I have this (bad) habit of reading ahead in books that I study in my classes, and of course, LHoD was no exception. To try and thwart this habit at the beginning of the semester (because having people throw things at you when you accidently spill something that the remainder of the class hasn't gotten to yet is never fun), I attempted to appease myself by reading the introduction and be satisfied with just that, despite the fact that I rarely read introductions.
I am so very glad that I did.
Le Guin's introduction was mind-blowing. While it was centred around LHoD and SF in general, she made some very interesting statements about books, reading, and being a writer. Fortunately for me, I found all of those subjects to be quite interesting.
"In fact, while we read a novel, we are insane - bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren't there, we hear their voices, we watch the battle of Borodino with them, we may even become Napoleon. Sanity returns (in most cases) when the book is closed.
Is it any wonder that no truly respectable society has ever trusted its artists?" (pg xiv, Ace Book 1969 edition)
Reading this, it truly struck home with me. The number of times when I've been reading something so intensely that I become involved with what I'm reading is far too high for me to count. A truly good author can make me hear their voice and the voices of their characters. ringing in my head while I am reading. Being able to completely submerge myself in a completely different world is one of the many reasons why I love to read. Le Guin phrases these feelings about reading perfectly. She is so matter-of-fact about the insanity that is reading, completely legitimizing the feeling that anyone else might be ashamed to admit or shy away from. Her sassy comments actually made me laugh out loud, though every word that she wrote was obviously chosen with a specific intent in mind. Le Guin knows how to make her point and makes them well. I highly enjoyed the way that she touched on the societal view of artists. While her question may have been phrased in a very cavalier way, it lingers with you, as many rhetorical questions do. How many societies do honour their artists? Not ours, given the number of "drop-out-of-school-and-be-a-starving-artist" jokes I've heard. Hmm. It's also interesting to see how disparaging she appears to be to artists, being one herself. Is it any wonder that no truly respectable society has ever trusted its artists?" (pg xiv, Ace Book 1969 edition)
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.
The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." (pg xvi)
The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." (pg xvi)
Wow. Just... wow. This should be every fiction writer's inspiration. Le Guin is once again hitting the nail smack down on the head. In just three sentences (or if you really need to cut it down, just one), she has managed to encapsulate an artist's (and specifically, an novelist's) entire purpose, and why what they do is so difficult, yet important. This is one of the main reasons why I've struggled with writing fiction. I will often have ideas that I want to convey in my writing, yet am unable to do so without them being far too obvious or completely ambigious. But it is also why I will write.
All in all, I really loved Le Guin's introduction.
-J
All in all, I really loved Le Guin's introduction.
-J
