Daima unuttuğumuz şey de bu işte;
ne bekleyeceğimizi bildiğimizi sanırız,
ama bilemeyiz;
beklediğimiz şey gerçekleşmeyecek şeydir,
beklemediğimiz şey ise gerçek oluverir.

This is something we always forget in this business;
we think we know what to expect,
but we don't;
what we expect will not happen,
and what we don't expect will come true.

4/5 was a book that I really loved and related to a lot!!
It had a captivating story and well-developed characters.
The author's writing style was engaging and made it easy to get lost in the book.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

I don't understand why this book is classified and addressed as YA literature. It seems as if us old-timers are being deprived of the right to read such a book, under the assumption that we couldn't possibly understand its meaning or even the words.

As a matter of fact, this kind of book is more suitable for old people than young ones. You have to have lived a long life, crossed through the fires of Hell and emerged alive, to truly understand the pains and sorrows of lost love.

The struggle of being different, not conforming to expectations, and dealing with society's preconceptions of male/female friendship lie at the core of this novella. As Le Guin takes us on a journey through the agonies of growing up, we witness the disruption of that friendship unfold.

As we grow older, we learn the hard way that maturity and wisdom are not innate; they are acquired over time, at the cost of pain and suffering.

What struck me the most in this small book was the deep resonance I felt with my adolescent years. Reading it took me back to that brief period when we could conquer universes one minute and dive into the deepest hell the next.

There is no point in asking what the meaning of life is because life isn't an answer; it's the question, and you, yourself, are the answer.

When you are seventeen and in love for the first time, you want to devour the entire world in one fell swoop. But when that love is gone and lost forever, you either want to blow the world to smithereens or crawl into a deep, tiny hole in the ground and quietly disappear.

As an adolescent, learning to be a man involves being conscious of decisions regarding relationships that cannot be made unilaterally and imposed, but are instead determined by mutual consent. Then, fears and insecurities rear their ugly heads, and the struggle to control all those emotions in the face of present denial and future regret begins.

And then you find yourself alone in a fog of loneliness, where the world is grey, shapeless, and ugly, and everything seems pointless and eats away at you. The worst part is when you realize that the world around you doesn't even notice that you're no longer a part of it. When you become aware of the indifference of the Universe, you have finally become a man. But that first love...

We never forget that first love, no matter what. And when it's gone, ripped away from you too soon, and you finally come to terms with the fact that there was nothing you could have done about it, you leave a piece of yourself behind. Suddenly, you're faced with the rest of your life that you're supposed to keep living, but you don't know how or why. But you don't want to be alone because you're tired of yourself, so you keep seeking until you find someone or something that gets you back on track and you keep going until the bitter end, I suppose.

Sure, you replace that lost love with different others throughout your life, but it's never the same. It's better not to try to find a substitute for what was lost because that would be your complete annihilation.

I love my wife and have been faithful to her throughout our entire marriage, not because I lacked temptation or opportunities, but because of how I was raised and what I, at least believe, have become as a man.

My father, a short man with far fewer formal studies than myself but much more intelligent than I could ever hope to be, raised and coached me to be a man based on two principles: respect and integrity. Respect for others and ourselves, and integrity in adhering to some simple, precise, and clear moral principles. I like to believe that I learned something from him, even though I'm sure he would be disappointed if he could see the "final product".

But as a man who has accepted a certain amount of commitment, I did my best to return the love that was freely given to me with the best that I could summon within myself. I don't know if I failed; that's not for me to decide.

But I know that the man who married my wife is not the same as the one who was left forty-two years ago, lost in the contemplation of the abyss of loss.

Indeed, Le Guin was right: when you are seventeen and you believe you are lost, you find yourself "Very far away from anywhere else".

P.S. The poems are from Fish, Greg Lake, and Robert Fripp, in order.

When I first read this book in high school, I was completely enamored with it.

I vividly remember that I truly felt as if it had the power to transform my life.

Now, looking back from a distance of approximately 30 years, unfortunately, I can no longer recall precisely what it was that made it so extraordinarily great.

However, I have faith in myself. If I once believed that it had the ability to change my life, then most likely it did.

It is indeed a good enough book, presenting a captivating story.

Undoubtedly, it is a book that is highly suitable for teenagers and other young people. :-)

17-year-old me would have cried reading this.

Even though I'm not seventeen anymore, I vividly remember the loneliness that once plagued me. I recall the things I did and said, all in an attempt to fit in, to feel a sense of belonging, and to avoid disappointing my parents and friends.

Le Guin has an extraordinary talent for capturing human emotions in their rawest form. Her stories are always profound and deeply touching. I am constantly amazed by the meticulous care she takes in choosing the right words to create the perfect rhythm in her prose.

It has become imperative for me to reread "A Wizard of Earthsea." I feel I owe her at least that much for the impact her works have had on me.

Her writing has the power to transport readers to different worlds and make them experience a gamut of emotions. It is a testament to her literary genius.

I look forward to delving back into the magical world of Earthsea and rediscovering the beauty and wisdom within Le Guin's words.

Ursula Le Guin is truly a remarkable author. She has a unique talent for writing books whose themes can be rediscovered and appreciated even 30 years later by others. Take, for example, her Earthsea series, which has had an influence on works like Harry Potter. And then there's this particular book, Eleanor and Park, which does an outstanding job of highlighting the complex emotions of young adults. They are caught in a web of expectations, between their own dreams, their parents' hopes for them, and the social norms dictating what they "should do."

