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From Elfland to Poughkeepsie
31 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1973
343 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,050 books31k 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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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 12, 2022
I read this in Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. I decided to read it after it was mentioned by a reviewer in their review about a recent fantasy book that had...a lot of problems.
In this essay, Ursula K. Le Guin tackles a problem plaguing fantasy writers in her time--sadly it still goes on today. That problem is that writers are still writing like they're in Poughkeepsie when they should be in Elfland. In laymen's terms, there is no wonder and no dedication to making it seem like we're in an actual fantasy world. The world doesn't feel real.
As an aspiring SFF writer, I worry about this daily. Do I sound authentic? Is my world believable, not only in terms of worldbuilding, but in what my characters see and how they interact with it? Does it look like I've shown my work? Not to shamelessly self-promote, but I so have a YA sci-fi short story due out (if all goes well) in 2023 and I fear if my first impression in the SFF world will be good or not.
While not a How To guide, Le Guin details some important facts about writing in fantasy that can really help new and aspiring writers. She essentially repeats, though in more detail, about what J.R.R. Tolkien said about entering the secondary world (and even cites him) and what Angela Carter said about the writer entering a contract with the reader. If you're going to writer fantasy, especially high or epic fantasy, take it seriously!
Make sure your writing feels like fantasy, don't describe the world and your characters' quests with mundane, everyday language. Don't let your characters speak commonly. To some, this will all sound bare minimum, but you would not believe how many writers suffer from all of this. This is an example, but is it not a harsh criticism, but I was watching the The Legend of Vox Machina the other day and a certain bit of dialogue came back to me while reading this. I have not completed The Legend of Vox Machina yet, but I do find it enjoyable and utterly hilarious. In one scene, the group (sans Pike) travel to Percy's homeland to confront the Briarwoods, and Vex'ahlia mentions Percy's "Resting bitch face." It was funny, but as I was reading this it got me thinking. Now, I know the show is meant to be an irreverent take on fantasy role-playing and irreverence usually eschews the rule, BUT as Le Guin herself mentions this jerks us back and forth between Elfland and Poughkeepsie. Even if you have humor in your fantasy, you can still draw upon your craft of writing and the language of your fantasy world to make genuine good humor. Just slapping a common jargon phrase cheapens it a little.
Le Guin cites several authors who are inspiring for good fantasy writing: Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and and Kenneth Morris. She comments on how their writing and language fits neatly into their worlds and draws readers into Elfland. There's no remnants of Poughkeepsie or the regular world in their books. But as Le Guin warns, you can't just simply copy or imitate their styles. You can't just write floridly, talk like an old timey Englishman, or use big words on a whim. Don't just try to make your writing look and sound pretty. Ask yourself how you're utilizing it and if you're still able to tell your story when you use it.
Now, what stops me from rating this a full five stars is that I think that Le Guin could've gotten to the point quicker. It does feel like there's some extra padding here, but this is a really great essay!
In this essay, Ursula K. Le Guin tackles a problem plaguing fantasy writers in her time--sadly it still goes on today. That problem is that writers are still writing like they're in Poughkeepsie when they should be in Elfland. In laymen's terms, there is no wonder and no dedication to making it seem like we're in an actual fantasy world. The world doesn't feel real.
As an aspiring SFF writer, I worry about this daily. Do I sound authentic? Is my world believable, not only in terms of worldbuilding, but in what my characters see and how they interact with it? Does it look like I've shown my work? Not to shamelessly self-promote, but I so have a YA sci-fi short story due out (if all goes well) in 2023 and I fear if my first impression in the SFF world will be good or not.
While not a How To guide, Le Guin details some important facts about writing in fantasy that can really help new and aspiring writers. She essentially repeats, though in more detail, about what J.R.R. Tolkien said about entering the secondary world (and even cites him) and what Angela Carter said about the writer entering a contract with the reader. If you're going to writer fantasy, especially high or epic fantasy, take it seriously!
