Review by Booklist Review
In her introduction to this volume, Le Guin states that the good interview is a conversation between people who have thought about what they're talking about. That's a perfect description of this thoughtful collection of three lengthy interviews or, better said, conversations conducted by David Naimon, host of the radio show and podcast Between the Covers in Portland, Oregon. The conversations are divided into three sections, with Le Guin discussing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. All three are illuminating and thought-provoking as they range from such specific considerations of fiction as point of view, grammar, tense, and rhythm the last of which speaks equally to her poetry and nonfiction to larger concerns that might be described as philosophical (though Le Guin modestly says she has real trouble with that discipline). More than once, she says this needs thinking about, a statement that can be applied to these conversations as a whole, which challenge readers to think about what is being said. What I really like to do, Le Guin states, is talk shop. Readers are privileged to listen while she does.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Originating in three interviews that short-story author Naimon conducted with SF stalwart Le Guin (The Found and the Lost) for the radio show Between the Covers, this book is an enlightening conversation about the writing process. Both authors adopt the tone of artisans discussing their craft, and each's delight at debating with a like-minded professional is evident throughout. Le Guin stresses the importance of knowing grammatical rules, arguing that to write "anything, you've got to have the tools to make it." Naimon, clearly well versed in Le Guin's work, connects their discussion of language to her novels The Dispossessed, about an "anarchist utopia" with no possessive pronouns, and The Left Hand of Darkness, about an alien race without any fixed gender. Le Guin picks her words and subjects carefully, expositing boldly on writing as an inherently political act (an insight she traces back to George Orwell) and on Margaret Atwood's discomfort with labeling her work science fiction, while shutting down conversations on subjects she feels less able to speak to, such as self-publishing. Her expansive knowledge of the SF genre provides, most strikingly, a sharp perspective on how its female practitioners have too often been forgotten in favor of their male contemporaries. Her rapport with Naimon results in an exchange that is both informative and charming. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
After her fiery 2014 acceptance speech for the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards, the late sf/fantasy novelist Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness) experienced what she describes as her "whole fifteen minutes" of fame. The literature community and readers alike quickly responded to reaffirm her acclaimed career as an author and applaud her voice as a public literary intellectual. The interviews that took place between her and Naimon (of the literary radio show/podcast Between the Covers) thereafter focus on the author's work and its influences but often expand to both writing and life in more general terms. Naimon is a well-prepared interviewer and asks compelling questions, as the two seem instantly at ease with each other. In light of Le Guin's recent passing, their conversations take on the added weight of the loss of a distinctive, thoughtful, and provocative member of the American literary canon. VERDICT Readers and writers who have enjoyed Le Guin in her many forms throughout the years will likely relish the intimate insights the novelist shares. That said, the interviews are freely available online for those interested in listening to Le Guin's words in her own voice.-Matt Gallagher, Univ. of the Sciences, Philadelphia © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Thoughtful reflections on the writing life from the late author (1929-2018).Le Guin (No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, 2017, etc.), the winner of a host of awards during her prolific career, likened a successful interview to "a good badminton rally," where the birdie floats effortlessly between the players. Her three conversations with writer, editor, and radio show and podcast host Naimon felt good from the start, a process of mutual discovery and intelligent exchanges about fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, three genres to which Le Guin devoted much of her career (she was also an essayist, children's book author, playwright, and translator). The author admitted feeling most comfortable talking about fiction, the subject of her recent book Steering the Craft, to which Naimon frequently referred as they discussed such writerly concerns as grammar, sentence rhythm, and point of view. Use of the present tense, common in contemporary fiction, results, Le Guin said, in "flashlight focus," where readers see only what is directly ahead. It is "great for high suspense, high drama, cut-to-the-chase writing," but otherwise, she found the authorial point of view (a term she preferred to "omniscient") "the most flexible and useful." Le Guin cited Virginia Woolf, Tolstoy, Orwell, Grace Paley, Margaret Atwood, and José Saramago (a late discovery, she admitted) as writers she particularly admired. Although more tentative discussing poetry, she conceded that her work reflected an immersion in Taoism and Buddhism "so deep in me and everything I do." A.E. Housman, Rilke, and Gabriela Mistral, whom she felt was unjustly ignored, earned her special praise. Le Guin's political views surfaced strongly in the discussion about nonfiction, and Naimon asked about writing across differences of race, gender, or culture: "When does an attempt to understand become co-optation?" Acknowledging the complexity of the question, Le Guin responded, "eternal vigilance is required." The conversations are interspersed with excerpts from Le Guin's work and that of other writers discussed.Candid and perceptive last words by a treasured writer.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
