Ursula LeGuin knows about delicious words, and how to put them together into a satisfying meal. When I reintroduced chapter books into bedtime this year, I did it with my favorite books; her Wizard of Earthsea was the second book I read and it cemented the boys' love of this routine. Her fiction is still on my "grab on sight" list, but I also enjoy her essays about writing, either her own writing or other people's books. I stumbled across a little volume made up mostly of speeches she gave to various book-related places, so I ordered it from my library and had some delightful reading about the importance of words, of story, of imagination.
The title of Cheek By Jowl comes from the longest essay, which discusses animal literature, from animal biographies and friendships with people through fantasy and myth. It made me want to reread a lot of books and read a few for the first time. I'm going to investigate more to see if there are other books like this waiting for me. A.
1 comment:
I should give LeGuin another try sometime. She didn't do much for me when I read Earthsea as a kid.
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