Ziesings
1/15/2023
My favorite Le Guin book (along with 3 or 4 others - ha ha!) because there are many ways to read it and enjoy it. For me, the most rewarding way is to un-read it, and I mean that in a Taoist sense - to do by not trying to do (insert Yoda saying "there is no try"). It's a mind trip for sure, and this book about dreaming the world as a better place and those dreams materializing into reality is the perfect subject matter for the Taoist approach. The harder you try, the worse things get until your efforts end in oblivion. It might sound silly, but when I hear others' explain why they did not like this book or think that it is only "meh", it feels like the reasons are related to the reader trying to forcibly project certain mystical/philosophical/religious meaning into it, or see it as a critique on traditional psychiatry or a tragedy about mental illness, etc., they are attempting to smash their literary square pegs into Le Guin's round hole - or more aptly, nonexistent hole - they inevitably come out disappointed. It's so tempting to do with the wordy, poetic prose and ethereal setting/plot, but my recommendation is to be like the main character George, and simply go with the flow, lest you end up like the quasi-antagonist Haber! Enjoy!