An Open Letter to Ursula K. Le Guin
Ms. Le Guin:
I just saw the film adaptation of your The Word for World is Forest. I have long recommended that work to friends who are not familiar with your writing, because I feel it is overlooked compared to The Disposessed and especially The Left Hand of Darkness. It is a very compelling and entertaining film, and I hope its success calls some well-deserved attention to your writing and the ideas you convey.
Despite Mr. Cameron's decision to make the protagonist white (as happened for Earthsea...my condolences on that one, too), and to divide the antagonist into two characters, it was clear to me from the first internet preview to the closing credits that your work was the dominant influence, much more so than Dances with Wolves or David Brin's The Uplift War or The Matrix. I think it remained true to the spirit of the original work more than many film adaptations, and it was refreshing to see all the new content exploring the checkered past of the discipline of anthropology.
Congratulations, and thank you for your continued work. The ecosystem of speculative fiction, and of Western culture in general, would be much less rich without the roots put down by pioneers like yourself. The film rights have returned to the public domain, but the storyt has joined the ranks of the commercially successful.
Fondest regards,
Joel
I just saw the film adaptation of your The Word for World is Forest. I have long recommended that work to friends who are not familiar with your writing, because I feel it is overlooked compared to The Disposessed and especially The Left Hand of Darkness. It is a very compelling and entertaining film, and I hope its success calls some well-deserved attention to your writing and the ideas you convey.
Despite Mr. Cameron's decision to make the protagonist white (as happened for Earthsea...my condolences on that one, too), and to divide the antagonist into two characters, it was clear to me from the first internet preview to the closing credits that your work was the dominant influence, much more so than Dances with Wolves or David Brin's The Uplift War or The Matrix. I think it remained true to the spirit of the original work more than many film adaptations, and it was refreshing to see all the new content exploring the checkered past of the discipline of anthropology.
Congratulations, and thank you for your continued work. The ecosystem of speculative fiction, and of Western culture in general, would be much less rich without the roots put down by pioneers like yourself. The film rights have returned to the public domain, but the storyt has joined the ranks of the commercially successful.
Fondest regards,
Joel