“You read The Lathe of Heaven?” To his credit, the Spokesbear manages to say this without making it sound like an accusation. Of course, he immediately proceeds to sniff the cover like one of the drug dogs you see at the airport, which kind of undoes his momentary attack of self-control. “You don’t like Le Guin and you’ve had that book sitting on your shelf for six years without reading it. What gives, dumb-arse?””
“I don’t like Earthsea. That’s not a condemnation of her work in its entirety.”
The Spokesbear made a nervous coughing noise in the back of his throat. “People will kick your arse for not liking Earthsea. You know that, right?”
“I’ve locked the door and taken the phone of the hook. I can drag the shotgun out of the in-case-of-zombie-apocalypse kit if we need it.”
“Sure.”
I fidgeted as I made coffee, uncomfortable under his stare. “Fine,” I said. “It’s short. I need short books. I promised myself I’d read 104 books by the end of July, most of them written by women, and I’m falling behind.”
The Spokesbear doesn’t look convinced. “That theory doesn’t work so well when you don’t like the book, kid. You have to *want* to read things.”
“I liked Lathe of Heaven.”
He sniffed the cover again, pulled a face like he’d discovered a stash of rotten eggs instead of literary cocaine. “This? It’s had a bookmark living at the end of the first chapter since your first attempt to read it back in 2006.”
“Well, I liked some of it.”
“Some of it?”
“The last half.”
He gave me a flinty look. I’m not sure how he managed that, given his eyes are plastic beads and designed to give the impression of cuteness. Call it a quirk of his character, the stern thread of iron beneath his floppy exterior.
“Look,” I said. “It’s a slow starter. It got better, when I gave it a chance.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Better how?”
“Rule of three,” I said. “Conflict between two characters, no matter how intense and meaningful, becomes far more interesting when a third character is introduced to take sides and provide contrast. Plus Heather gives a personal stake to the philosophical conundrum at the core fo the book. And the second half of the book has dream-diving alien turtles. You can do no wrong with dream-diving alien turtles.”
“Turtles trump the considerable metaphorical depth of the first half? Really?”
I sipped my coffee. “Really. Turtles are fun.”
“You really wouldn’t be an SF fan if Star Wars hadn’t come along, would you. Style and fun trump substance in your head.”
“Not entirely. I mean, if that were true, I would have liked the remake of Star Trek.”
“They’re going to take away your geek badge,” the spokesbear said.
I didn’t have anything to say to that. I finished my coffee, pondering the book and the conversation.
“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I think the dislike of Earthsea has more to do with the person who recommended it to me than the book itself.”
“Teacher?”
“Ex-Girlfriend.”
“Which one?”
I gave him a name. He listened, shaking his head.
“If that were really true, you’d dislike Angela Carter.” The Spokesbear looked smug. “Is that checkmate, dumb-arse? Can we stop talking about the book and go back to work now?”
It was. We could. I did.
I’ve ended up taking a short, unscheduled break from writing newsletters over the last fourteen days. Regular GenrePunk Ninja transmissions will resume
Like many of you, I have good weeks and bad weeks on the writing front. This week has been rocky, and if
Welcome to GenrePunk Ninja supplemental, where I occasionally post foundational essays written before I launched the GenrePunk Ninja newsletter, especially if they’re
4 Responses
If you semi-liked Lathe of Heaven, you really should go out and read the Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. I have a feeling you'll fully-like them, no matter what the Spokesbear says.
I once spent three hours in an Airport waiting for a delayed flight where the only reading material I had on me was a copy of the Dispossessed. It still wasn't enough to convince me I should read more than two chapters, and I'll read anything when stuck in an airport.
Basically, I just don't click with Le Guin.
I liked Lathe of Heaven. It's actually the only book I've read by Le Guin, and though I liked it, it did not inspire me to go out and get more stuff by her. But I particularly liked your rule of three…did you make that up or did you learn it in a workshop? I need to remember it.
That particularly aspect of the Rule of Three was picked up when I did Clarion South (I think it was Kelly Link's rule first), but the Rule of Three is kind of an omniverous concept that has applications accross the board in writing.