Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Interlink Publishing+group Inc (date?), Unknown Binding
Description
A collection of twenty-four essays concerned with writing in general, the field of fantasy and science fiction, and with the author's own writing.
User reviews
LibraryThing member TadAD
The Language of the Night is a collection of essays, speaking notes, critical writings and book introductions written by Ursula K. Le Guin during the 1970s. From her position as a prominent writer—moreover, one of the few women writers in the field at that time—she surveyed the landscape of
· what it is that makes good fantasy and its modern child, science fiction;
· why children "get" it and should have it, and why some adults cannot;
· that fantasy and science fiction ought to accept the same metric as any other creative endeavor: the Best is the standard;
· why Katherine Kurtz and similar authors do not really write fantasy;
· her feminist anger and why, sometimes, it has been useful and, other times, overshadowed;
· on Alice Sheldon and James Tiptree, Jr.;
· why thinking about Carl Jung can bring a whole new perspective on Tolkien;
· …and on; I've touched only the surface.
She is articulate. She is opinionated. She's candid. She's proud though occasionally humble. She's funny. If you have cared about any creation from Lirazel to Nobusuke Tagomi to Samwise Gamgee…not even mentioning anything from Ged to Estraven…I think you'll find something to laugh at, or rail against, or say "Exactly!" about in this collection.
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what came before, where it stood then, where she hoped it would go someday, and why it all mattered. It's a survey over a lot of geography:· what it is that makes good fantasy and its modern child, science fiction;
· why children "get" it and should have it, and why some adults cannot;
· that fantasy and science fiction ought to accept the same metric as any other creative endeavor: the Best is the standard;
· why Katherine Kurtz and similar authors do not really write fantasy;
· her feminist anger and why, sometimes, it has been useful and, other times, overshadowed;
· on Alice Sheldon and James Tiptree, Jr.;
· why thinking about Carl Jung can bring a whole new perspective on Tolkien;
· …and on; I've touched only the surface.
She is articulate. She is opinionated. She's candid. She's proud though occasionally humble. She's funny. If you have cared about any creation from Lirazel to Nobusuke Tagomi to Samwise Gamgee…not even mentioning anything from Ged to Estraven…I think you'll find something to laugh at, or rail against, or say "Exactly!" about in this collection.
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LibraryThing member lilithcat
Probably the best compliment one can pay a book and its author is to say that it made you pick up another book by that author. And while I was reading this, I found Le Guin's Unlocking the Air and Other Stories at a book sale and grabbed it. But this book gets an even bigger compliment. It may just
These "essays" include introductions to books (her own and others), critical essays on science fiction and on writing, as well as speeches made by Le Guin on various occasions.
The very first essay describes Le Guin's introduction to Lord Dunsany, who made her realize that "people were still making up myths." This immediately got me on her side because I like his work very much (though I don't share her enthusiasm for Tolkien).
She addresses such questions as "Can a science fiction writer write a novel? (And, not so incidentally, Is it advisable that this should come to pass?", the importance of the imagination, how Elfland differs from Poughkeepsie and much more. And as a writer talking about process, she is also willing to go back and criticize her own early work, to recognize wherein she may have failed, where she wore blinders.
There are so many things I could quote from this book - I could be writing forever. But a few follow.
"I believe that maturity is not an outgrowing, but a growing up: that an adult is not a dead child, but a child who survived. I believe that all the best faculties of a mature human being exist in the child, and that if these faculties are encouraged in youth they will act well and wisely in the adult, but if they are repressed and denied in the child they will stunt and cripple the adult personality. And finally, I believe that one of the most deeply human, and humane, of these faculties is the power of the imagination . . .
"A fantasy is a journey. It is a journey into the subconscious mind, just as psychoanalysis is. Like psychoanalysis, it can be dangerous; and it will change you. The general assumption is that, if there are dragons or hippogriffs in a book, or if it takes place in a vaguely Keltic or Near Eastern medieval setting, or if magic is done in it, then it's a fantasy. This is a mistake."
"We've got to stop skulking around playing by ourselves, like the kid everybody picks on. When an SF book is reviewed, in a fanzine or a literary review, it should be compared with the rest of current literature like any other book and placed among the rest on its own individual merits. When an SF book is criticized, in print or in a class, it should be criticized as hard as any other book, demandingly, with the same expectations of literacy, solidity, complexity, craftsmanship. When an SF book is read, it should be read as a novel or a short story -- that is, a work in the traditions also employed by Dickens and Chekhov -- not as an artifact from the Pulp Factory."
She's also funny:
"For me the telephone is for making appointments with the doctor with and canceling appointments with the dentist with. It is not a medium of human communication. I can't stand there in the hall with the child and the cat both circling my legs frisking and purring and demanding cookies and catfood, and explain to a disembodied voice in my ear that the Jungian spectrum of introvert/extravert can usefully be applied not only to human beings, but also to authors."
