Ursula K Leguin has just passed away, a great loss to the world of literature. What was your favorite work of hers?

That’s a loss I feel sharply. I’m not much for picking favorites (of anything), but The Left Hand of Darkness is certainly among those I remember and liked best. I also loved the Earthsea Trilogy and Lathe of Heaven and The Dispossessed and, well, many more.

Probably The Left Hand of Darkness !

I’ve never read her. A couple of times a year I hear the name and I would like her.

The Left Hand of Darkness is in my “for later” list in my library account. Zero copies available, all checked out. Even the e-book.

I’ll get to it.

Though I share Le Guin’s interest in Taoism I have never read one of her books. I meant to read the “Left Hand of Darkness” almost 50 years ago but never got around to it.

I did read her remarks on Donald Trump which appeared on her blog last year and which I thought I would share. It finishes with these words…

“He is entirely a creature of the media. He is a media golem. If you take the camera and mike off him, if you take your attention off him, nothing is left — mud.

— UKL
21 February 2017”

I love The Lathe Of Heaven.
In an obituary for her, it was said the 1980 tv movies was the only filmed version she liked.

I was sad to hear this and have been thinking about it since.

I read her Annals of the Western Shore trilogy when I was 14/15. It’s been long enough now that I don’t remember much but the vaguest contour of the books, and that I really liked them. There was a bit of a story behind how I wound up reading them. They’re on my list to re-read at some point…

In my senior year English class, we read “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” a short story of hers. (An online PDF here if you’re interested). I remember it in particular because at first I was surprised to recognize her name, and then because the class discussion left me incensed. From what I remember, most of the class had bought into the premise of Omelas, nodding their heads somberly and saying the setup was necessary, the trade-off was worth it. And I just kept going back to, “but the story’s called the ones who walk away.”

I’m reading The Lathe Of Heaven now. Her writing is beautiful.

Often I will pick up a popular author and be shocked how clumsy they are. This one is surprising for the quality.