{"id":6784,"date":"2025-08-02T18:06:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T18:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/?p=6784"},"modified":"2025-08-23T23:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:22:15","slug":"no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/","title":{"rendered":"No Time to Spare, Ursula Le Guin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-purple-color\">July-August, 2025<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters<\/strong><\/em>, Ursula K. Le Guinn, 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#About_the_Book\" >About the Book<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Favorites\" >Favorites<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#The_Diminished_Thing\" >The Diminished Thing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Would_You_Please_Fucking_Stop\" >Would You Please Fucking Stop<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#_Having_My_Cake\" >* Having My Cake<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Papa_H\" >Papa H<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#The_Narrative_Gift_as_Moral_Conundrum\" >The Narrative Gift as Moral Conundrum<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Rehearsal\" >Rehearsal&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Without_Egg\" >*Without Egg<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#First_Contact\" >First Contact<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/#Notes_from_a_Week_at_a_Ranch_in_the_Oregon_High_Desert\" >Notes from a Week at a Ranch in the Oregon High Desert<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"About_the_Book\"><\/span>About the Book<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a book of essays \u2013 originally written for Le Guin&#8217;s blog \u2013 that was published in 2017. The essays were written, as best I can tell, from 2010 to approximately 2015, when Le Guinn was in her 80&#8217;s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are not organized chronologically, but instead in four sections separated by interludes of essays about or inspired by her cat, Pard. The four sections are \u201c<strong>Going Over 80<\/strong>,\u201d \u201c<strong>The Lit Biz<\/strong>,\u201d \u201c<strong>Trying to Make Sense of It<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201c<strong>Rewards<\/strong>.\u201d The essays are written in a casual voice, and are more notable for their ideas than their word-crafting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I found the book engaging, and am happy to have read it.&nbsp;I say a bit my favorite essays \u2013 there are over three dozen in the book &#8212; and * my favorites of the favorites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Favorites\"><\/span>Favorites<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Diminished_Thing\"><\/span>The Diminished Thing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat to make of diminished thing?\u201d (Robert Frost\u2019s Ovenbird). Le Guin discusses old age \u2013 she is in her 80\u2019s at this point \u2013 and argues against the notion of \u2018You are only as old as you think you are,\u2019 and the tendency of younger people to deny that their elders are old.&nbsp;&nbsp;Le Guin disagrees: \u201cTo tell me my old age doesn\u2019t exist is to tell me I don\u2019t exist. Erase my age, erase my life \u2013 me. \u2026So it is that old men come to learn the invisibility that women learned 20 or 30 years earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Le Guin also writes about respect:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026the social requirement of respectful behavior to others, by reducing aggression and requiring self-control, makes room for understanding. It creates a space where understanding and affection can grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013ibid., p. 15<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Le Guin\u2019s answer to the ovenbird\u2019s question is \u201ca lot.\u201d At least if one is fortunate. And, she adds, don\u2019t dimmish old age by trying to deny it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Would_You_Please_Fucking_Stop\"><\/span>Would You Please Fucking Stop<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A funny rant against the tendency to use only variants of \u201cfuck\u201d and \u201cshit\u201d for emphasis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"_Having_My_Cake\"><\/span>* Having My Cake <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(1600 words)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230;A great essay, and one that I believe will, for me at least, repay study, since I am trying to learn how to write interesting short essays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She begins admitting that for a long time she didn\u2019t understand the proverb about not being able to have your cake and eating it too. How can you eat a cake you&nbsp;<em>don\u2019t&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;have, she asks? She also notes that this proverb, and others like it, are used to test whether people are mentally ill, and wonders about her sanity. But then she slowly realizes that \u201chave\u201d is really being used to mean \u201ckeep,\u201d and decides it&#8217;s a good proverb, though she back tracks a bit, analyzing the language and why it might be found confusing. This translates into a more general medication on language, and her writerly fascination with it. And then she ponders the parallels between her fascination with words, and artists\u2019 fascination with the materials with which they work, though she is uncertain about the degree to which they hold. But finally, at the very end, she brings it back to cake:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWords are my matter, my stuff. Words are my skein of yarn, my lump of wet clay, my block of uncarven