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have broadened my reading horizons into science fiction.These "essays" include introductions to books (her own and others), critical essays on science fiction and on writing, as well as speeches made by Le Guin on various occasions.
The very first essay describes Le Guin's introduction to Lord Dunsany, who made her realize that "people were still making up myths." This immediately got me on her side because I like his work very much (though I don't share her enthusiasm for Tolkien).
She addresses such questions as "Can a science fiction writer write a novel? (And, not so incidentally, Is it advisable that this should come to pass?", the importance of the imagination, how Elfland differs from Poughkeepsie and much more. And as a writer talking about process, she is also willing to go back and criticize her own early work, to recognize wherein she may have failed, where she wore blinders.
There are so many things I could quote from this book - I could be writing forever. But a few follow.
"I believe that maturity is not an outgrowing, but a growing up: that an adult is not a dead child, but a child who survived. I believe that all the best faculties of a mature human being exist in the child, and that if these faculties are encouraged in youth they will act well and wisely in the adult, but if they are repressed and denied in the child they will stunt and cripple the adult personality. And finally, I believe that one of the most deeply human, and humane, of these faculties is the power of the imagination . . .
"A fantasy is a journey. It is a journey into the subconscious mind, just as psychoanalysis is. Like psychoanalysis, it can be dangerous; and it will change you. The general assumption is that, if there are dragons or hippogriffs in a book, or if it takes place in a vaguely Keltic or Near Eastern medieval setting, or if magic is done in it, then it's a fantasy. This is a mistake."
"We've got to stop skulking around playing by ourselves, like the kid everybody picks on. When an SF book is reviewed, in a fanzine or a literary review, it should be compared with the rest of current literature like any other book and placed among the rest on its own individual merits. When an SF book is criticized, in print or in a class, it should be criticized as hard as any other book, demandingly, with the same expectations of literacy, solidity, complexity, craftsmanship. When an SF book is read, it should be read as a novel or a short story -- that is, a work in the traditions also employed by Dickens and Chekhov -- not as an artifact from the Pulp Factory."
She's also funny:
"For me the telephone is for making appointments with the doctor with and canceling appointments with the dentist with. It is not a medium of human communication. I can't stand there in the hall with the child and the cat both circling my legs frisking and purring and demanding cookies and catfood, and explain to a disembodied voice in my ear that the Jungian spectrum of introvert/extravert can usefully be applied not only to human beings, but also to authors."
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LibraryThing member sa54d
Not only about writing and science fiction but also about life, the universe, and everything. Essays such as "Why Americans are Afraid of Dragons" and "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie" includes social commentary on the peculiar relationship the citizens of the U.S. have with reality (and fantasy).
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This is a must read for any aspiring writer (whatever genre) and for most people who enjoy intelligent, insightful writing (with some humor thrown in). Show Less
LibraryThing member justine
How to make a great sci-fi/fantasy world by one of the genre's greats.
LibraryThing member deliriumslibrarian
By Hain, I love this book! I read it in an indescribably awful B&B in Norwich during the BtVS conference at UEA. It was so cold, I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up all night, in three layers of clothes, reading and rereading this book. Finally, I warmed up enough to get to sleep - and shortly
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thereafter, the evil harridan who ran the place came and woke me up 'cause I was holding up the kitchen. On a Sunday. While the mere mention of Norwich induces shivers in me, I have only the fondest memories of this book and its (almost literal) warmth. Although I don't share Le Guin's enthusiasm for the style of Lord Dunsany, I am inspired and energised by pretty much everything else she has to say. Show Less
LibraryThing member igor.kh
A collection of essays, talks, and introductions written by Le Guin. Together, they give quite a bit of insight into her motivations for and attitude toward writing. This information is always interesting when coming from a talented, accomplished writer.
What struck me the most in this book were the
What struck me the most in this book were the
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degree to which her thinking is inundated by Jungian psychoanalytic jargon, her preoccupation with feminist rhetoric, and her subjectivist interpretation of "truth". From my experience with her fiction, I expected a much saner person. Show Less
LibraryThing member bordercollie
LeGuin writes from the place of myth and archetype, with attention to rhythm and place; she eschews writing instruction and studies great writers like Tolkien and great thinkers like C.G. Jung. Much discussion of the collective conscious (trvial) and the collective unconscious (gold mine).
