I have been re-reading…

I have been re-reading Le Guin -- stories from The Compass Rose, and yesterday, "The Dispossessed." I picked them up again because in class one of the students commented on liking the opening to TD, and so I looked at it again, and oh yes, that wall opening is lovely. And then I was hooked, and kept reading, even though I had a dozen other things I should have been doing instead.

While reading, I came to a funny discovery -- I think Le Guin, well, primed me for Kevin, is perhaps the best way of putting it. I read TD long before I met Kevin, when I was in high school, I think. And the protagonist, Shevek, is wonderful -- a physicist, smart and ethical and interesting. I don't know that I really fell in love with him, the way I did with some other characters in books, but I certainly liked him a lot.

So here I was yesterday, reading this book again after twenty years, and realizing with every page how much Kevin is like Shevek. Not just in the mathematician/physicist similarities, but in character as well. Reading the book made me feel all warm and fuzzy about Kev. So I think I might be able to lay my falling in love with Kevin all those years ago a little bit at Le Guin's door. I ought to write her a thank-you note. :-)

3 thoughts on “I have been re-reading…”

  1. I know exactly what you mean. I first read Dune at age 10, and then reread it, years later…and realized how much my idea of the perfect man was formed from reading about Duke Leto and Paul. 😉 Not sure I’d agree about “perfect,” still, but I am still in love with them both!

  2. 🙂 🙂 You totally ought to write her a thank-you note. I bet she’d be pleased.

    Oddly, The Dispossessed has never been among my favorites of hers, despite the anarchist society. The opening bit about the wall is great, though. …I think I preferred the short story “The Day Before the Revolution,” about the woman who’s called “Odo” in Dispossessed.

  3. You really should write her a thank you note. I wrote Oprah a thank you note and the next thing I know, I was sitting on her front row in reserved seats with our names on them.

    You never know what can result from a thank you. It could be the thing she needs that day to make it through.

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