Ursula K. Le Guin – Author, Hero

It has been seven years since this great thinker moved on to the next world; she was a hero of mine.

The first book of hers I ever read was her novella titled: The Lathe of Heaven. The genre was science-fiction, but the book was so much more. Through this brief masterpiece the author spoke to me about the nature of reality, the function of consciousness, of what it means to be human.

She took the title for this book from the writings of the Taoist, Chuang Tzu (book 23, paragraph 7), which says:

~ To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do so will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven ~

Her book dramatized this sentiment and recapitulated this warning, the consideration of which took me outside of myself and allowed me to see the world…the whole of it, in an entirely different way.

I was fifteen years old at the time, and without realizing it I found that I had been introduced to Taoism (the esoteric tradition), which provided me with a perspective that would subsequently shape the future-history of my life.

Later, when I was in the Navy I found comfort in the Earthsea Chronicles, a series of four short novels in the fantasy genre, complete with wizards and dragons. In book one of this series A Wizard of Earthsea, she introduces a hero named Sparrowhawk, whose greatest enemy is himself, and forces him to address the existential dilemma expressed in the question: 

How do we live with ourselves? 

Sparrowhawk’s enemy is not exactly himself, rather it is the shadow of the specter of guilt which he carries, a shadow that most if not all human beings carry, due to our inability to ask for and accept forgiveness for the things we have done that have hurt or harmed those near to us, in some cases…even our adversaries. 

This shadow is relentless, on account of the fact that we are not able to forgive ourselves.

The Earthsea Chronicles are written simply, and so brief that they can be engaged as fairytales, they can be read to children (which is why I found them comforting…I think). Yet, her writing is so masterful that adults may also find them engaging. They communicate a depth of insight into the human condition that lies just below the surface of the narrative.  

Seven years ago this luminary departed from our world, leaving a legacy of literature to light the way for us...we need this light more than ever.

If we liken our civilization to a garden, the garden we live in has been long under shadow; the fruit of our progress has been wilting on the vine, fellowship and common purpose have suffered accordingly. Such themes of discontent are the ideas that she explores in her collection on the Hainish cycle, beginning with the fifth book in the series, The Dispossessed.

Read it!

We need heroes and teachers like Ursula K. Le Guin to light the way for us, to guide us into the cloud of unknowing…I miss her.