The Word for World is Forest | 
pickHalfway through, but thoroughly nejoying Le Guin‘s constant links between societal structure snd linguistics. A very simple one being the literal title of the book, the word for dream being the same as root, the ‘two meanings in one‘ concept she uses the highlight the fundamental differences between Terrans and Athsheans‘ perception of life. We both experience this in the narration whilst also experiencing Lyubov experience it with us.
“…But the men won‘t bring women to the Forty Lands until they had made a place ready for them.” “Until the men made a fit place for women? Well! They may have quite a wait…They should have sent the women first. Maybe with them the women do the Great Dreaming? Who knows? They are backwards, Selver. They are insane.”
“The world is always new…however old its roots…They look like men and talk like men, are they not men?” “I don‘t know. Do men kill men, except in madness? Does any beast kill its own kind? Only the insects. These yumens kill us as lightly as we kill snakes…they kill one another, in quarrels, and also in groups, like ants fighting. They don‘t spare one who asks life.”
“When the Senoi child reports a falling dream, the adult answers with enthusiasm, “ That is a wonderful dream, one of the best dreams a man can have. Where did you fall to, and what did you discover?””
so-so#authoramonth #aam @Soubhiville
I can see the brilliance of this author in this powerful novella that tackles environmental destruction and colonization, I just continue to struggle with this genre. The world-building aspect always sets me at a distance I just can‘t seem to navigate across. I can appreciate it more than enjoy the experience. Wrong reader for an author I know so many adore.
pickThe Word for World is Forest was excellent, loved it in the same vein as Huxley's The Island. @RamsFan1963 can understand why it's your favourite LeGuin.
Mini tbr for July, partway through Malice and Ariadne but they're big so need to get my motivation up.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A quick, phenomenal read. You can really see Le Guin‘s interest in anthropology. Seems particularly potent 50 years later as humans continue to colonize each other on Earth.
Le Guin always blows me away with her writing—what a paragraph. You know his exact thought process & inclinations of his character laid bare here and how he became a scientist-turned-activist in the story. Just beautiful.
pick#TBRChallenge #AudioBook #ABookThats
This story had me hooked from the first! The Athsheans were such a brilliantly conceived and wonderfully written people, and the Terrans the perfect example of humanities flaws.
What I especially liked was how much detail and consideration had gone into the world and culture of the Athsheans in such a short novel. The degree of world building was truly astounding.
⬇️
pickA short read but a good one. One of Le Guin's lesser known works but has occasionally been cited as the inspiration behind the movie Avatar. This is obviously less bombastic and more thoughtful.
Airplane time is reading time!
Isn't it?
On my trip back frim the Fijis to Germany I managed to read The Word for World Is Forest as well as The Lathe of Heaven, watched 3 movies and slept a decent amount of time. Time well spent 🙃
pickMuch darker than I remembered it, but I first read this one shortly after she wrote it. I love how she explores the ethnocentric differences between the locals and the Terrans in her stories. In this particular tale, the Earthlings have not evolved at all as the blasted off to the stars to colonize, exploit and subjugate new worlds. This story, perhaps reflective of a mature author, lacks the usual optimism that usually balances out her novels.
Thought this was an okay book overall, but I was really interested in the similarities to Avatar (or the other way around), so I made a little video discussing that. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RbDB8Y0UGKc
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
1. This is me looking spring like last weekend!
2. Sit outside cafes reading with coffee
3. ‘We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.‘ Ursula LeGuin you give me strength 💪
4. I‘m quite late to the party here so not sure who hasn‘t been tagged already! Consider yourself tagged if you‘d like to be
I really should be sleeping... But with the new year, I think I've found my reading mojo again. And I'm loathe to stop and chance it running away...
But I have work tomorrow... And I need to be an adult and actually sleep so I'm productive tomorrow.
Favorite Books I read in 2018 not from 2018 part 2.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K LeGuin
Plenty of amazing books come with #greencovers
#deweyjuly #reversereadathon
pickMany of the peaceful Athsheans are enslaved when the yumens come to their planet to deforest their planet and send the natural resources back to Earth. When they fight back, it changes the foundations of their society. Crisp, concise writing that packs a punch on issues of colonization, the environment, and the value of life. Le Guin published this in 1972 and I was sure it had to have been the basis for Avatar, but I can't see where it was.
I think you like Science Fiction or Fantasy, @RachelO , but I certainly do, and I love novellas and novelettes. They are great palate cleansers, great for #inbetween. Every one of Ursula K. LeGuin‘s novellas are little zingers. I love them.
Of the books you listed, I really want to read Every Not Played. Thanks for the #giveaway!!
pickBeautifully written but it could have done with a few shades of grey rather than evil or weak yumans vs noble Ashtheans.
Re-reading in memoriam and as one of @MrBook 's recommendations. The bookmark is from the Kings Park Botanic Garden in Perth and so seemed appropriate.
Someone in this house is reading more Le Guin now that she‘s passed.
pick@Booksandcooks
#7777giveaway
My most recent 5⭐️ book was this sci fi classic. I‘ve been told that some famous films have stolen a lot of the plot.
This book was a response to the Vietnam War. You can almost physically feel the author‘s anger and anguish as she imagines a future world when humans colonise other planets.
My first Ursula LeGuin book and I hope certainly not my last.
And this cover! 🌿
#TBRtemptation post 1! This is the 2nd installment in the Hainish Cycle, though each installment's stand-alone. This award-winner has influenced many storytellers, including James Cameron and George Lucas. Humans, called Terrans, have established themselves on a distant planet in the distant future. The small, furry, indigenous creatures on the planet who use dreams to communicate are overtaken. Conflict ensues. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
I started this on audio today and I'm enjoying it so far. Very interesting world. I hope very bad things happen to this MC though, he is NOT a likeable guy.
My #funfridayphoto is an Ursula K LeGuin novel I've meant to read for a while. I might be reading it during Science Fiction and Fantasy February(something I'm trying to make it a real thing), which you can follow and join at #sfff.
Just ran to the library and back! Quick read for today 👍
Found a few great #bestblurbs on my shelf. #seasonsreadings2016
It must be Wednesday, because I have a new stack of bargain books purchased from the thrift shop! I can't believe the luck I have there. All this for $5.50. #thriftscore
pickOne of LeGuin's early masterpieces, mixing a story of a colonial uprising with a typical LeGuin sociological view of events. Written in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
so-soI discovered Le Guin very recently (why so late?!), and I adore her use of anthropology and philosophy in the fantasy genre. This novel, however, is my least favorite thus far. I didn't want to spend time in Davidson's narcissistic head, and I wish I learned more about dreams and the dream world.
“What are they doing?” abruptly becomes, “What are we doing?” and then, “What must I do?”
“A forest ecology is a delicate one. If the forest perishes, its fauna may go with it. The Athshean word for world is also the word for forest.”
— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest
