Sixty Odd

Poetry #8

by Ursula K. Le Guin

     Here is the first new book of poems in more than a decade from the author so well known for her thought-provoking science fiction novels. It is also the most autobiographical of Ursula K. Le Guin's five poetry collections, taking its inspiration from the wisdom and perspective that a woman attains in her sixties. Here she is at turns wry, playful, and sharply critical, with finely observed details of her day-to-day life and moving philosophical reflections on growing older.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 1999

About the author

Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.

She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.

Reviews

[Zoë Birss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book at the perfect time, and with excellent accompaniment. I had just finished my favourite (with The Dispossessed) of Le Guin's novels, Tehanu. My mind was primed to hear her voice. I was reading a book of short stories along with this book of poetry. Clarice Lispector is another strong, female writer. Her book was a collection of vignettes about childhood, this one a collection of poetry concerning old age. Finally, I also read a terrible adaptation of ancient Taoist texts arbitrarily forced into bad English poetry. That Le Guin is herself a student of the Tao, and a feminist and anarchist as well, made her excellent poetry a good medicine.

These poems come easy. They float on the page. Every one is interpretive, and read as though they just flowed out of this master of language like water. Poems about aging, about legacy, about a life of accomplished writing, small observations of day-to-day living, and memories of all ages of life fir together in a beautiful quilt. They are at turns heartbreaking and sweet, though more often the former. Le Guin's voice is more personal and immediate than any other form in which I have read her.

I absolutely recommend this book, especially to be read in Winter or Autumn, with a phone near by so you can call your mom and tell her you love her.

☠

Trade Paperback
Shambhala, 1999

Four Stars

January 14-18, 2018

☠

[Courtney Sanford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was technically good but not particularly moving for me, but the latter half (poems profiling individuals Le Guin recalled from memory) was excellent

[Edward Rathke]

This collection is great, even if you only read Lost Arrows and the Feather People, which, I think, is better than the rest combined.

This is my third Le Guin poetry collection and I really think she's one of my favorite poets, as well as one of my favorite prose writers, which puts her in a unique camp shared by no one. Few of my favorite short story writers are my favorite poets or novelists and so on. I've yet to read many Le Guin short stories, but I plan on reading a few collections next year, so maybe soon she'll just be my overall favorite writer.

This is a great collection is what I mean.

[Chloe Glynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In her craft and her public courage, Ursula Le Guin created such a beautiful and vulnerable space for her readers that entering her writing feels like a gift from a beloved friend. This is the first collection of her poetry I’ve read. Her novels and nonfiction essays I love for their sharp politics and playful depth. These poems are more daily life and almost more alienating. Where her novels invite the reader to adventure and forge new paths with the characters, this collection of poems felt like being a new acquaintance invited to share a cup of coffee with one of her old friends. That she has such confidence in making those moments vulnerable is a powerful testament. These poems were for her own satisfaction, yet she so easily exposed them to the world. This text was an unusual experience in poetry and all the more pleasure for it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. She's quite a poet. I don't know what I expected going in to reading this - I guess I didn't think about it too much, just that I loved her books and her persona and thought her poems would be interesting. But she's a real poet. And these poems do poem things. She brought me places, all with the same eloquence and thoughtfulness (and so much more) as her prose. Now I'll search out more of her poems.

[andré crombie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the deep ogive of the dawn
freshness, to hold still
and so be given this first voice
so far, so early in the dark
that will be spring, that will
again and still be all
tendril, freshet, frond unfolding, song
again and still again and still.

Notes: Reread Harold Bloom’s introduction to her collected poetry before reading these and teared up a little. She’s a master.

[Maria Dedelis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tell the stories
that I knew through her
but I cannot say her.