wood. Words are my magical anti-proverbial cake: I eat it, and I still have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ibid., p.52<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Papa_H\"><\/span>Papa H<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing much to say about this essay, but that it was an enjoyable mediation of <em>The<\/em> <em>Illiad<\/em> and <em>The<\/em> <em>Odyssey<\/em> as exemplars, or perhaps archetypes, of the two basic fantasy stories: The War; and The Journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Narrative_Gift_as_Moral_Conundrum\"><\/span><strong>The Narrative Gift as Moral Conundrum<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A mildly interesting essay, but I loved her comments on the difference between story and plot: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have a high opinion of story. I see it as the essential trajectory of narrative: a coherent, onward movement, taking the reader from Here to There. Plot, to me, is variation or complication of the movement of story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Story goes. Plot elaborates the going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plot hesitates, pauses, doubles back (Proust), forecasts, leaps, doubling or tripling simultaneous trajectories (Dickens), diagrams a geometry onto the story line (Hardy), makes the story Ariadne&#8217;s string leading through a labyrinth (mysteries), turns the story into a cobweb, a waltz, a vast symphonic structure in time (the novel in general) &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ibid., p. 75<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rehearsal\"><\/span><strong>Rehearsal&nbsp;<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A very short essay on drama and stagecraft inspired by watching a rehearsal of a play based on&nbsp;<em>The Left Hand of Darkness.<\/em> &#8220;<em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">People you thought you\u2019d made up, imagined, invented, are there, not<\/mark><\/em>&#8221; Performing a play is, Le Guin argues, essentially an act of ritual or magic: &#8220;<em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">They collaborate methodically (ritual must be methodical) &#8230; Essentially they do it by limiting space, and moving and speaking within that space.<\/mark><\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Without_Egg\"><\/span>*<strong>Without Egg<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(1100 words)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A description of an incident, during a visit to Vienna in the early 1950&#8217;s, where Le Guin distressed a waiter by saying that she didn&#8217;t want an egg with her breakfast. Her reflections on why this was disturbing are interesting, but where the essay shines is in her beautifully detailed description of how she goes about eating a soft boiled egg. She describes the egg, the egg cup, the spoon, the opening of the egg, and the process of eating it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"First_Contact\"><\/span><strong>First Contact<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An essay on an encounter with a rattlesnake, and the process of humanely transporting it elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This time was outside ordinary time, and outside ordinary feelings; it involved danger for both of us; and it involved a bond between creatures who do not and cannot ordinarily relate to each other in any way. Each would naturally try not to relate \u2013 to just get away \u2013 or to kill in self-defense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013ibid., p. 199<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Notes_from_a_Week_at_a_Ranch_in_the_Oregon_High_Desert\"><\/span><strong>Notes from a Week at a Ranch in the Oregon High Desert<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are really notes, as the title says, rather than an essay. But I find it a nice example of how, perhaps, I might take notes during my travels. Le Guin&#8217;s notes, while not a narrative, have a bit more structure and connectivity than mine typically do. They capture images, and often there is enough to infer some of the activities going on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some nice writing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">the cool shadowed air between the eastern and western rimrock<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">the warm towers of air<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">the old tall poplars holding darkness<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">I sit in windy shadow<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">The hens pay no attention, scattering out, scudding along like sail boats over grass<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-bright-blue-color\">behind the ridge that darkens as brightness grows<\/mark><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<p>Views: 29<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July-August, 2025 No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters, Ursula K. Le Guinn, 2017 About the Book This is a book of essays \u2013 originally written for Le Guin&#8217;s blog \u2013 that was published in 2017. The essays were written, as best I can tell, from 2010 to approximately 2015, when Le Guinn was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/2025\/08\/02\/no-time-to-spare-ursula-le-guin\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">No Time to Spare, Ursula Le Guin<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-notes","category-essays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6784"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6826,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions\/6826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeri.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}