LibraryThing member JaneAnneShaw
Seminal volume of essays on SF ~ a classic. I had to hunt it down online, tho' - eventually obtained my copy from a bookstore in Las Vegas, & it's a former library book from Utah State Prison YACF Library. It had only been borrowed 4 times ... LeGuin is the doyenne in the field of SF & fantasy -
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the mythologies of the modern world. Read the review by lilithcat | Aug 20, 2006 ~ she says it all! Show Less
LibraryThing member amaraduende
This was another very interesting non-fiction book by Le Guin. If you read much in ANY genre, this book will make you think about genre itself in new ways. If you do academic work with literature, this is definitely even more worth it.
Reread some of this in late 2012.
Reread some of this in late 2012.
LibraryThing member bunwat
Articulate, intelligent and deeply felt essays on the reading and writing of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
LibraryThing member nmele
The essays by Le Guin in this book are mostly forty years old, but still well worth reading. Le Guin's thoughts and concerns about literature are thought-provoking, insightful and well thought out.
LibraryThing member mysterymax
Every person who is a writer, or who wants to be a writer, should not only read this book but should keep it on their desk - full of sentences underlined and notes in paragraphs. I submit this is an essential read.
LibraryThing member antao
(Original Review, 1981-04-01)
My understanding of close reading was what I described in another review gleaning from Empson, and I never intended to dismiss the idea of finding archetypes in literary characters. As far as that goes, I might put myself much closer to the other extreme and be tempted
I’m now reading a collection of essays by Ursula K. Le Guin, “Language of the Night,” and she offers an interesting take on many of these issues from the writer’s point of view. She acknowledges the appearance of archetypes in her stories, but, with what she considers her best work, the story comes from within her and only after it is written does she recognize the archetype that inspired it:
“The writer who draws not upon the works and thoughts of others, but upon his own thoughts and his own deep being, will inevitably hit upon common material. The more original his work, the more imperiously recognizable it will be.”
Here she is on symbols and meaning in literature:
“In many college English courses the words “myth” and “symbol” are given a tremendous charge of significance. You just ain’t no good unless you can see a symbol hiding, like a scared gerbil, under every page. And in many creative writing courses the little beasts multiply, the place swarms with them. What does this Mean? What does this Symbolize? What is the Underlying Mythos? Kids come lurching out of such courses with a brain full of gerbils. And they sit down and write a lot of empty pomposity, under the impression that that’s how Melville did it.
Even when they begin to realize that art is not something for critics, but for other human beings, some of them retain the overintellectualizing bent. They still do not realize that a symbol is not a sign of something known, but an indicator of something not known and not expressible otherwise than symbolically. They mistake symbol (living meaning) for allegory (dead equivalence).”
SF (Speculative Fiction) was the realm where nerdish white boys went to dream of swords and D-cups. (Yes, that is very unfair. I must be slandering at least 1 1/2% of my fellow geeks.) Now it's no longer just boys & men but also girls & women who have discovered how much fun you can have in these genres. So give it some time and the whole community, from the bottom up, will change. Some dinosaurs won't - no: don't - like it and they will complain about the newcomers trying to take their swords and D-cups away. We already see that in the world of gaming and comics. One word of advice to the dinosaurs: comet. No, I think it is unlikely a cabal of females will come to your house and slit your throats with magic swords or strangle you with their bras*. You will just become more and more irrelevant. A group of moaning old-timers who are Fantasy & SF's equivalent of the Creation Museum. I don’t care about the gender of the writer; what I care about is the quality of what they write. If it’s crap, I’ll give them hell as I usually do [2018 EDIT: I’m still doing it… there has been no shortage in the last decades of absolutely brilliant women writing SF. There has, however, been a noticeable increase in the number of titles unambiguously written by women. This increase deserves examination. While there are still very good women writing science-fiction and fantasy, I do think that the number of poorly written books being published seems to be increasing. I think the market has expanded, and publishers are less likely to devote resources for editing. The recent surge of women writing means that women are disproportionately affected by that lack of editing. This is particularly true in Fantasy, as opposed to Science-Fiction, as Fantasy allows more discretion over the rules of the Universe (one can always resolve a plot issue through magic, “deus ex deus”, if you will). Science-Fiction requires a higher degree of internal consistency (“Deus-ex-machina” requires a machina, after all). Again, poorer editorship then has a disproportionate effect on the incoming women writers of Fantasy. To be clear, poor editorship effects both genders and both genres, but hits disproportionately against women writing in Fantasy].
NB: (*) Which might actually come as a disappointment to many a hardcore nerd: sorry (Nah. Not really).
NB: Both quotes from the essay “Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction”.
