Ursula K. Le Guin turned 88 a few weeks before her latest book was published. Her new book is No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters. It is basically a collection of some of her blog posts since she started blogging in 2010. That makes the book sound less interesting than it actually is. Le Guin has accumulated much wisdom in her nearly nine decades on the planet. And her viewpoint is always worth reading and reflecting upon. (Well, almost. When authors write about their own pets the result is often dire. With Le Guin, it's cats. And there are seven entries on her cat. I'm sure some people will find them charming. I didn't.) Much of Le Guin's thoughts on fantasy, escapism, imagination, fundamentalism should be read by everyone (especially those people who don't sympathize with these subjects). Her views on Darwin and belief are quite clearly thought out and reasonable. She writes: "I don't believe in Darwin's theory of evolution. I accept it. It isn't a matter of faith, but of evidence. The whole undertaking of science us to deal, as well as it can, with reality. The reality of actual things and events in time is subject to doubt, to hypothesis, to proof and disproof, to acceptance and rejection—not to belief or disbelief." Amen to that.
Le Guin is a national treasure. May she ruminate and continue to write for years to come. (But hold back on too many cat posts.)
