Book Review: Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing is a fine book with one big problem: there's not enough distance between the covers. This is more a starter, an appetizer, a teaser to get you interested in the noted science fiction writer, who was more than science fiction. Conversations on Writing is a transcription of three interviews Le Guin did with David Naimon on KBOO radio in Portland, Oregon. Each interview focused on a different topic: Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction. An added benefit (and to make the book longer) is that excerpts from various works cited are included. In her introduction Le Guin says what she really likes to do in interviews is "talk shop." I respectfully disagree. What she likes to talk about is ideas, about anything, all kinds of ideas. It's refreshing and energizing to listen to someone with an open, questing mind, discussing a wide range of topics. She has a mind like a pinball machine. For example, as a writing instructor, she suggests two of my favorite techniques: (1) as an exercise, write excluding all adjectives and adverbs; (2) another exercise is to take a written piece and make it half as long. Le Guin once wrote that she saw her stories "as an exploration, a voyage of discovery resulting in something I didn't know before I wrote it." For that, you need to read more of Le Guin and there's just not enough here. This is an engaging and enriching book, but won't change your life. Let's hope everyone who reads Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing will go on to read at least two more of her books, in any genre. [3★]
No comments:
Post a Comment