalı örnekler veriyor. Örneklerinden biri Woolf’un To The Lighthouse’u. Okuması epey zor olan bir roman, tavsiyesine uyup bir de dinlemek istiyorum.
Kitap beni çok etkiledi. Yazarlar üzerine, yazmak üzerine düşünen herkesin göz atması gereken bir kitap. Fantastik edebiyat kadar diğer türlere de hakimiyeti bu kitapta daha çok belli oluyor.
March 1, 2021
Μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα γνωριμία,είναι η πρώτη φορά που διαβάζω τη συγγραφέα,εκεί που οι ενδιαφέρουσες γνωριμίες είναι πλέον λίγες έχω να πω.Μια καθαρή,βαθιά και αιρετική μάτια στα πράγματα,η αιώνια λιακάδα ενός καθαρού μυαλού.Τα μόνα σύννεφα που που τόλμησαν να παρουσιαστούν ήταν σε στιγμές (για μένα) φεμινιστικού παροξυσμού. Ιδίως εκεί με τα στατιστικά στοιχεία για τα βραβεία,βαρέθηκα και επίσης δεν ταυτιστηκα με τις απόψεις της. Ότι εμπεριέχει ψήγμα φανατισμού στη σκέψη με βρίσκει άκρως αντίθετη,έτσι νομίζω ότι χάνεται και η ουσία των όποιων διεκδικήσεων.
September 27, 2020
This eclectic collection of essays offers an interesting insight into Le Guin’s mind. In listening to this book, I was struck by not only how well-considered Le Guin's view of the world was, but also the tremendous amount of thought she put into her fictional work. I always knew there was a lot going on beneath the surface of her stories, but this collection made me see (to some extent at least) just how deep those layers go and how multifaceted her fiction really is.
Le Guin's characteristic wit and humour can be found throughout this collection, even in the more serious pieces. There were two writings in particular that I really stood out for me in this respect: “Introducing Myself” and “Being Taken for Granite”. "Introducing Myself" had such a brilliant opening paragraph that immediately grabbed me:
I am a man. Now you may think I’ve made some kind of silly mistake about gender, or maybe that I’m trying to fool you, because my first name ends in a, and I own three bras, and I’ve been pregnant five times, and other things like that that you might have noticed, little details. But details don’t matter. If we have anything to learn from politicians, it’s that details don’t matter. I am a man, and I want you to believe and accept this fact, just as I did for many years.
"Being Taken for Granite" was a funny, clever little piece that I listened to a number of times and also had some amazing opening lines:
Sometimes I am taken for granite. Everybody is taken for granite sometimes but I am not in a mood for being fair to everybody. I am in a mood for being fair to me. I am taken for granite quite often, and this troubles and distresses me, because I am not granite. I am not sure what I am but I know it isn’t granite.
One essay that really moved me was “Indian Uncles”, in which Le Guin recounts her personal relationship with two Native Americans (who worked with her father, a noted anthropologist) and were considered close friends of the family. This piece also goes into the rather tragic story of Ishi, the last 'wild' Native American, who spent most of his life isolated from modern American culture until he was captured in 1911. Interestingly, Le Guin's mother would later write a biography on Ishi's life.
In such a varied collection, it is of course impossible to find all of the essays of equal interest. Some of the more 'academic' pieces were a bit of a struggle for me, and I eventually gave up on one or two (such as the essay on metre and rhyme in writing). Le Guin also discusses some of the authors she admires (e.g. Tolstoy, Twain) and I would've probably got more out of these essays if I was more familiar with their work. I know, my bad!
On the whole, however, this was an interesting and enjoyable collection that I can recommend to any Le Guin fan who'd like to get a peek inside the author's mind. Le Guin had a lot to say about the world we live in, on all manner of topics and social issues that are still relevant today. (Her writings on gender inequality were particularly revealing/shocking in this respect.)
Finally, I can highly recommend the audio version of this book, which was excellently read by the narrator.
Le Guin's characteristic wit and humour can be found throughout this collection, even in the more serious pieces. There were two writings in particular that I really stood out for me in this respect: “Introducing Myself” and “Being Taken for Granite”. "Introducing Myself" had such a brilliant opening paragraph that immediately grabbed me:
I am a man. Now you may think I’ve made some kind of silly mistake about gender, or maybe that I’m trying to fool you, because my first name ends in a, and I own three bras, and I’ve been pregnant five times, and other things like that that you might have noticed, little details. But details don’t matter. If we have anything to learn from politicians, it’s that details don’t matter. I am a man, and I want you to believe and accept this fact, just as I did for many years.
