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Quote by Ursula K. Le Guin

“The seeming nation, unified for centuries, was a stew of uncoordinated principalities, towns, villages, 'pseudo-feudal tribal economic units', a sprawl and splatter of vigorous, competent, quarrelsome individualities over which a grid of authority was insecurely and lightly laid. Nothing, I thought, could ever unite Karhide as a nation. Total diffusion of rapid communication devices, which is supposed to bring about nationalism almost inevitably, had not done so.”

Quote by Ursula K. Le Guin

Work

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin's novel is set in a distant future where human-like beings called the Ekumen live on various planets. The story follows a male human envoy, Genly Ai, who travels to the planet Gethen to win its inclusion in the Ekumen. The inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual, capable of changing their gender, which adds a unique perspective to the narrative and raises questions about gender identity and human nature. more

Author

Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin, born on October 21, 1929, is an esteemed American author of science fiction and fantasy. Known for her profound philosophical insights, rich imagination, and unique narrative style, Le Guin's works have won numerous literary awards and have had a significant impact on science fiction and fantasy literature. Her most famous works include the 'Earthsea' series and 'The Left Hand of Darkness', which have won her awards such as the Nebula and Hugo Awards, and she has also received the National Book Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to literature. more

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“There was a story often told. Perhaps you’ve heard this one. Don’t stop me if you have, though, ha ha (I dearly love to tell it): Little boy’s grousing: doesn’t like cars. Because of “the pollution,” you know where this one’s going, I bet. The father pulls the car over to the side of the road. “Then I suppose you’ll want to walk.” End of objections from el kiddo. Your choice, Jacques. Dying in the back of a horse cart stuck in the mud? Or zinging toward help, air-con blasting? Anyone with a lick of sense would choose the latter. We had. The world had. That was what was so damn stupid about it. People forgot the empty larder. Forgot drought, forgot famine. Forgot what it was like to be at the mercy of the world. The Nesbitts’d brought over a charity basket. During that lean period. After the hay burned up, the little feeder stream went dry, Bremer refused to re-up their loan. You best believe I was drooling. Father shot me a look. Move the slightest muscle toward that basket, my young swain, his eyes were saying, you’ll find yourself bunking down in the barn with the heifers. The bread in that basket was rock-hard and the bacon stringy and the apples home to more than a few worms. But to us it was a feast. Whereas nowadays folks padded past climate-controlled cases of out-of-season vegetables and fish from faraway seas and meat from animals who fed in meadows under mountain ranges whose names a person could hardly pronounce, thinking, Yap, yap, yap, big deal, pork from Denmark, salmon from the Bering Strait, loaves of woven bread from Ferrara, all of this is my right. When what it was, was a goddamn miracle.”

Book:Vigil