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The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories
Non-member price: $45.69
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Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, an icon in American literature, collected for the first time - and introduced by the legendary author - in one breathtaking volume. Ursula K. Le Guin has won multiple prizes and accolades, from the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the Newbery Honor, Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud awards. She has had her work collected over the years but never as a complete retrospective of her longer works.
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-
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- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
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Story
The outcast youth Ishmael, succumbing to wanderlust during a dreary New England autumn, signs up for passage aboard a whaling ship. The Pequod sails under the command of the one-legged Captain Ahab, who has set himself on a monomaniacal quest to capture the cunning white whale that robbed him of his leg: Moby-Dick. Capturing life on the sea with robust realism, Melville details the adventures of the colorful crew aboard the ship as Ahab pursues his crusade of revenge, heedless of all cost.
-
-
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-
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- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
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-
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- Narrated by: Roddy Doyle, Tim Treloar
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shevek is brilliant scientist who is attempting to find a new theory of time - but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Shevek soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game. With powerful themes of freedom, society and the natural world's influence on competition and co-operation, The Dispossessed is a true classic of the 20th century.
-
-
space anarchism with a heart
- By Red Skippy on 30-09-2020
-
The Unreal and the Real
- Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume One: Where on Earth
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Unreal and the Real is a major event not to be missed. In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories--as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself--the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day. Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world, from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp.
Publisher's Summary
Outer Space, Inner Lands includes many of the best known Ursula K. Le Guin nonrealistic stories (such as "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," "Semley' s Necklace," and "She Unnames Them") which have shaped the way many listeners see the world. She gives voice to the voiceless, hope to the outsider, and speaks truth to power - all the time maintaining her independence and sense of humor.
Companion volume Where on Earth explores Le Guin's satirical, risky, political and experimental earthbound stories. Both volumes include new introductions by the author.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Evan Goldsborough
- 18-01-2020
chapter names
1.Introduction
2.The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
3-Semely’s Necklace
4-Nine Lives
5-Mazes
6-The First Contact with the Gorgonids
7-The Shobies’ Story
8-Betrayals
9-The Matter of Seggri
10. authors notes
11-Solitude
12-The Wild Girls
13-The Flyers of Gy
14-The Silence of the Asonu
15-The Ascent of the North Face
16-The Author of the Acacia Seeds
17-The Wife’s Story
18-The Rule of Names
19-Small Change
20-The Poacher
21-Sur
22-She Unnames Them
- 1 star for lazy publishing!
13 people found this helpful
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- Sharon A. Gadonniex
- 29-05-2015
Ursula Le Guin is a Master
I loved the complex and believable characters, and the way Le Guin explores deeply issues of gender, sexuality, and how we see ourselves, whether through the eyes of an alien, a differently imagined culture, or another species. She has a way of turning assumptions on their heads and using that position to examine and question, but fully in the context of an engaging story. The exploration just unfolds itself. I also loved the narration... Tandy Cronyn's voice hit just the right notes, pardon the pun.
4 people found this helpful
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- Elizabeth
- 08-07-2017
Always Relevant and Fresh
First read this author as a teen, she opened my mind to new ways of seeing our own world. The best that science fiction/fantasy can do for me. What a joy to come back to her as an older person and be more in wonderment than the first time. Every story like a gem with depth, I know now she set a standard of writing I looked for and rarely found in following decades of voracious reading.
Revisit Ursula if it has been awhile. Read her by all means if you have been touched by the recent revival of "The Handmaid's Tale."
The narrator is very good. It enhances the characters, ranging in age and gender with polish I would only expect from the stage.
Best, these stories have some kind of hopeful ending. In writing about alien races Ursula gives me insight into human strength and capacity to love.
2 people found this helpful
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- Lindsay
- 13-10-2015
It was easy to like
Most of the stories were refreshingly odd. Well written, and enjoyable.
I loved almost everything. The narrator was ok. But the stories were very entertaining.
2 people found this helpful
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- Mary K Foster
- 18-04-2020
Surreal & Stunning!
This was my first full foray into the bright-dark world of Le Guin, and as with many famed authors I am easing into for the first time, a sharp collection of electric short stories was the right call for me— and if the same is true for you, start here, but know as I have learned that Le Guin did not come to make you feel comfortable. Much in the vein of Mary Shelley in the 19th and Margaret Cavendish in the 17th century, Le Guin’s work does not so much disturb as she does destabilize. She doesn’t want to throw you into a “new” or “blazing world” (even when she does) for the sake of the imagined world; she is doing so to draw into the light the familiar grievances that are so ingrained in our “real” lives that we cannot see, much less be outraged by them. But that’s her art— you aren’t familiar with the planet or the people or their social structures; but you do (hopefully) recognize misogyny, racism, classism, ableism, discrimination, cruelty, and exploitation when you see it in a narrative, and you notice it in all of its gore because it’s the only thing that looks familiar. To this end, Le Guin not only picks up the tradition of science fiction as a vehicle of cultural destabilization (as with Shelley and Cavendish); but recasts this legacy in the atmosphere of 20th century “progress”— to blast down confining, finite (the truly performative “unreal”) constructs of the very “real” infinities of science fiction. Also, pro-tip: I usually speed through books at 1.5-2x pace, but this does a disservice to both Le Guin’s art and Tandy Cronyn’s performance. Stay between 1-1.3x for full-force.
1 person found this helpful
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- yafftastic
- 20-12-2019
Enjoyable
Great stories even for those not into science, but would have benefited from a longer pause between each.
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- Katie Oxley
- 06-11-2018
beautiful short stories that make you think
love this! the stories are beautifully done and great for thinking about why things are.
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- R. Carpenter
- 30-12-2014
Very good, but where are the titles?
Good readings of these excellent stories, but spoilt by the lack of titles for the individual stories, only 'chapter' numbers.
4 people found this helpful
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- Andy Kimbrey
- 11-05-2019
Great stories, bad recording
These stories and the narrator are both wonderful but somehow Audible have messed this up: there is no gap between the chapters, it literally goes from the last line of the story to the title of the next as if they're the same sentence. Also, why are the chapters not named, are you meant to guess which story to listen to based on the duration? There are weird background noises throughout, as if this is being recorded at someone's home and the dishwasher keeps starting and stopping, then the garbage disposal turns on. It's a real shame.
3 people found this helpful
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