Leese Webster

by Ursula K. Le Guin, James Brunsman (Illustrator)

A palace spider's extraordinary webs, which imitate paintings and carvings, take a new turn when she is thrown out into the garden.

Genres: Fiction, Picture Books

Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

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

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story about a spider who lives in a deserted palace. Leese excels at web-spinning, and soon she's creating masterpieces that resemble delicate tapestries. But, like any great artist, Leese is never completely satisfied with her work. How can she make her web art sparkle like the jewels that decorate the abandoned throne?

A beautiful story, with unusual artwork by James Brunsman. Alas . . . I'm guessing it may appeal more to adults than children.

[Sara Beeson]

I especially love this book because I have been to the leGuin’s home. In her basement were several spider’s nests. She had sticky notes written above each nest asking visitors not to disturb the nests. “There are artists at work”. A wonderful book for children and adults alike.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my Ursula LeGuin project. It's a children's picture book about a misunderstood spider in a deserted palace, who makes beautiful, artistic webs rather than functional ones. I could spend some time dissecting why it didn't quite work for me - the mediocre illustrations, the odd story, the convoluted morality play - but if I did all of that, my review might wind up being longer than the book. This one is for completists only.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming find at the Friends of the Library cart!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in one's favorite author's hometown often leads to the serendipitous discovery of long out-of-print gems like this lovely little story about a spider living in an abandoned castle.

[Angela Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about an artistic spider.

[Hirosasazaki Sasazaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the spider which tried to create the most beautiful web. Good read. I like the spider.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leese Webster, the spider, lives in a vacant palace. She aspires to make her webs works of art and succeeds so well that they are appropriated by humans for museum exhibits after being discovered by the cleaners. This is distressing for Leese at first, but they gently toss her out of doors where her webs become even more beautiful with dewdrops and she eats her natural diet.

A simple fable that would have great appeal to fans of Charlotte's Web.

[Charlotte]

The titular spider lives in an old abandon palace, and weaves beautiful webs, inspired by the designs on the decorative details of home. After a bit of criticism from other spiders, she makes sure they are tightly woven enough not just to be beautiful but to catch insects...except that insects are scarce in the shut up building. Then the palace is opened to the public, and Leese's webs are discovered. They are greatly admired, and glass is put over them to protect them. Leese is dismayed, and then alarmed when she's flung out the window by the cleaning crew. But in the outside world, her webs, woven with abandon, both catch more insects and are made much more beautiful by the shimmering gleam of dew. I think I'm supposed to learn a lesson from this, maybe? but I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps "decorative arts of European history are not the only things of beauty in the world?" But I enjoyed it. I like spiders and Leese had to really try hard to get her webs to show what she saw around her.