Small gems (short tales) from a genius.

The titular story, however, is absolutely five stars.

Doamnei Jerry Debree, eroina de la Grong Crossing, îi plăcea să arate bine. Era important pentru Jerry, în întâlnirile lui de afaceri, bineînţeles, dar o făcea de asemenea să se simtă mai încrezătoare şi într-un fel fericită să ştie că machiajul ei era proaspăt, genele într-adevăr bine rimelate, iar fardul puternic îi scotea în evidenţă pomeţii obrajilor, aşa cum spusese fata de la tejghea. Dar începea să fie greu să te simţi proaspătă şi să arăţi bine, câtă vreme acest deşert era din ce în ce mai fierbinte şi din ce în ce mai roşu, până când ajunsese să arate, într-adevăr, aproape la fel cum îşi imaginase ea întotdeauna că trebuie să arate Infernul, doar că nu cu atât de mulţi oameni. De fapt, aici nu se afla nici unul.
— Se poate să-l fi depăşit, ce crezi? îndrăzni în cele din urmă, şi nu o miră disperarea pe care o descătuşase, în răspunsul lui:
— Cum naiba să-l fi depăşit, când n-am trecut nici măcar de-un singur afurisit de obiect, cu excepţia afurisitelor alea de tufişuri, de nouăzeci de mile încoace? Doamne, n-ai minte!
Limbajul lui Jerry era un dezastru. Şi uneori asta făcea să-i fie atât de greu să vorbească cu el. Avusese urma minusculă a unui sentiment, intuiţia feminină poate, că oamenii care-i spuseseră cum se ajunge la Grong Crossing îşi bătuseră joc de el, făcând o mică glumă. Vorbise atât de tare, în barul de la hotel, despre cât de dezamăgit fusese de Corroboree, după ce zburase atâta amar de drum, de la Adelaide încoace, ca să-l vadă. Îl tot compara cu dansul indian pe care-l văzuseră la Taos. De fapt, la Taos fusese de-a dreptul plictisit şi fără chef şi trebuiseră să plece pe la mijlocul spectacolului, ca el să bea ceva, aşa că ea nu văzuse niciodată cum apar oamenii cu măştile, dar acum el vorbea despre cum cei din S.U.A. ştiu într-adevăr să pună în scenă un spectacol autohton. Câţiva aborigeni cu ceafa groasă, sărind în cerc, spunea el, nu le puteau oferi turiştilor veniţi din lumea reală subiecte pentru scrisorile către acasă. Australienii ăştia ar trebui să viziteze Disney World, să vadă cum se fac lucrurile adevărate.

It had been a long while since I’ve read Ursula’s work and I picked this one up at the library to revisit the groundwork she started in honor of her. What I like about her stories is that she gives us new ideas and thoughts to examine and wonder at what they might mean to us and how we’d define them ourselves. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea is a collection of short stories that intertwine with one another, demonstrating that everything has a connection or a thread that ties them together in some way.

A collection of powerful stories, some I enjoyed more than others. There are some funny short stories up front. "Newton's sleep" is powerful and tragic. And "Another Story" is fascinating and has some great world building.

Some stories were ok, some were not my cup of tea, and some were effing awesome. The rating is mostly because I think that the collection is patchy - some stories are connected, some are just there because they're set in the same universe. I'd have preferred if these were either all connected all were all individual stories. The stories about the churten drive were really amazing and I wish there was more churten in her work.

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea is a collection of eight of Ursula Le Guin's short stories, originally published between the early 1980s and early 1990s. The first five stories are all standalones; two short humorous stories ('The First Contact with the Gorgonids' and 'The Ascent of the North Face'), two longer, more thoughful stories ('Newton's Sleep' and 'The Rock that Changed Things') and one short but serious vignette ('The Kerastion'). I enjoyed all of these, particularly 'Newton's Sleep', but the real meat of the collection is the final three stories, which are all set in Le Guin's Hainish continuity and centre round the development of the instantaneous-travel "churten" drive. Le Guin being Le Guin, the technology may be the reason for the stories but it's never their focus; the stories are about the intersection of different cultures, about communication and the lack of communication, about the narratives we choose to make of our lives and how those intersect with the narratives of other people's lives (and what happens when they don't), and about how the things we think we want aren't always the things that will make us happy. Le Guin's writing is always beautiful, of course, and although this collection probably doesn't attain the heights of The Wind's Twelve Quarters or The Compass Rose, it was still a delight to read.

Instant favorite!

This collection of short stories explores a number of different scenarios that it's hard to find a common demoninator for - maybe humanity's encounters with the unknown? Yeah, that could be a good fit, at least for most of the stories.

I love the way Le Guin creates such vivid societies and cultures for her different worlds! Even though we get but a glimpse of them, there are plenty of worlds I feel I 'get' from what information is available to me. Would definitely like to learn more about said worlds though! The quick glances we get of the worlds are enough to awaken curiousity, but not enough to answer all the questions the glances evoke.

There wasn't any story I disliked or thought was 'meh' in this book. Still, I do have favorites. I adore The Rock That Changed Things because it's so darn powerful, plus the use of a 'carefree' tone to set the mood, only to contrast with what's actually going on, works so very, very well. The Shobies' Story and Dancing to Ganam are wonderful combinations of technology and psychology + reminds you of the central focus storytelling has for us humans as a species. But my favorite story was absolultey Another Story - it introduces the wonderfully complicated cultural rules of the planet O (sedoretu is my new favorite story element!) and time travel; what more can you ask for?

Definitely recommended! Though reading other books set in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle could be good to do first, to familliarize yourself with the universe the last three short stories take place in.