UKL's books always have a sense of rightness about them, like that, that defies explanation. The idea of cats with wings is so perfect.

These would make a great introduction for any child to UKL's work, but are jewels of great beauty for grown-ups to cherish as well. They have the same solid reality and aching sense of longing that many of her fantasies for adult readers give. I decided to read everything by her, so I got these kids books, the Catwings series. And it is hard to top that.įor further cute cats from Le Guin also check out her surreal picture book Cat Dreams It’s all just rather fun, having a good sense of justice and compassion folded into this adorable little story while also having wry lines like ‘ few people know what fish think about injustice, or anything else.’ But most importantly it is cats. But this also becomes a warm tale about how just because things are different doesn’t mean they are bad. ‘ Maybe they have wings because I dreamed, before they were born, that I could fly away from this neighborhood,’ the mother thinks, which so perfectly begins this tale about fleeing the dangers of the city only to discover that its a dangerous world everywhere. Why do these cats have wings? They just do. Aimed at children, this is a bit of a slight story but it just comes alive with such whimsy and wonder in Le Guin’s clever prose. THEY ARE CATS THEY HAVE WINGS THIS IS DELIGHTFUL!īut for real, everything Ursula K Le Guin touched was gold, like Midas asking Dionysus for the gift of being an awesome author instead. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as 'Solitude' and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. She was known for her treatment of gender ( The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems ( The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc.

Catwings ursula