The Wave in the Mind: Talks & Essays on the Writer, the Reader & the Imagination by Ursula K. Le Guin
I don’t usually comment on the star rating that I give to books, but with this one I feel it is necessary. Parts of his book are truly outstanding. The ‘Personal Matters’ section that begins this collection of essays and the ‘On Writing’ section that concludes it are brilliant and insightful and every one worthy of five stars.
I’ve had this book for a couple of years and only dipped into it, but this year I decided to do more than to dip… Inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’ Reflections book at the other end of this year, or by the brilliant Magical Tales (which I keep on coming back to and referring to) I was hoping that this book too, would be similar. Sadly, I found much of the middle section of the book much too complicated to grasp which meant that I was wading through them trying to keep my head above water, enjoying the odd snatch of genius as I went but feeling hopelessly out of my depth for much of it.
It is always good to read something that reminds you, or questions what it is is, to be a writer.
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