What's truly striking about Le Guin is her ability to write across multiple genres. She has delved into Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, and Children's literature with equal skill and creativity. She is, without a doubt, my hero. Her work has created a lasting legacy that spans different genres and provides a glimmer of hope in a world that can often seem dark and brutish.

If you haven't had the chance to see her National Book Award speech, I highly recommend that you stop and watch it. It's a mere 6 minutes of pure brilliance that offers insights into her thoughts and the power of literature. You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf....

The emotional experiences presented in this book resonate powerfully, feeling both true and familiar, despite a few minor details that may not be entirely accurate.

I hold a great deal of admiration for the author's courage and proficiency in expressing the "fog" of teenage psychological turmoil with clarity and directness, without watering it down or making it unrecognizable.

I didn't have the opportunity to read this during my teenage years, and I'm unsure what its significance would have been to me at that time, as I hadn't yet had the experiences it portrays.

Reading it now, I can envision that for some individuals, a book like this could almost serve as a substitute for the kind of clarifying and stabilizing personal encounter it describes, which seems like a remarkable achievement for a literary work.

I appreciate the author's decision to allow a significant portion of the text to be essayistic, with blatant psychological discussions, and to keep it concise.

There is truly a lot to admire in this book.

Ursula was not perhaps the "right" book to start with, but it had really caught my attention when I saw it on the bookshelf.

Ursula had told her first love from a different perspective.

The narrative was concise and fluent.

I think it would be a great choice for a journey ;)

Moreover, the story in Ursula is filled with interesting details and emotions that make it engaging from start to finish. It explores the theme of first love in a unique way, showing the various aspects and feelings that come with it.

The author's writing style is easy to follow, yet it manages to convey the depth of the characters and their experiences.

Whether you are a fan of romance or simply looking for an interesting read, Ursula is definitely worth checking out. It might just surprise you and become one of your favorite books.

So, if you're planning a trip and need a good book to keep you company, consider picking up Ursula. You won't be disappointed.

Richard Ayoade has read this book and created the sweet characters in "Submarine" by greeting Nat and Owen, as if he would say that. And then I looked and realized that the film is not adapted from the book of the same name. If the characters' reactions and interactions in the book are similar, what I said may also be valid for the author of the "Submarine" book. Although I also really like Jordana and Oliver, now in my eyes, Owen and Nat (especially Nat) have become tiny little shadows. The women, and the spring atmosphere of dreams & dragons, are also very beautiful, just right. The teenagers who can't choose their path no matter what, or if they do choose, they can't keep their decision, or they don't have the courage to embark on the path... (The alarm of the strange list). This is a very sweet book that teenagers should read, emphasizing the importance of being different and having dreams without dictating or giving advice.

I would rate it 4/5.

It was completely a random reading. I had never even heard the name of this book before. It caught my eye on a bookshelf dedicated to books that seemed rather unrelated to their genres. After finishing it, my hypothesis regarding that it is not the readers who choose the books but the books that choose the readers became a bit stronger. It was very enjoyable to read the encounter and friendship of two characters who are similar in their inclinations towards art and science, their inability to conform to society, and their being unable to be otherwise.

I started reading Ursula K. Le Guin last year with "Kadınlar, Rüyalar, Ejderhalar" (Women, Dreams, Dragons). I was very impressed by her wisdom that never acts as if it is wise. I thought I was too late to get to know her. I hope to read her entire body of work, starting with the Earthsea trilogy.

This book seems to have come to be read at the right time.

I am in a period when I have to decide about my future, just like the main character Oven.

Oven doesn't know exactly what it is and what it aims for, but only knows that it doesn't want to fail and live an empty life like the people around it.

Oven meets Natalie and then everything changes...

I won't go into details here since this book is very short and easy to read.

With a lot of strong emotions, this book leaves you speechless, because it is a bit confusing.

Jealousy, suffering, feeling and alienation are excellently portrayed through the story.

The only minus is that the plot sometimes gets lost and switches to new events that leave the old ones like an old object in the closet, without further explanation.

This book has left me with a strange and specific experience.

But it is definitely a good one, one of the better ones I have read in this genre.

The real problem is that in order to access what third-class men have obtained, women must definitely do first-class jobs.

Moreover, when I was joking around, wasn't there a lack of her laughter? She wanted to laugh, she needed to laugh. Did I do a monkey imitation to finish the job? There was no resistance to this at all. :')

Of course, there is more. The background writing is excellent. It is very realistic, but on the one hand, I have never seen such people around me.

It seems that there is a certain unfairness and absurdity in this situation. Women are forced to work hard in first-class jobs to achieve what men in lower classes already have. And the description of the interaction with that person shows a kind of无奈 (helplessness). Although there is a need for laughter and relaxation, it seems that it is not that easy. The excellent background writing makes the whole situation more vivid and real, but the author's personal experience also makes it a bit strange that such things have not been seen around. Maybe this is a reflection of a certain social phenomenon that is worthy of our in-depth thinking.

We didn't mention anything about problems or parents or cars or near destinations.

We talked about life. We reached this common conclusion that it's not good to ask what the meaning of life is, because life is not an answer.

Life itself is a question and you yourself are the answer to it.

Life is a complex and multi-faceted journey that每个人 experiences differently.

It's filled with joys, sorrows, challenges, and opportunities.

Rather than seeking a fixed meaning, we should embrace the process of living and discover our own unique answers along the way.

Each person has the power to create meaning in their life through their actions, choices, and relationships.

So, instead of constantly asking "what is the meaning of life?", we should focus on living our lives to the fullest and finding our own personal answers.

After all, life is what we make of it.