2023 book 33

 Ursula K. LeGuin's Always Coming Home

You know, for all the deserved praise LeGuin gets for her groundbreaking novels, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this one mentioned, and that’s weird because it’s VERY ambitious. It’s presented as sort of an anthropological report and collection of materials dealing with the far-future denizens of post-apocalyptic California. There are long narrative sections, but also folktales, plays, poems, even an excerpt of a novel. Obviously some of this will be more compelling than other parts to each reader (I admit to skimming most of the poems). I was reading the Library of America edition, which is over 800 pages long, but the last 40 percent is just more information about the world/society and not part of the actual novel (which is to say: don’t be intimidated by the length!). I guess I can see why this isn’t as beloved as many of her other books, but it is really an interesting project and worth checking out. A/A-.