Make sure your writing feels like fantasy, don't describe the world and your characters' quests with mundane, everyday language. Don't let your characters speak commonly. To some, this will all sound bare minimum, but you would not believe how many writers suffer from all of this. This is an example, but is it not a harsh criticism, but I was watching the The Legend of Vox Machina the other day and a certain bit of dialogue came back to me while reading this. I have not completed The Legend of Vox Machina yet, but I do find it enjoyable and utterly hilarious. In one scene, the group (sans Pike) travel to Percy's homeland to confront the Briarwoods, and Vex'ahlia mentions Percy's "Resting bitch face." It was funny, but as I was reading this it got me thinking. Now, I know the show is meant to be an irreverent take on fantasy role-playing and irreverence usually eschews the rule, BUT as Le Guin herself mentions this jerks us back and forth between Elfland and Poughkeepsie. Even if you have humor in your fantasy, you can still draw upon your craft of writing and the language of your fantasy world to make genuine good humor. Just slapping a common jargon phrase cheapens it a little.
Le Guin cites several authors who are inspiring for good fantasy writing: Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and and Kenneth Morris. She comments on how their writing and language fits neatly into their worlds and draws readers into Elfland. There's no remnants of Poughkeepsie or the regular world in their books. But as Le Guin warns, you can't just simply copy or imitate their styles. You can't just write floridly, talk like an old timey Englishman, or use big words on a whim. Don't just try to make your writing look and sound pretty. Ask yourself how you're utilizing it and if you're still able to tell your story when you use it.
Now, what stops me from rating this a full five stars is that I think that Le Guin could've gotten to the point quicker. It does feel like there's some extra padding here, but this is a really great essay!
March 12, 2022
In this essay, Le Guin argues that style is what separates a real fantasy story from a fake. There is an interesting insight here, but it feels a bit shallow.
This essay is short, but still feels padded. The main idea - "style is what separates fantasy from non-fantasy" - repeats multiple times with different variations, without adding anything of importance.
Another problem is that Le Guin is a fantasy author first and foremost, and therefore sees the entire world through this singular lens. It is the same narrowness that leads people to view the world only through that which they have mastered themselves: for a physicist, the world is physics; for a writer, the world is a story; and as an old high-school joke demonstrates, "the entire world is introduction to Spanish". But it isn't. Fantasy is not the king of all stories, and the style Le Guin likes is not the one and only style worth writing in.
She betrays this narrowness in an example: she claims that a hero would never say "I told you so". I agree that a hero is unlikely to say this, but why the absolute claim? Le Guin then gives an example of a fantasy hero who says something similar, but claims that this example is different because there are good reasons for him to say it. This voluntary blindness reveals her intentions - not to find something true, but to look for evidence for what she already believes.
This essay is short, but still feels padded. The main idea - "style is what separates fantasy from non-fantasy" - repeats multiple times with different variations, without adding anything of importance.
Another problem is that Le Guin is a fantasy author first and foremost, and therefore sees the entire world through this singular lens. It is the same narrowness that leads people to view the world only through that which they have mastered themselves: for a physicist, the world is physics; for a writer, the world is a story; and as an old high-school joke demonstrates, "the entire world is introduction to Spanish". But it isn't. Fantasy is not the king of all stories, and the style Le Guin likes is not the one and only style worth writing in.
She betrays this narrowness in an example: she claims that a hero would never say "I told you so". I agree that a hero is unlikely to say this, but why the absolute claim? Le Guin then gives an example of a fantasy hero who says something similar, but claims that this example is different because there are good reasons for him to say it. This voluntary blindness reveals her intentions - not to find something true, but to look for evidence for what she already believes.
January 17, 2021
an interesting, thought-provoking read. i don't necessarily agree 100% -- i think the fantasy genre has expanded a little too far & in too many directions to say that anything less than perfect formal prose is fantasy -- but also like. she's not wrong lmfao. people have gotten very lazy & it's easy to tell.
February 4, 2023
”And lastly I believe that the reader has a responsibilty; if he loves the stuff he reads, he has a duty toward it. That duty is to refuse to be fooled; to refuse to permit commercial exploitation of the holy ground of Myth; to reject shoddy work, and to save his praise for the real thing. Because when fantasy is the real thing, nothing, after all, is realer.”
hmm i both agree and disagree with this essay . i think fantasy authors should definitely consider the intricacies of contructing a new world ( ostensibly ) and reject the idea of producing work that is perfunctory , though le guin regards the ‘right’ of being a fantasy author with such gravity that it is a bit distasteful .
u can tell that every corner of le guin is dedicated to her craft , though that extreme reverence can be kind of off - putting and can read as pretentious . essentially , she communicates that if you do not adhere to her extensive outlook on the myriad ways of creating a work of fantasy , you are commiting an act of sacrilege . of course , she does not actually say that , and her ferocity is born from passion , though i cannot help but think hey , what if i just want to write a cute little story with vampires ? why does that make me any less of a fantasy writer !