"Being Taken for Granite" was a funny, clever little piece that I listened to a number of times and also had some amazing opening lines:
Sometimes I am taken for granite. Everybody is taken for granite sometimes but I am not in a mood for being fair to everybody. I am in a mood for being fair to me. I am taken for granite quite often, and this troubles and distresses me, because I am not granite. I am not sure what I am but I know it isn’t granite.
One essay that really moved me was “Indian Uncles”, in which Le Guin recounts her personal relationship with two Native Americans (who worked with her father, a noted anthropologist) and were considered close friends of the family. This piece also goes into the rather tragic story of Ishi, the last 'wild' Native American, who spent most of his life isolated from modern American culture until he was captured in 1911. Interestingly, Le Guin's mother would later write a biography on Ishi's life.
In such a varied collection, it is of course impossible to find all of the essays of equal interest. Some of the more 'academic' pieces were a bit of a struggle for me, and I eventually gave up on one or two (such as the essay on metre and rhyme in writing). Le Guin also discusses some of the authors she admires (e.g. Tolstoy, Twain) and I would've probably got more out of these essays if I was more familiar with their work. I know, my bad!
On the whole, however, this was an interesting and enjoyable collection that I can recommend to any Le Guin fan who'd like to get a peek inside the author's mind. Le Guin had a lot to say about the world we live in, on all manner of topics and social issues that are still relevant today. (Her writings on gender inequality were particularly revealing/shocking in this respect.)
Finally, I can highly recommend the audio version of this book, which was excellently read by the narrator.
November 3, 2020
Kitaba geçmeden önce çeviri ve editörlükten hızlıca bahsetmek istiyorum, çünkü Metis'in kalibresine yakıştıramadım.
Eserde 5 çevirmen mevcut. Kelime seçimlerine takıldığım yok, o kısım Metis eserlerinde görmeye alışık olduğumuz kalitede. Ancak bazı çevrilmeyen kelimeler beni düşündürdü. Bu çevirmen kaynaklı olabileceği gibi editör tarafından yapılan bir müdahale de olabilir pekala. Gel gelelim "part time" kelimesinin dilimizde bir karşılığı varken böyle bırakılması, ya da "transgender"ın çevrilmemesi beni üzdü.
Dahası, yine Metis kitaplarında alışık olmadığım kadar çok yazım hatası mevcuttu.
Eserin kendisine gelecek olursak, Kraliçe'nin kendisine olan tutkumu besleyen, ancak kimi eserlerinin gerisinde kaldığını düşündüğüm bir okuma deneyimiydi. Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar ile Dünyanın Kıyısında Dans'ın gerisinde kalıyordu. Bunun nedenini dağınık olmasına bağlıyorum.
Kitap 4 ana bölümden ve her ana bölümler de kendi içinde denemelere bölünüyor. Biri hariç hepsinden oldukça keyif aldım. Sıralamam şöyle: Yazmak Üzerine - Okumalar - Şahsi Meseleler. Ancak benim için kitabı dağınıklaştıran kısım Tartışmalar ve Görüşler oldu. Bu bölüm ayrı bir kitap olsa kitabın bütünlüğü kendi içinde sağlanacaktı sanki. Açıkçası okurken yer yer sıkıldığım ya da yazarın başka kitaplarından bildiğim düşüncelerinin tekrarını okuyormuş gibi hissettiğim bir bölümdü.
Zihinde Bir Dalga'yı kendi içinde değerlendirecek olursak, özellikle Okumalar'da Le Guin imzalı kitap eleştirilerini görmek heyecan verici. Yazmak Üzerine adlı ana bölüm ise yazan yazmayan herkes için hazine niteliğinde. Ufuk açıcı, düşündürücü ve tartışmacı. Muazzamdı.
Kitaba adını veren Virgina Woolf mektubu ve Woolf'un o bilindik kıvrak zekasıyla "bir duygu zihinde önce bir dalga yaratıyor" deyişi başlı başına düşündürücü. Elimi çenemin altına koyup o tek paragraflık mektup alıntısıyla sürüklenmek istedim. Woolf'un bahsettiği o dalgaya binmek ve kıyıya vurmak...
Özetle, yukarıda da dediğim gibi, benim için Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar ile Dünyanın Kıyısında Dans'ın gerisinde kalan, ancak Le Guin'in fazlasıyla değerli yol göstericiliğini kalbinde taşıyan bir eserdi.
