Reviews
 “...deserves to be ranked with Robert Graves’s I, Claudius.”
—Publishers Weekly starred review
[complete review]
 “...a love offering to one of the
world’s great poets...”
—Library Journal starred review
 “Arguably her best novel...”
— Kirkus starred review
“Le Guin’s accumulated wisdom and clear-eyed awareness of political and gender issues are quietly folded into a dignified, courageous heroine — giving her a depth and warmth that makes this compelling reading.” Deirdre Baker reviews Lavinia for The Toronto Star. [complete review]
“Sing Muse, of the woman unsung:
Ursula Le Guin’s Lavinia is for both scholars and laymen.”
The Inkwell Review interviews UKL and reviews Lavinia.
“Ursula K. Le Guin, True Original” — Rick Simonson reports on UKL’s Lavinia reading at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, for PW.
“...a highly readable, wise, contemporary novel....” Clay Evans reviews Lavinia for the Daily Camera, Boulder, CO
[offsite link]
“Lavinia is a magnificent book,
an intellectual, moral and emotional
achievement...” Cecelia Holland reviews Lavinia for Locus [complete review]
The Book Show, ABC Australia, interviews UKL. Transcript and audio. [Offsite link]
“Le Guin resists the urge
to pass
judgment, letting the story tell itself. Her narrator’s
empathy and
tolerance not only make her a compelling character. They
also illuminate
what is best in The Aeneid, offering us a fresh
perspective on our
leading epic of how the West was won.”
— Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
[complete review]
“Lavinia has no feminist ax to grind, but immortality has
given her a lot
of time to think and she wants to set the record straight.”
— Susan Balée, Philadelphia Inquirer
[complete review]
“...devotees and new readers
alike have an
immensely important work — perhaps the masterwork of her
career — to
revel in.”
— Victoria A. Brownworth, Baltimore Sun.
[complete review]
“...the inspired novelist has turned back toward the past — or, to be precise, poetry and myth about the past, because Lavinia is a literary rather than a historical figure — and written one of the finest novels she has ever made....’”
— Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune.
[complete review]
“Le Guin recasts this story with primal vigor and spare but powerful language.”
— Barbara McMichael, The Olympian Online
[complete review]
“...ripe with that half-remembered virtue, wisdom...”
— Laura Miller, Salon.com.
[complete review]
“Ursula Le Guin's delightful new novel...”
— Alan Cheuse for “All Things Considered”
[complete review — Text or audio]
“In simple, stately prose that does no violence to Vergil’s
work, Le Guin presents the rough, unpretentious dignity of
the ancient pagans.”
— Eve Ottenberg, The Washington Post.
[complete review]
“...an absorbing, reverent, magnificent story, one I will
be pressing upon my friends all year.”
— Karen Long, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
[complete review]
“Everywhere Le Guin catches the rhythms of the great epic, echoes them, riffs. In a way, this is a jazzy book, playing in odd syncopation with a massive canonical work.”
— LA Times Calendar Online
[more]
“Ursula K. Le Guin’s brilliant new novel...”
— Portland Oregonian
[more]
“...compulsively
readable... a winning combination of
history and mythology....”
— Booklist
[more]
“Ursula Le Guin Champions Vergil’s Neglected Heroine.”
— Yvonne Zipp, The Christian Science Monitor
[complete review]
“A Princess Seeking a Voice.”
— Cynthia Crossen; interview & review, The Wall Street Journal.
[complete article]
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