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50th out of 50 books
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15 voters
The Wave in the Mind: Talks & Essays on the Writer, the Reader & the Imagination
Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. With her customary wit, intelligence, and literary craftsmanship, she offers a diverse and highly engaging set of readings. The Wave in the Mind includes some of Le Guin's finest literary criticism, rare autobiographical wri...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
February 17th 2004
by Shambhala
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Jan 24, 2008
Claire
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of Ursula K. Le Guin; all readers and writers
Shelves:
read-again
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...more
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 i...more
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I am becoming interested in poetry. I like her poetry and would like to read more of it. There are two poems in this book of essays. It isn't a book of poetry.
This book is full of the kind of stuff I like to read. She speaks of anthropology, the ethics of use, how women are (or rather, are not) proportionally represented in the issuance of book awards. She speaks of the connection between fact and truth. She speaks through her writing. She speaks about writing.
Le Guin is primarily a story teller...more
This book is full of the kind of stuff I like to read. She speaks of anthropology, the ethics of use, how women are (or rather, are not) proportionally represented in the issuance of book awards. She speaks of the connection between fact and truth. She speaks through her writing. She speaks about writing.
Le Guin is primarily a story teller...more
Ursula LeGuin strikes me as the kind of woman it would be fascinating to have a chance to chat with. Her writing here is personal, personable, at times witty, and always wise.
I haven't read much of Ms Le Guin's fiction yet, though after this I certainly have a lot of respect for her and for the way she thinks. I liked most of the essays in this collection, especially "Dogs, Cats, and Dancers: Thoughts About Beauty", though I was frustrated with her gender-related essays. They tended to focus exclusively on cisgendered men and women, when there's so much more to gender than that. Considering Ms Le Guin is the author of one of the more interesting fictional accounts of...more
Review to come.
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The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Have you ever been reading a novel, fiction, and gotten excited when a character started talking about a book you like? You get a snippet of awesome, in which the character mentions that book, and makes a comment on it (maybe a long one), and that’s it. And though it was just the character’s opinion, you just know the author is behind that statement, she’s read the book, s...more
~~~~
The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Have you ever been reading a novel, fiction, and gotten excited when a character started talking about a book you like? You get a snippet of awesome, in which the character mentions that book, and makes a comment on it (maybe a long one), and that’s it. And though it was just the character’s opinion, you just know the author is behind that statement, she’s read the book, s...more
This is a collection of essays and talks on writing, stories, literacy, oral traditions, and UKL's approach to the craft of writing. I found it really interesting. She's so intelligent and real. She's a great person, I think. I feel related to her and would love to be like her. To me her stories have been sound spiritual nourishment since I was a girl. Maybe that's why I feel related to her, because she's taught me like a mother or an aunt for all of my life. Highly recommended for fans of UKL.
I had forgotten, before reading this, how much LeGuin focuses on gender issues. My word. However, there were a few essays in here that I really enjoyed, and two of them,"Stress-Rhythm in Poetry and Prose" and "Rhythmic Pattern in The Lord of the Rings," were so new and thought-provoking for me that they justified a four star rating and made me feel that my money and time were well invested in this book. "Dogs, Cats, and Dancers" and a couple of the essays in the Writing section were also good.
An inspiring collection of essays on reading, writing, and social justice — Le Guin's geeky, syllable-counting fascination with the rhythm of writing, thoughtful point of view, love of storytelling, and audible passion for her craft becomes infectious. Under her tutelage, the decision to sit at the keyboard and write, even on a beckoning sunny day, seems perfectly rational, fun and undeniable.
Le Guin discusses and admires the works of authors including: Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse), Jane A...more
Le Guin discusses and admires the works of authors including: Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse), Jane A...more
The chapter "Talking is listening" awakens in me a deep nostalgia for oral culture, a sense of how much we have lost by communicating digitally rather than using our ears, our voices, our bodies, and our capacity for mutual entrainment.
I want to talk with someone about this book!
I want to talk with someone about this book!
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of essays. Le Guin has a brilliant mind and has really some wonderful insights. Her feelings about libraries mirror my own, and I felt right at home with her as I read it. This is a great book!
Have read portions of this collection of essays. I primarily recommend the article (whose name I can't remember) on orality, literacy, and "getting in synch"-- not quite academic caliber, but a very good job of introducing the "lay" reader to some cool thoughts and observations relating to my own field. I usually have my reading and composition students read that essay at the beginning of the semester to get them thinking about the original milieu for the texts we read, during a time of "transit...more
A mixed bag of essays. My favorites were "Things Not Actually Present: On the Book of Fantasy and J.L. Borges" and "The Question I Get Asked Most Often".
As always, excellent thoughts from Le Guin. One to go on the shelf and be reread.
The (very) few performance art pieces don't come across so well in print; sometimes the feminism rings a little too loud and I really want to (uselessly, comically) debate her in defense of Tolstoy’s Natasha, but: the essays, and the whole, are just fantastic.
This is a writer who gets it. The fact that every book you open has the power to change your life.
“We force the world to be coherent— to tell us a story. Not only fiction writers do this; we all do it; we do it constantly, continually, in o...more
This is a writer who gets it. The fact that every book you open has the power to change your life.
“We force the world to be coherent— to tell us a story. Not only fiction writers do this; we all do it; we do it constantly, continually, in o...more
Apr 26, 2012
Rose
marked it as to-read
How the heck did I not know this book existed? *adds to to-read list*
I didn't really expect to enjoy this book very much. Reading essays isn't my thing, even from Le Guin. But I was pleasantly surprised. The essays are on a range of topics -- personal experience, the writing process, other people's writing. I was very interested in her various references to rhythms, and actually found myself watching for and listening for the kind of rhythms she talks about. "Introducing Myself" and "Taken for Granite" are both interesting and witty, as well as being serious, and...more
Better than her fiction.
So many excellent essays. Some didn't catch me, but "A Matter of Trust" has made it into my personal files.
Interesting series of esssays by LeGuin. I had no idea that her parents were involved with Ishi. I'll have to give this one another go later since I only made it halfway through before the library wanted it back (pout). I'll come back to it after the New Year though.
Ursula K. Le Guin's collection of essays, The Wave in the Mind, is for anyone interested in writing, in words, in feminism, in family, in stories. She writes like an angel, but a grounded angel full of sly and puckish wit.
This is basically an English Literature 101 class stuffed into one book, and Le Guin is the kind of teacher I wish I could've had -- her knowledge is vast and her love of language is infectious.
That was fun! :)
My favorite essays were Dogs, Cats, and Dancers; collectors, Rhymmesters and Drummers; Unquestioned Assumpions, and that cool poetry thing at the end.
My favorite essays were Dogs, Cats, and Dancers; collectors, Rhymmesters and Drummers; Unquestioned Assumpions, and that cool poetry thing at the end.
I am enjoying this collection of essays and whatnot from LeGuin. It is my first time reading her work,and I expect it won't be the last.Amusing at times,poignant,sharp...
The essays in this book, as with most of LeGuin's non-fiction gave me so many "aha" moments! This writer is amazing.
I'm very slowly working through this collection of essays from one of my favorite thinkers. What a remarkable mind!
This was SO wonderful. Le Guin writing about all sorts of things. Amusing, insightful, thought-provoking.
Aug 28, 2008
Andy Hamilton
added it
totally awesome
May 19, 2013
Eric Clapp
is currently reading it
May 11, 2013
Claire Corbett
marked it as to-read
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As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one 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. Forthcoming...more
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