The Wave in the Mind Audiobook By Ursula K. Le Guin cover art

The Wave in the Mind

Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination

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The Wave in the Mind

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: Christina Moore
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Join Ursula K. Le Guin as she explores a broad array of subjects, ranging from Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien to women's shoes, beauty, and family life. With her customary wit, intelligence, and literary craftsmanship, she offers a diverse and highly engaging set of stories.

The Wave in the Mind includes some of Le Guin's finest literary criticism, rare autobiographical writings, performance-art pieces, and most centrally, her reflections on the arts of writing and reading.

©2004 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2018 Recorded Books Essays Literary History & Criticism Philosophy Social Sciences Nonfiction
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Excelente libro para los que aman la belleza de las palabras, la creatividad y la imaginación sin fronteras.

Masterclass para escritores

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This woman was a rare genius. Very generous of her to write so many surprisingly accurate ideas.

Essential Reading

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The essays in this book are interesting, surprising, and thought-provoking. The inquiring mind, disciplined thinking, and mastery of words possessed by the author come through clearly.

The narrator is perfectly suited to the material. Her phrasing and intonation fit the complex sentence structure and discursive narrative of the essays perfectly.

HEY AUDIBLE: YOU NEED MORE NARRATORS LIKE THIS. I HAVE PURCHASED (AND IN TWO CASES RETURNED) BOOKS WHERE A LARGE PART OF THE PROBLEM WAS NARRATORS WHO HAD NO IDEA WHERE SENTENCES STARTED OR STOPPED, OR HOW THEY FLOWED. IF THEY CAN'T READ THE MATERIAL PROPERLY, WHY ARE YOU PAYING THEM?

Thoughtful, literate, intelligent, heartfelt

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This collection truly touched and inspired me. It made me feel a little less alone in this world. I trust her writing, and now I’m a little less scared of Dragons.

Honest and deeply beautiful

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There is plenty to engage any reader in this book. She tackles a wide range of subjects with sharp humor and perception. A great iconoclast. The narrator does a fine job.

Ursula K. Le Guin sounds off

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Personal matters --
Introducing myself --
Being taken for granite --
Indian uncles --
My libraries --
My island --
On the frontier --
Readings --
All happy families --
Things not actually present: On the book of fantasy and J.L. Borges --
Reading young, reading old: Mark Twain's diaries of Adam and Eve --
Thinking about Cordwainer Smith --
Stress-rhythm in poetry and prose --
Rhythmic pattern in The Lord of the rings --
The wilderness within: The sleeping beauty and "the poacher" --
Off the page: loud cows: a talk and a poem about reading aloud --
Discussions and opinions --
Fact and/or/plus fiction --
Award and gender --
On genetic determinism --
About feet --
Dogs, cats, and dancers: thoughts about beauty --
Collectors, rhymesters, and drummers --
Telling is listening --
The operating instructions --
"A war without end" --
On writing --
A matter of trust --
The writer and the character --
Unquestioned assumptions --
Prides: an essay on writing workshops --
The question I get asked most often --
Old body not writing --
The writer on, and at, her work.

chapter titles

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I listen to these recorded essays over and over again. Zenlike, invigorating, clever and profound.

Food for thought, music for ears

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