Beautifully weaved insights into what life, passing, mystery means. What people we've met mean in all their passing, being gone, being left in the frozen fragments of the past, enmeshed in bits of the remembrance drowsing in our subconscious. Filled with reverie, questions of darkness and light, the world, the time - what's the purpose, what's the rhyme in the imagery of our days.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer Le Guin's fiction but enjoyed several of her poems in this collection. Much of it is everyday feelings, observations and recollections, but the final chapter is all about people she has known as a child and throughout her life. Some lines made me chuckle, some observations I identified with; some had me admiring her enthusiasm for going her own way.

[feux d'artifice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like i wanna try rereading this poetry collection when I'm sixty something to see how I feel about them.

For thirty something year old me, i preferred the first half to the second half. Standouts were Old Age, A Traveler at a Lake in New England, Field Burning Debated Salmon Fate Discussed, Infinitive, Fight 1067 to L.A., Fall, Late Dusk, For Gabriela Mistral, Rodmell.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some poems were great while others were not. The hits definitely outweigh the ones I didn’t care for. A couple of note:

Rodmell
For Gabriela Mistral
Four Morning Poems
Flight 1067 to LA
Appropriation
October 11, 1941
Phebe and Mimi
The Great Aunt
The Fight
First
The Hershey Bar
Jean
College
Religious Connections
At Oakley

[Sean Daigle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an introduction to Le Guin, this was an interesting entry point. Her poems here convey a deep sense of identity, persons known, and a life lived and observed. They are relatable and endearing with their honesty and craft.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as poetry collections go, this one is rather strong. Favorites among mine were "The scarcity of rhinos" on the television and Flight 1067 to L.A., and the lines from In Berkeley, "This is the city of my birth./This is my own uneasy earth." are unlikely to leave me for a while.

[Laurian]

I was not emotionally ready to read this.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like these poems.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

some lovely and though provoking lines, but much that didn't move me. Still, I may well revisit it and see things differently.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry is hard to judge but....this one just didn't click for me. Nothing stood out. I prefer her prose.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more I read of this book, the more I enjoyed it. It is a book that is more of meditations and reflections than poetry because, although much of it is interesting, so little of it is 'word-for-word memorable' - my preferred definition of poetry.

I found the first half of the book relatively uninteresting in both subject matter and expression, although it has some striking simple verse hidden in it. Here is "In Berkeley":
"This is the city of my birth.
This is my own uneasy earth.
Following Time's devious laws,
I pass the stranger that I was.
In the sea-reflected light
that makes the shadows of things bright,
I walk a half-remembered street
and am the stranger that I meet."

A sonnet ends "The sun turns south; the wind is cold. // North and silence eat the old." And I feel that she is invoking the spirit of her Earthsea novels, archetypal, mythic, medieval, magical.

The second half of the book is a potted biography, told in reflective one- and two-page pieces on a string of relatives and friends, from grandparents through childhood to adulthood. The pieces are charming and fascinating in themselves, and paint a detailed picture of the author through her relationships and observations. But although everything is extremely well written - insightful and incisive, musing and amusing - there is nothing that I would classify as poetry, regardless of how it is displayed on the page. It reads as very elegant prose.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Le Guin's prose so much. I didn't like her poetry quite as much, probably because I prefer to read her in chunks a bit bigger than bitesize, but her imagery and use of words is lovely no matter what. Some of the poems really got to me, too: a couple of them made me want to cry.

[GraceAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous, spare, searing poems of memory, loss, and perfect moments. You might have to be in your sixties to really appreciate these poems, but they spoke to me deeply.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few impressive pieces, but not enough to bump it to a 4.

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Ursula K. LeGuin. And I loved it.

[Bonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems, she means. But I think the title is a play on age too. Some good ones, some of which will be appearing soon on my poetry post.

[Johanna Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

LeGuin's poems are big, even when they are short. Each is a short story, or maybe even a novella - the kind of poem you read and then sit around for a while trying to finish the story.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the book is a 3, but the poems about family and friendships in the last part of the book push it to a 4.

[Marjorie Jensen]

A few of my favorites from this collection: "For Gabriela Mistral," "Hexagram 49," "A Traveler at a Lake in New England," "Entanglements," "Repulse Monkey," and "College."