Le Guin at National Book Awards

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

A fair decision.
He took advantage of the looser editorial climate but he went in a very different direction than the New Wave authors. Different concerns and interests from them. For him the new rules were more a license to tackle taboo subjects such as religion and race with a contrarian approach more than a rebellion against the status quo. He had no interest in going into Ellison/Moorcock territory, he was just happy to lose the old handcuffs. Of course, the lack of fetters led eventually to NUMBER OF THE BEAST but you gotta take the bad with the good. (GLORY ROAD, for one.)

fjtorres, I know this is an off topic side bar, but if you want to read a better take on the last 90 pages (or so) of Glory Road, I strongly suggest Cordwainer Smith's story, On The Sand Planet. Same conceptual musings, but in an elegant story...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

fjtorres, I know this is an off topic side bar, but if you want to read a better take on the last 90 pages (or so) of Glory Road, I strongly suggest Cordwainer Smith's story, On The Sand Planet. Same conceptual musings, but in an elegant story...

Thanks for the tip.
I haven't gotten to it but I'm pretty sure I have it around.

That whole "what does the hero do after saving the world" theme is one of the things that hooked me on Heinlein. (Second book of his I ever read was BEYOND THIS HORIZON. I really identified with his protagonist on that one. )

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Thanks for the tip.
I haven't gotten to it but I'm pretty sure I have it around.

That whole "what does the hero do after saving the world" theme is one of the things that hooked me on Heinlein. (Second book of his I ever read was BEYOND THIS HORIZON. I really identified with his protagonist on that one. )

Duh. They go on talk shows or become sports analysts for one of the major networks!

[taustin]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

As with most lists, I guess I'd like to see some of the "pure entertainment" valued and listed more often (whether from male or female writers). So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by lists or who wins the awards.

It isn't even possible to create an objective list of best writers (or best anything else). Particularly fiction. It's purely objective. The only list you'll ever agree with is your own, and odds are, a week later, you'll disagree with that, too.

As for awards, they say a lot more about the people who give them out than they do about the authors they give them to.

[murg]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I've never claimed to be able to spell or write elegantly. (There are plenty of examples on this board...)

I was just adding Heinlein Mark III. He managed to completely re-invent himself for each era while remaining the same.

Maybe because writing was clearly a job to him, and not a means to becoming a special snowflake (see I brought it back on topic!).

[murg]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Duh. They go on talk shows or become sports analysts for one of the major networks!

And definitely become alcoholics...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Duh. They go on talk shows or become sports analysts for one of the major networks!

Or beltway bandits, but not in Oscar's case.

[QuantumIguana]

Publishers are in the business of selling books, not in curating art. If you want to work with them, they have a degree of power. They can tell you what to change, and drop you if you won't change it. Of course, if you don't want to give them that power, then you can keep that power for yourself and self-publish. Your choice.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by tompe

Very absurd. And among the absurd things is accusing her of wanting to sell her own books. She was talking about art and arts place in society.

I agree. If she wanted to sell her books she would write interesting ones.

[Nabeel]

Back to those damn lists: I think if one was to draw a list of writers who could dramatize political themes in fiction effectively, then - on the basis of three or four of her works - Le Guin would have to come near the top.

I'd also include Tolstoy and Victor Serge in that list.

It is a rare gift, and in her best works, Le Guin demonstrated it.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Nabeel

Back to those damn lists: I think if one was to draw a list of writers who could dramatize political themes in fiction effectively, then - on the basis of three or four of her works - Le Guin would have to come near the top.

I'd also include Tolstoy and Victor Serge in that list.

It is a rare gift, and in her best works, Le Guin demonstrated it.

Ayn Rand?

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Nabeel

Back to those damn lists: I think if one was to draw a list of writers who could dramatize political themes in fiction effectively, then - on the basis of three or four of her works - Le Guin would have to come near the top.

I'd also include Tolstoy and Victor Serge in that list.

It is a rare gift, and in her best works, Le Guin demonstrated it.

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Ayn Rand?

George Orwell?
Heinlein (when he isn't being a perv)?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Phogg

George Orwell?
Heinlein (when he isn't being a perv)?

Dickens' Tale of Two Cities. This is one I really should read but never have.

Arthur Koestler.

And a boatload of Soviet dissedent writers from Solzhenitsyn on down. I used to read them with fascination when the Soviet Union existed, but lost some interest when the novels become purely, or mostly, of historical interest.

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Ayn Rand?

I read her books when I was very young; I thought they were literary romance novels. Later, when I began to understand them, I was horrified.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I read her books when I was very young; I thought they were literary romance novels. Later, when I began to understand them, I was horrified.

Not an uncommon experience with Rand. Though many would substitute "embarrassed" for "horrified."