Very Far Away from Anywhere Else

Very Far Away from Anywhere Else

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Ursula K. Le Guin Published 1976-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Drama Themes Coming of age, Friendship, Drama, Teen Age Group Teen

Very Far Away from Anywhere Else is a coming-of-age teen novella written by Ursula K. Le Guin and published in 1976. Unlike most of Le Guin's other work, this story has nothing to do with fantasy or science fiction, but uses a contemporary setting and theme.

The story is told from the perspective of Owen, a 17-year-old intellectual who eagerly anticipates leaving his small town where nobody understands him to go to a prestigious university. He befriends Natalie, a driven 18-year-old musician who dreams of becoming the world's first important female composer. Neither of them is very social, but they compliment each other extremely well.

Personal

My friend Jackie had a large collection of books and asked if I wanted any of them before she sold them. This was among them. I'm pretty sure I had heard about Le Guin from her more famous work, so I took it. I read at the end of the 2000s and really liked it, but, when I tried to remember what it was about, I couldn't.

Review

Good

• The book is expertly written. Le Guin is a skilled writer and her characters are very well-developed.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  Hardcover - USA - 1976 - Atheneum.
  
  A drawing of Natalie and Owen mixed in with music and the ocean. They look properly unhappy.

• 

  Mass market - USA - 1978 - Bantam.
  
  A painting of Owen and Natalie at the beach in winter. Their solitude is fitting.

• 

  Paperback - UK - 1978 - Peacock.
  
  A photo of two average British teens. Not bad, but they look too happy.

• 

  Paperback - USA - 2004 - Clarion Books.
  
  A photo of two models sitting on a warm beach. Completely wrong.

Quotes

• The hair is curly, and whether I wear it short or long it sticks out all over my head. I fight it with a hairbrush every morning, and lose. I like my hair. It has a lot of willpower.
• Little kids are just dumb, the smart ones and the slow ones. They do dumb things. They say what they think. They haven't learned enough yet to say what they don't really think. That comes later, when kids begin to turn into people and find out that they are alone.
• Sometimes I wonder if introverts have a particular smell, which only extraverts are aware of.
• ...this was the first person I had ever met who just took it for granted you were interested in ideas.
• She said it seemed like the only choices offered were to want to be what other people were, or to be what other people wanted you to be. Either to conform, or obey.
• Mr. Field was a very religious man. No, I withdraw that. Mr. Field was a very churchgoing man. I don't know if he was a religious man or not.

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