The Paris Review

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Rabble-Rouser with a Gentle Smile

Ursula K. Le Guin. Photograph: William Anthony/The Nation

The thing about Ursula K. Le Guin was that she didn’t actually look like a rabble-rousing, bomb-throwing, dangerous woman. She had a gentle smile, as if she was either enjoying herself or enjoying what the people around her were doing. She was kind but firm. She was petite and gray haired, and she appeared, at least on first inspection, harmless.

The illusion of harmlessness ended the moment you began to read her words, or, if you were so lucky, the moment

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