Eserde 5 çevirmen mevcut. Kelime seçimlerine takıldığım yok, o kısım Metis eserlerinde görmeye alışık olduğumuz kalitede. Ancak bazı çevrilmeyen kelimeler beni düşündürdü. Bu çevirmen kaynaklı olabileceği gibi editör tarafından yapılan bir müdahale de olabilir pekala. Gel gelelim "part time" kelimesinin dilimizde bir karşılığı varken böyle bırakılması, ya da "transgender"ın çevrilmemesi beni üzdü.
Dahası, yine Metis kitaplarında alışık olmadığım kadar çok yazım hatası mevcuttu.
Eserin kendisine gelecek olursak, Kraliçe'nin kendisine olan tutkumu besleyen, ancak kimi eserlerinin gerisinde kaldığını düşündüğüm bir okuma deneyimiydi. Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar ile Dünyanın Kıyısında Dans'ın gerisinde kalıyordu. Bunun nedenini dağınık olmasına bağlıyorum.
Kitap 4 ana bölümden ve her ana bölümler de kendi içinde denemelere bölünüyor. Biri hariç hepsinden oldukça keyif aldım. Sıralamam şöyle: Yazmak Üzerine - Okumalar - Şahsi Meseleler. Ancak benim için kitabı dağınıklaştıran kısım Tartışmalar ve Görüşler oldu. Bu bölüm ayrı bir kitap olsa kitabın bütünlüğü kendi içinde sağlanacaktı sanki. Açıkçası okurken yer yer sıkıldığım ya da yazarın başka kitaplarından bildiğim düşüncelerinin tekrarını okuyormuş gibi hissettiğim bir bölümdü.
Zihinde Bir Dalga'yı kendi içinde değerlendirecek olursak, özellikle Okumalar'da Le Guin imzalı kitap eleştirilerini görmek heyecan verici. Yazmak Üzerine adlı ana bölüm ise yazan yazmayan herkes için hazine niteliğinde. Ufuk açıcı, düşündürücü ve tartışmacı. Muazzamdı.
Kitaba adını veren Virgina Woolf mektubu ve Woolf'un o bilindik kıvrak zekasıyla "bir duygu zihinde önce bir dalga yaratıyor" deyişi başlı başına düşündürücü. Elimi çenemin altına koyup o tek paragraflık mektup alıntısıyla sürüklenmek istedim. Woolf'un bahsettiği o dalgaya binmek ve kıyıya vurmak...
Özetle, yukarıda da dediğim gibi, benim için Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar ile Dünyanın Kıyısında Dans'ın gerisinde kalan, ancak Le Guin'in fazlasıyla değerli yol göstericiliğini kalbinde taşıyan bir eserdi.
September 1, 2015
I started a read-all-the-Le Guin-I've-never-read kick a couple of months ago in order to feel good about my presence on a The Works of Le Guin panel at Worldcon. The panel is over. I'm still reading.
This book is less focused than the magnificent Steering the Craft. There are pieces on writing, but also speeches and notes and random essays donated to various projects. They're all worth a read. Le Guin's thoughts on aging and being a woman and being a human and being an island are as prescient and humorous and insightful on her thoughts on being a writer. This woman is a national treasure.
This book is less focused than the magnificent Steering the Craft. There are pieces on writing, but also speeches and notes and random essays donated to various projects. They're all worth a read. Le Guin's thoughts on aging and being a woman and being a human and being an island are as prescient and humorous and insightful on her thoughts on being a writer. This woman is a national treasure.
December 31, 2020
Uno de los mejores libros de este año.
Definitivamente el 2021 será el momento de devorar la obra de Úrsula K Le Guin.
Definitivamente el 2021 será el momento de devorar la obra de Úrsula K Le Guin.
September 4, 2018
He tenido la inmensa fortuna de encontrarme con una persona que me habla a través de abismos de tiempo y espacio como si me conociera desde siempre. Ursula no solo fue una narradora excelente; era una mujer tan culta, creativa, intensa y noble que me enorgullece haber podido conocerla aunque solo sea a través de las páginas. Es mi abuelita literaria, junto a Philip Pullman.
Leedla.
Leedla.
January 24, 2008
Although I'm not usually drawn to collections of essays, I couldn't pass up this one by Le Guin; she has been a favorite of mine ever since I first read the Earthsea books in middle school. Her writing here (as always) is beautiful, never tedious. All the essays were arresting in one way or another; some were deeply inspiring. Her discussions of her own writing process were fascinating. As a whole, this book helped reinforce my respect for Le Guin as an artist and a master of her craft. It left me excited to read more of her fiction.
