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Voyager
~ To Inner Lands ~
and to
Outer Space ;
URSULA K. LE GUIN
Voyager to I nner Lands and to
Outer Space
Edited by
Joe De Bolt
With an Introduction by
Barry N. Malzberg
National University Publications
KENNIKAT PRESS II 1979
Port Washington, N.Y. II London
Kennikat Press
National University Publications
Literary Criticism Series
General Editor
John E. Becker
URSULA K. LE GUIN
Finally, I do not pretend to have set down, in Baco
nian terms, a true, or even a consistent model of the
universe. I can only say that here is a bit of my
personal universe, the universe traversed in a long and
uncompleted journey. If my record, like those of
the sixteenth-century voyagers, is confused by strange
beasts or monstrous thoughts or sights of abortive
men, these are no more than my eyes saw or my
mind conceived. On the world island we are all cast
aways, so that what is seen by one may often be dark
or obscure to another.
Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey
Excerpts from City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copyright ©
1967 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Published by Ace Books. Used by per
mission of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
Excerpts from The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by
Ursula K. Le Guin. COfyright © 1974 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Re
printed by permission 0 Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
Excerpts from The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copy
right © 1972 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of
Atheneum Publishers, Inc.
Excerpts from The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Copyright © 1969 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Published by Ace Books.
Used by permission of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
Excere!s from The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copy
right © 1970/71 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of
Atheneum Publishers, Inc.
Excerpts from The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Copyright © 1975 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of
the author and Virginia Kidd Literary Agency.
Excer.p.ts from A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copy
right © 1968 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of Parnassus
Press.
Excerpts from British editions of The F0a1r thest Shore © 1973;
The Tombs of A tuan © 1972; A Wizard Earthsea © 1973 by
Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission 0 Victor Gollancz, Ltd.
Copyright © 1979 by Kennikat Press Corp. All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Published by
Kennikat Press Corp.
Port Washington, N.Y. / London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Ursula K. Le Guin, voyager to inner lands and to outer
space.
(Literary criticism series) (National university
publications)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
l. Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929- -Criticism and
interpretation-Addresses, essays, lectures.
2. Science fiction, American-History and criticism
Addresses, essays, lectures. I. De Boit, Joe.
PS3562.E42Z96 813'.5'4 78-20916
ISBN 0-8046-9229-7
TO LIZZIE
She has voyaged and endures.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CIRCUMSTANCE AS POLICY: The Decade 5
of Ursula K. Le Guin / Barry N. Malzberg
PART ONE: THE VOYAGER
ALE GUIN BIOGRAPHY I Joe De Bolt 13
PART TWO: VOYAGE TO INNER LANDS AND TO OUTER SPACE
A SURVEY OF LE GUIN CRITICISM I JamesW. Bittner 31
SOLITARY BEING: The Hero as 50
Anthropologist I Karen Sinclair
SCIENCE AND RHETORIC IN THE FICTION OF 66
URSULA LE GUIN I Peter T. Koper
PART THREE: THE EARTHSEA VOYAGE
FOUR LETTERS ABOUT LE GUIN I Rollin A. Lasseter 89
"But Dragons Have Keen Ears:" On Hearing "Earthsea" 115
with Recollections of Beowulf I John R. Pfeiffer
THE EARTHSEA TRILOGY: Ethical Fantasy 128
for Children I Francis J. Molson
PART FOUR: VOYAGE TO ANARRES
TAOIST CONFIGURATIONS: 153
The Dispossessed I Elizabeth Cummins Cage II
POSSESSED SOCIOLOGY AND LE GUIN'S 180
DISPOSSESSED: From Exile to Anarchism I
Larry L. Tifft and Dennis C. Sullivan
NOTES 198
A SELECTED LE GUIN BIBLIOGRAPHY 211
CONTRIBUTORS 215
INDEX 218
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several persons aided me by reading and commenting on material in
this book; I give my thanks to Jim Bittner, Nancy Leis, John Parke,
John Pfeiffer, Ronald Primeau, and Norm Rasulis. Also, I want to thank
the reference librarians and the interlibrary loan department of Central
Michigan University. Without them, this project, and all my writing and
research tasks, would have been incalculably more difficult. Above all,
however, it is to my wife, Denise, that lowe the most gratitude.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE
Frequently cited and quoted works by Ursula K. Le Guin have been
abbreviated throughout the text, except for their initial appearance in
each selection. The abbreviations for these works are listed below. In
addition, if Le Guin's works are quoted in an essay, an initial note infonns
the reader of the specific editions used.
DBR "The Day before the Revolution"
DIS The Dispossessed
LHD The Left Hand ofD arkness
LOH The Lathe of Heaven
ORT Orsinian Tales
OWW "The Ones Who Walk Away from Ornelas"
TFS The Farthest Shore
TOA The Tombs of Atuan
VTE "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow"
WOE A Wizard of Earthsea
WTQ The Wind ~ Twelve Quarters
WWF "The Word for World Is Forest"
