Ursula, I'm of your generation. I've been a fan of yours for many years, though I admit I haven't read all of your science fiction books. My favorite was "The Word For The World Is Forest." I also loved your version of the Tao teh Ching, with commentary. And I really enjoyed "The Wave in the Mind," and I thoroughly agree that roaming around in your mind is a true delight. But may I pick a little bone with you? Just a TEENY one.
You see, I'm a man. I had nothing to do with that, it was decided for me. What gets a little tiresome to me is the feminist chip you have on your shoulder. Maybe it's not a big one, but I think it's kinda outdated. You see, according to my information and observation, women write most of the books nowadays. What's more, they seem to be reading most of the books that are being read. And it's an established fact that more women are getting undergraduate degrees today than men. So why do you still gripe about male authors and such? I'd like to write a novel for a young male audience, but I don't think it's there anymore, and I'm not sure I can write a book that would please women; and I'm no retrograde patriarchal women-hater.
You griped about women's shoes and imply that men are to blame because women torture their feet so. I've had two wives (not at the same time, and after all, I HAVE been around the block a few times)and I always scolded them for buying high heels or shoes that weren't comfy. I always stressed that comfort was the prime consideration in buying shoes, and I do mean that. But no, they bought shoes that tortured their feet and gave them corns and calluses and what-all. How am I, as a man, responsible for that? As for what happened to upper-class Chinese women in the imperial days, well, I wasn't even born yet, believe it or not, and I think it was really sicko.
I had to get these things off my chest, Ursula, because I'm sincere when I say I'm really a fan of yours, and the only reason I don't give this book 5 stars is because of the occasional whines I hear from you about the horrid men. I hate the Taliban and what Moslem extremists do to women. And hey, let me tell you a little secret: I got my "feminism" in the school of hard knocks, not in a college consciousness-raising session. I was reared by a passive mother and an abusive alcoholic stepfather, and rather early in life I wondered why children had no rights. Thinking beyond that, I realized that children would never have rights until women did. So I AM in favor of women's rights and the rights of children. So please, can you take that little chip off your shoulder? I think male authors are an endangered species. I go to bookstores and libraries and most of the offerings are by women writers. And in my local library branch, "women's issues" take up two standing bookcases. "Men's issues"? A third of one shelf. And women write most of the children's books and "romances," and both genres are doing well, I hear. And the richest author in the world (that Rowling lady) is a woman, of course. Male authors just die and fade away, or drink themselves into oblivion, or blow their brains out. So, please, Ursula,"be not too hard, for life is short, and nothing is given to man," as Joan Baez once sang.
But seriously, you're one of my favorite authors, along with Margaret Atwood and Joyce Carol Oates. Keep up the good work, and I greatly appreciate the valued information you share with writer wannabes, and may that delightfully witty mind of yours never get constipated or congested!
To everyone else: buy this book. You'll love it, regardless of your gender. She shares so much with us!
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D. Pringle
Witty, inspirational and thought provoking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 18, 2021Amazon Customer
A truly enlightened book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 9, 2004Mr. Michael P. Newman
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 4, 2017
