So Far So Good
by Ursula Le Guin
Genres: PoetryPages: 100
Rating:
Synopsis:Legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin was lauded by millions for her ground- breaking science fiction novels, but she began as a poet, and wrote across genres for her entire career. In this clarifying and sublime collection--completed shortly before her death in 2018--Le Guin is unflinching in the face of mortality, and full of wonder for the mysteries beyond. Redolent of the lush natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, with rich sounds playfully echoing myth and nursery rhyme, Le Guin bookends a long, daring, and prolific career.
Ursula Le Guin’s So Far So Good was her last collection of poetry, with her edits sent in just before her death. I wouldn’t say that’s particularly obvious in the poems — she’s no more preoccupied with death than she ever was, in this collection, at least.
They didn’t all land for me, but there are some lovely ones, and Le Guin’s way with language and imagery is always in evidence. Here’s a favourite, “On Second Hill”:
Where on this wild hill alone
a child watched the evening star,
let these bits of ash and bone
rejoin the earth they always were,
the earth that let her sing her love,
the gift that made the giver
here on the lonely hill above
the valley of the river.
Very typical Le Guin, of course.
An enjoyable collection, and reminded me that I haven’t read all her poetry but have at least one of her other collections from an old Humble Bundle… off to check whether I’ve read that!
