Always Coming Home (California Fiction)
by Ursula K. LeGuin
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Read in June, 2008
There are few books I have read, none of them being fiction until now, that have required such a concerted effort of study on my part to even read through the book.
If it wasn't Ursula... I doubt I would have bothered. But it was, and I did, and of course it was well worth the effort.
The woman has created an entire culture. I don't know when I will have enough time to create an entire culture in my own head and then write a novel about it, but the fact that another woman had the time and...more
If it wasn't Ursula... I doubt I would have bothered. But it was, and I did, and of course it was well worth the effort.
The woman has created an entire culture. I don't know when I will have enough time to create an entire culture in my own head and then write a novel about it, but the fact that another woman had the time and...more
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A gift to the reader, a gentle and wise book that is Le Guin's most personal, her most daring, probably her best yet. She is among the half-dozen most respected American writers who regularly set their narrative in the future to force a dialogue with the here and now, a dialogue generally called science fiction. She is also a much-loved writer. Always Coming Home is a slow, rich read, full of what one loves most in her work: a liberal utopian vision, rendered far more complex than the te...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
transhumanists
Although I found the poetry boring and could not really appreciate the format, this book highlighted some of the assumptions of my thinking about the future. I continually forget to examine how to actually live life in my frantic attempts to bring about the singularity. Always Coming Home examines (albeit a little too indirectly for my tastes) what happens to the other half of the human species after the split. I habitually focus on those of us that merge with technology and move forward in e...more
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recommends it for:
people with a shitload of patience
There's not real story here, just a collection of anthropological data about a native group on the north coast of California: myths, songs, diagrams for the layout of kivas and villages, descriptions of tribal roles and clan structures, calanders and descriptions of dances, poems, cautionary tales, lists of what foods are eaten when and how they are prepared.
Here's the thing: This culture doesn't exist. LeGuin, as only she can, has created this culture and all it's artifacts for the purpo...more
Here's the thing: This culture doesn't exist. LeGuin, as only she can, has created this culture and all it's artifacts for the purpo...more
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recommends it for:
Anthropologists, anthropology students
Don't know how to classify this once except that an exceptionally fine author has created a whole culture--poems, music, plays, myth cycles, language and alphabet, recipes, rants by the disaffected, ..name it--including musical instruments which were built just so they could be played, after she described and drew them. The CD's can still be found, I'm told--and I've been looking for years on the basis of reading this book.
Also disguised as science fiction at times, and may sometimes be fou...more
Also disguised as science fiction at times, and may sometimes be fou...more
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This is an absolutely brilliant utopian piece which clearly demonstates author's skill and intelligence. That said, not all of it actually works. It must be said that it is less a novel and more an anthropological study of a fictional society. Much of it is wonderful (the main story, the myths and legends), but I found myself skipping other parts (the poetry, most of the background discussion). I commend Le Guin for her efforts, and was many times amazed, but I longed for more narrative and ...more
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An anthropological study of a fictional culture, the Kesh. This lovely book contains their myths, their poetry, their drama, their personal narratives, descriptions of customs, notes on their language, wonderful illustrations and maps, and the edition I checked out from my library even comes with an audio cassette tape with recordings of their music (and it's actually pretty weird and fascinating). This may be the nerdiest thing I've ever touched but I'm not complaining.
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This is my favorite of Ursula LeGuin's works. She creates an entire culture with it's own songs, customs, poetry, architechture. Most currently popular science fiction books are just wild west shoot-'em-ups in space. LeGuin's writing transcends the category. The characters are deeply developed and the stories are more personal. Her writing takes the reader outside our world and gives an opportunity to reflect on our own culture from a new perspective.
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Read in June, 2008
I was kind of disappointed... maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but I found it dragging a bit. It is a very creative idea for a novel (and ethnology of a nonexistent society), and she does it well, but I could have gotten the same feel for the culture with less. She builds up a nice stock of metaphors, but I thought it ended up feeling forced and repetitive partway through. This confirms my belief that U.K.L. is best at short stories.
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"Always Coming Home" is anthropological study of the future... a really interesting proposition. Le Guin worked it by alternating "fiction" with "anthropological information like poems, history, family structures descriptions". What is fiction/fact? I especially appreciated the description of california of the far far future, as i sit here in the midwest.
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Read in September, 2007
Without a doubt, the most inventive form of the utopian novel that I've ever come across. Though calling it a utopian novel is hardly accurate, since Le Guin's vision of the future is hardly idyll. It's really more of a warning and a prayer. Simply a beautiful, beautiful book, and one that expands the idea of what's possible between two covers.
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Read in May, 1995
recommends it for:
Everyone!
I've re-read this book. It is not one single story, but many. Not one single poem, but a collection. Not one single song, but a chorus. It is as much about ethics and philosophy as it is about daily life. As much about nature and our place in it, as it is about our place next to each other.
Brilliant writing. Simply brilliant.
Brilliant writing. Simply brilliant.
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this could be my favorite book...it is definitely one of the best of the specualtive genre, and one of Le Guin best as well. It reminds me that fiction, when done well can be more illuminating that fact. Would that my 'social science' were as partial and insightful as this book!
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If you liked the Earthsea trilogy then you will like this. If you haven't read the Earthsea trilogy then read this and that. Just a master writer who weaves a great story that will make you think
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One of my favorites from LeGuin. The world she's created is intriguing and her approach of describing through storie makes for a wonderful read.
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Mind bending science fiction, future human civilization, nirvana. Does not read linearly. Literally changes the way you think.
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Read in August, 2008
An intriguing effort that all the same proved more esoteric in most of its sections than my range of interest encompassed.
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Ursula K Leguin using all her experience, anthropology, and wisdom to illustrate a warmer view of how to be a human being.
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Ursula Le Guin is one of the most uneven good writers I know. This book is unreadable.
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