Retro Review: No Time to Spare
/When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.
5 stars. "I’ve never liked the word blog—I suppose it is meant to stand for bio-log or something like that, but it sounds like a sodden tree trunk in a bog, or maybe an obstruction in the nasal passage (Oh, she talks that way because she has such terrible blogs in her nose)."
Ursula K. Le Guin had a blog. Ursula K. Le Guin had a blog. That simple statement to me epitomizes her intelligence, attitude, and love of writing. The fact that she recognized and tried a new form of writing - in her eighties - makes her a revolutionary figure. A charming, witty revolutionary figure. And holy moly, she was so wise.
No Time to Spare is terrific. It's informal, but not sloppy. Le Guin is funny, sharp, deeply observant, and wonderful to read. She includes anecdotes, insights, musings, and more. I felt keenly her love of words and writing and literature and storytelling and poetry and questions and themes and mystery and birds and cats. I wish I had never finished it. I wish she had never finished. I adore her advice and intelligence. I will probably return to this every year - as often as I can, more likely - to learn from her.
I recommend this collection for cat-lovers, story-lovers, and grin-lovers. By that I mean, people who love to grin. But it isn't all stories and smiles. There are pointy passages about politics and history and human nature. By weaving threads of anger and fear throughout her words, Le Guin emerges as more than a skilled author. She's a kindred spirit, a wise sage, Grandmother Willow. A perceptive, grasping, sensible champion. She will be missed.