February 24, 2019
No voy a negarlo, me ENCANTA Ursula K. Le Guin. Me apasionan sus novelas y relatos, tanto las de corte fantástico, como las de temática de ciencia-ficción (aunque los temas que toquen, en realidad, no tengan mucho que ver con lo fantástico y la ciencia-ficción, pero eso es otra historia). Asi que, la oportunidad de leer una recopilación de algunos de sus ensayos, en los que desgrana su opinión acerca de una infinidad de temas, me ha parecido realmente alucinante.
February 10, 2021
Ποιος να το φανταζόταν ότι θα ήταν τόσο συναρπαστικό βιβλίο <3
https://pepperlines.blogspot.com/2021...
https://pepperlines.blogspot.com/2021...
May 26, 2017
Ursula K. Le Guin’in yalnızca Mülksüzler kitabını okumuş ve onun hakkında kulaktan dolma birkaç şey dışında pek bilgisi olmayan biri olarak Zihinde Bir Dalga’yı okumaya başladım. Kitabı bitirdiğim şu sıralar ise kendisine duyduğum hayranlık ve saygıyla dopdoluyum.
Zihnimde dalgalar yaratan, ufkumu açan, yeni düşünceler katan ve beni yeni okumalara yönlendiren bir kitap oldu. Okur olan yazar olan ya da okuryazarlığın merkezinde yer alan siz sevgili arkadaşlara bu kitabı tavsiye ederim..
Zihnimde dalgalar yaratan, ufkumu açan, yeni düşünceler katan ve beni yeni okumalara yönlendiren bir kitap oldu. Okur olan yazar olan ya da okuryazarlığın merkezinde yer alan siz sevgili arkadaşlara bu kitabı tavsiye ederim..
March 23, 2017
One of my bedtime reads, mostly very good. A few of the essays were a little boring because a little too technical on the hows and whys of writing.
October 8, 2022
Σπουδαία γραφή, τόσο οξυδερκής, τόσο παραστατική, ακόμα και στα σημεία που ελαφρώς κουράζει (εκεί κάπου στο μέσο των δοκιμίων) νιώθει κανείς τη σπουδαιότητά της...
June 6, 2017
One of the best books I've ever read- well, in general, but particularly related to books, reading, writing, etc. I spent so much time with this, just thinking, thinking, thinking.
Note:
I LOVE URSULA K LE GUIN WITH THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS.
Ahem. So. On to my favorite things about this book:
-UKLG's quietly sure-footed feminism throughout
-Her intolerance of ego, particularly ego of the white male ivy league variety
-Her refusal to accept that there is a right way to read, to think, to express, as long as it's done thoughtfully and independently.
-Her abhorence of unquestioned, unexamined assumptions.
-Her irreverent sense of humor ("I shall now go out on a limb, hunch my shoulders, clack my beak, stare fiercely, and announce that I think...")
-Hey ability to make me think about things in a totally new way.
-Just literally everything
Note:
I LOVE URSULA K LE GUIN WITH THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS.
Ahem. So. On to my favorite things about this book:
-UKLG's quietly sure-footed feminism throughout
-Her intolerance of ego, particularly ego of the white male ivy league variety
-Her refusal to accept that there is a right way to read, to think, to express, as long as it's done thoughtfully and independently.
-Her abhorence of unquestioned, unexamined assumptions.
-Her irreverent sense of humor ("I shall now go out on a limb, hunch my shoulders, clack my beak, stare fiercely, and announce that I think...")
-Hey ability to make me think about things in a totally new way.
-Just literally everything
December 17, 2020
Una maravilla de recopilación de ensayos, conferencias y charlas relacionadas con todos los temas principales de la obra de Le Guin: antropología, bibliotecas, qué significa escribir, los talleres literarios, sus autores favoritos, la voz del escritor, los principales vicios en las obras de fantasía y ciencia ficción y muchos otros. Es un imprescindible si se quiere entender en profundidad todo el trabajo literario de Le Guin. El capítulo donde hace referencia al trabajo antropológico de su padre es sencillamente precioso.
El mejor libro que leí el 2018.
El mejor libro que leí el 2018.
July 25, 2020
Una verdadera alhaja de libro, sin duda uno de esos ejemplares para guardar como un gran tesoro.
