Back from Dublin

[raino]

It was a wonderful short holiday, even if the weather was as crappy there as it is here. Dublin is a charming city, irish cider & whisky are yummy, Geeky cousin is fun hostess and knows all the best places to eat, buy books and enjoy classy pub interiors! Minus sides were minimal heating and moldy shower (ah only-scandinavians-know-how-to-build-proper-houses). I wonder how G.C. survives in that building!

I gave myself freedom to buy whatever, but in the end I bought just one skirt for spring, three secondhand books and one 1-euro Hellboy comic. Even if my shopping fast (which I will go on and on about, yes) does not hold, it has certainly made me a more discerning shopper.

One of the books I bought was "Changing Planes" by Ursula LeGuin, a book I've never heard about before. I can't figure out why a big fan of hers would not know about a fairly recent release (in the nineties) so I'm thinking it must have popped out from some alternate reality or from Sandman's Library of Unwritten Books.

Comments

[lucilla-1789.livejournal.com]

Moldy showers - sounds like my current home! Someone should teach this people how to build houses and tell also that there is indeed such a thing as air conditioning.

I dont usually like Le Guin, but her story "Those who walk away from Omelas" (or just Omelas?) was very interesting. It was in our philosphy reader!

[raino.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't understand how people who build houses don't understand that wood is not a good material for shower walls - if I without any builderly education can figure that out. And what's with the windows that even closed allow the wind in? Well, people in Great britain and Ireland are tough and don't mind cold (and probably all the weak ones die from cold as babies), is it the reason for or reaction to the freezing homes?

LeGuin is at her best with short stories and I love Omelas too! There is not a word too much neither too little, it's both beautifully written and makes one think/feel about the justice of the choices we make. She has sometimes a really annoying preachy tone, but at her best her writing just seems to stnad on a strong base of humanism and honesty.

Pitäisikin varmaan kirjoittaa fankirje niin kauan kuin vanharouva on vielä elossa!