[2018 EDIT: I'm still slightly in shock. Ursula Le Guin was simply one of my favourite writers; a constant companion throughout my reading life. Everything she wrote is worth reading. However perhaps it's worth going beyond these same things that everyone recommends (excellent though they are) to work that people don't read enough or underrate. You could read the Hainish novels. “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Dispossessed” aren't the first of these. City of Illusions (1967) is perhaps the most Taoist of them all, and does provide a kind of underpinning for many of the others. For my money, the novella, “The Word for World is Forest” (1976), is also one of the best: a brilliant anti-colonial eco-political fable. Then there are her short stories. And don’t get me started on Earthsea…]
My understanding of close reading was what I described in another review gleaning from Empson, and I never intended to dismiss the idea of finding archetypes in literary characters. As far as that goes, I might put myself much closer to the other extreme and be tempted
Show More
to say: every story contains archetypes because we have nothing else to tell stories about; even non-fiction stories are told primarily if not exclusively about real people who embody archetypes.I’m now reading a collection of essays by Ursula K. Le Guin, “Language of the Night,” and she offers an interesting take on many of these issues from the writer’s point of view. She acknowledges the appearance of archetypes in her stories, but, with what she considers her best work, the story comes from within her and only after it is written does she recognize the archetype that inspired it:
“The writer who draws not upon the works and thoughts of others, but upon his own thoughts and his own deep being, will inevitably hit upon common material. The more original his work, the more imperiously recognizable it will be.”
Here she is on symbols and meaning in literature:
“In many college English courses the words “myth” and “symbol” are given a tremendous charge of significance. You just ain’t no good unless you can see a symbol hiding, like a scared gerbil, under every page. And in many creative writing courses the little beasts multiply, the place swarms with them. What does this Mean? What does this Symbolize? What is the Underlying Mythos? Kids come lurching out of such courses with a brain full of gerbils. And they sit down and write a lot of empty pomposity, under the impression that that’s how Melville did it.
Even when they begin to realize that art is not something for critics, but for other human beings, some of them retain the overintellectualizing bent. They still do not realize that a symbol is not a sign of something known, but an indicator of something not known and not expressible otherwise than symbolically. They mistake symbol (living meaning) for allegory (dead equivalence).”
SF (Speculative Fiction) was the realm where nerdish white boys went to dream of swords and D-cups. (Yes, that is very unfair. I must be slandering at least 1 1/2% of my fellow geeks.) Now it's no longer just boys & men but also girls & women who have discovered how much fun you can have in these genres. So give it some time and the whole community, from the bottom up, will change. Some dinosaurs won't - no: don't - like it and they will complain about the newcomers trying to take their swords and D-cups away. We already see that in the world of gaming and comics. One word of advice to the dinosaurs: comet. No, I think it is unlikely a cabal of females will come to your house and slit your throats with magic swords or strangle you with their bras*. You will just become more and more irrelevant. A group of moaning old-timers who are Fantasy & SF's equivalent of the Creation Museum. I don’t care about the gender of the writer; what I care about is the quality of what they write. If it’s crap, I’ll give them hell as I usually do [2018 EDIT: I’m still doing it… there has been no shortage in the last decades of absolutely brilliant women writing SF. There has, however, been a noticeable increase in the number of titles unambiguously written by women. This increase deserves examination. While there are still very good women writing science-fiction and fantasy, I do think that the number of poorly written books being published seems to be increasing. I think the market has expanded, and publishers are less likely to devote resources for editing. The recent surge of women writing means that women are disproportionately affected by that lack of editing. This is particularly true in Fantasy, as opposed to Science-Fiction, as Fantasy allows more discretion over the rules of the Universe (one can always resolve a plot issue through magic, “deus ex deus”, if you will). Science-Fiction requires a higher degree of internal consistency (“Deus-ex-machina” requires a machina, after all). Again, poorer editorship then has a disproportionate effect on the incoming women writers of Fantasy. To be clear, poor editorship effects both genders and both genres, but hits disproportionately against women writing in Fantasy].
NB: (*) Which might actually come as a disappointment to many a hardcore nerd: sorry (Nah. Not really).
NB: Both quotes from the essay “Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction”.
[2018 EDIT: I'm still slightly in shock. Ursula Le Guin was simply one of my favourite writers; a constant companion throughout my reading life. Everything she wrote is worth reading. However perhaps it's worth going beyond these same things that everyone recommends (excellent though they are) to work that people don't read enough or underrate. You could read the Hainish novels. “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Dispossessed” aren't the first of these. City of Illusions (1967) is perhaps the most Taoist of them all, and does provide a kind of underpinning for many of the others. For my money, the novella, “The Word for World is Forest” (1976), is also one of the best: a brilliant anti-colonial eco-political fable. Then there are her short stories. And don’t get me started on Earthsea…]
Show Less
LibraryThing member Andorion
A really quite enlightening read.
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Non-Fiction — 1980)
Language
Original publication date
1979
Physical description
210 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0704342022 / 9780704342026