Extracto del libro:
"La imaginación es un modo fundamental de pensar, un medio esencial de convertirse en humano y seguir siéndolo. Es una herramienta mental. En consecuencia, tenemos que aprender"
Extracto del libro:
"La imaginación es un modo fundamental de pensar, un medio esencial de convertirse en humano y seguir siéndolo. Es una herramienta mental. En consecuencia, tenemos que aprender"
November 30, 2015
Every time I read something by LeGuin, I wish I could just sit down with her, drink some tea, and talk story. She blows my mind.
August 31, 2024
A reading challenge I run through Habitica was to read a book of essays and this was my choice.
But wow! This book. It’s challenging, funny, moving, mind-opening, even mind-blowing. It’s beautifully written (as always) and tore my heart open. I have only read a bit of Le Guin’s non-fiction, mostly in the form of speeches and interviews, but this shows a side of Le Guin, which is much different to her fiction, 95% of which I’ve read. We see her erudition on full display, but in the humble down-to-earth way that you would expect. But she is also playful and yes, funny. This book was a delight to read and while I’m sad I’ve finished it I can be happy because I have a few more books of her non-fiction and poetry to read.
But wow! This book. It’s challenging, funny, moving, mind-opening, even mind-blowing. It’s beautifully written (as always) and tore my heart open. I have only read a bit of Le Guin’s non-fiction, mostly in the form of speeches and interviews, but this shows a side of Le Guin, which is much different to her fiction, 95% of which I’ve read. We see her erudition on full display, but in the humble down-to-earth way that you would expect. But she is also playful and yes, funny. This book was a delight to read and while I’m sad I’ve finished it I can be happy because I have a few more books of her non-fiction and poetry to read.
March 14, 2017
I think the thought I liked the most that Le Guin mentions in some of these essays, is the idea that a writer needs to find the rhythm in their prose, and that opens up everything. The idea came from something she read by Virginia Woolf, and its I had never thought about, consciously anyway, because I have always thought that once you get into the flow of a book, and a writing style, then you're in, and you enjoy the writers style and story. And I do think it is something truly different from writer to writer, because they can't really think about it, its in their style, and you can connect to it or not.
Another idea I loved was the idea that the reader is an active participant in the reading of a book, its not like viewing a film, where you are passive, but in reading you interpret, or judge, or go back and forth, and that makes the book alive.
She has some great thoughts on writing, and on gender issues, fantasy, writing workshops, etc. Although I had never read her, I really enjoyed it.
Another idea I loved was the idea that the reader is an active participant in the reading of a book, its not like viewing a film, where you are passive, but in reading you interpret, or judge, or go back and forth, and that makes the book alive.
She has some great thoughts on writing, and on gender issues, fantasy, writing workshops, etc. Although I had never read her, I really enjoyed it.
Read
May 24, 2023Had this on my shelf for years and thought I had read it, but when I grabbed it the other day while looking for stuff on prose rhythm, absolutely nothing in here looked familiar.
The two specifically on rhythm: Stress-Rhythm in Poetry and Prose and Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings were good but also disappointing as they didn't really give me what I was hoping for.
The "Drummers" part of Collectors, Rhymesters, and Drummers talks about rhythm also.
Telling Is Listening about communication being more than just transferring information was interesting in light of the recent leap in large language models.
Also read:
Thinking about Cordwainer Smith
The Operating Instructions
"A War without End" - A good piece on oppression and how unfairly we judge oppressed people for not throwing off their oppressors.
A Matter of Trust
The Writer and the Character
Unquestioned Assumptions
Read about 1/3 of the book this time, which was much more than I was planning when I picked it up. Probably about 4 stars for the stuff I read, but I won't rate it as the other 2/3 isn't pulling my attention at the moment.
The two specifically on rhythm: Stress-Rhythm in Poetry and Prose and Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings were good but also disappointing as they didn't really give me what I was hoping for.
The "Drummers" part of Collectors, Rhymesters, and Drummers talks about rhythm also.
Telling Is Listening about communication being more than just transferring information was interesting in light of the recent leap in large language models.
Also read:
Thinking about Cordwainer Smith
The Operating Instructions
"A War without End" - A good piece on oppression and how unfairly we judge oppressed people for not throwing off their oppressors.
We demand a rebellious spirit of those who have no chance to learn that rebellion is possible, but we the privileged hold still and see no evil.
A Matter of Trust
The Writer and the Character
Unquestioned Assumptions
Read about 1/3 of the book this time, which was much more than I was planning when I picked it up. Probably about 4 stars for the stuff I read, but I won't rate it as the other 2/3 isn't pulling my attention at the moment.
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