Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin is a unique and complex work that immerses readers in a post-apocalyptic world where the Kesh people live in a peaceful, non-hierarchical society focused on communal living and generosity. The book is structured as a collection of tales, poems, songs, and essays, providing a rich tapestry of the Kesh culture set in California in the far future. Through the narrative of characters like Stone Telling and the anthropologist Pandora, readers explore themes of societal structure, environmentalism, and the contrast between different cultures.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings may include themes of death, reflection on a post-apocalyptic society, and discussions surrounding human nature's darker aspects.
From The Publisher:
Ursula Le Guin's Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America's most respected writers of science fiction. More than five years in the making, it is a novel unlike any other. A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork, and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kesh, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific Coast.
Ratings (5)
Loved It (3) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (1) |
Reader Stats (14):
Read It (5) | |
Want To Read (9) |
1 comment(s)
this is probably le guin's weirdest novel
it's a novel, but also an anthropological study and summary of a group of people who haven't lived yet
of course, le guin often writes books set in the future, and builds worlds for those people who don't yet exist
but this is different in that it examines the people and culture of the valley in a more detached way, inserting sections of poetry, sections of stories collected by the people, a glossary of ideas and vocabulary
i have to admit i did not read it all, i mostly followed the narrative of stone telling's life story, because she covers the basics of the culture and her life shows us most of what is happening in the valley
their culture is fascinating - they measure wealth by how much they give rather than how much they keep. the condors, a group of patriarchal monotheists who are screwing shit up in the north, are you basic jerks, and we get an inside look at their life through stone telling.
overall, i didn't read the whole thing but i loved the parts i did read
What can you read after
Always Coming Home?
About the Author:
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was the author of novels, children's books, short stories, critical writings, and poetry. She was the winner of the National Book Award and the Nebula and Hugo awards for science fiction. She grew up in Berkeley and the Napa Valley and lived in Portland, Oregon.
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