but it is true that authors aim to publish these ornate , fantastical stories made in plains that home elves and gnomes and all kinds of mystical creatures , but only scratch the surface at the true potential of their story . theyre shooting themselves in the foot and it is hard to notice you could do better , sometimes , when you can still say that you produced a piece of work . you still , technically , produced a fantasy . and so it is for essays like this to serve as a wake - up call for authors as they are the only things large enough to make them listen to reason .
so yeah , idk what to think . 3.5 .
hmm i both agree and disagree with this essay . i think fantasy authors should definitely consider the intricacies of contructing a new world ( ostensibly ) and reject the idea of producing work that is perfunctory , though le guin regards the ‘right’ of being a fantasy author with such gravity that it is a bit distasteful .
u can tell that every corner of le guin is dedicated to her craft , though that extreme reverence can be kind of off - putting and can read as pretentious . essentially , she communicates that if you do not adhere to her extensive outlook on the myriad ways of creating a work of fantasy , you are commiting an act of sacrilege . of course , she does not actually say that , and her ferocity is born from passion , though i cannot help but think hey , what if i just want to write a cute little story with vampires ? why does that make me any less of a fantasy writer !
but it is true that authors aim to publish these ornate , fantastical stories made in plains that home elves and gnomes and all kinds of mystical creatures , but only scratch the surface at the true potential of their story . theyre shooting themselves in the foot and it is hard to notice you could do better , sometimes , when you can still say that you produced a piece of work . you still , technically , produced a fantasy . and so it is for essays like this to serve as a wake - up call for authors as they are the only things large enough to make them listen to reason .
so yeah , idk what to think . 3.5 .
November 9, 2022
Everything she says here applies 100% to the present state of fantasy writing. I wish she could have witnessed Maasification and spoken on it. Also Lightlark.
February 23, 2019
Leguin's classic essay on the importance of style, the dangers in going about it the wrong way, and its use in fantasy.
(Interesting to remember the era -- she speaks of the increasing availability of fantasy, in the midst of sparseness that readers who know only today know nothing of.)
(Interesting to remember the era -- she speaks of the increasing availability of fantasy, in the midst of sparseness that readers who know only today know nothing of.)
February 6, 2023
"What is fantasy? [...] It is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprahending and coping with existence."
An essay on the importance of style when it comes to writing fantasy. Very worth reading (:
An essay on the importance of style when it comes to writing fantasy. Very worth reading (:
August 16, 2019
I read this essay in The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ursula K. Le Guin takes her work as a writer of fantasy very seriously, and it is because of this she is so renowned and respected.
May 30, 2019
"When fantasy is the real thing, nothing, after all, is realler." (P. 28)
September 4, 2023
Finally read Le Guin’s famous essay on the importance of style, especially in writing fantasy where you rely totally on the writer’s vision of their new world. This article dates back to the 1970s but is still thought-provoking, even if all the points made don’t exactly fit our current situation. It has reminded me that I want to read more from this seminal author.
March 12, 2026
the reader has a duty to refuse to be AFOOLED! i stand by this, these romance writers need to get in line.
October 2, 2010
This little volume consists of a speech Ursula K. Le Guin gave in 1972 to the second annual Science Fiction Writers' Workshop, with an introduction by Vonda McIntyre. I'm not a huge fan of "how to write" books and courses, but everything I've read on the topic by Ursula Le Guin has been pertinent, humane, and beautifully written.[return][return]Here, she looks at the importance of style to fantasy, in transporting us away from Poughkeepsie and into Elfland. She illustrates the lecture with both good and bad examples of fantasy style. The speech takes ten minutes to read and contains more good advice for writers - not just fantasy writers - than many a book that takes fifty times longer.
May 9, 2013
An essay arguing that the most essential part of Fantasy is the language, for in the language you could easily discern the writer's style.
"The style, of course, is the book. If you remove the cake, all you have left is a recipe. If you remove the style, all you have left is a synopsis of the plot" - Ursula K. Le Guin
"The style, of course, is the book. If you remove the cake, all you have left is a recipe. If you remove the style, all you have left is a synopsis of the plot" - Ursula K. Le Guin
August 2, 2015
Ojalá todo escritor que pretenda escribir Fantasía leyera este ensayo. Yo mismo debí leerlo mucho tiempo atrás.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews