The Rule of Names

Ursula K. Le Guin The documentary film Anarchism in America, which features interviews with Karl Hess and Murray Bookchin among others, is advertised as containing footage of sf author Ursula Le Guin as well. But a number of viewers have reported, with disappointment, that Le Guin is nowhere to be found.

I’m not so sure. In track 3, titled “International Symposium on Anarchism,” there’s a frustratingly brief clip of an unidentified woman saying: “I think anarchism to most people does mean bomb-throwing, at first. But they don’t know that it’s an idea at all, and a whole political philosophy, and a moral philosophy.”

Is that Le Guin? I think it might be. (Even if so, admittedly an insufficient basis for including her name in puffery for the film. Still, it’s an excellent film, worth a watch.)

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9 Responses to The Rule of Names

  1. Anonymous2 September 5, 2006 at 7:48 pm #

    But Ursula LeGuin and Murray Bookchin are those evil socialist anarchists that want to abolish wage labor! How can a self-respecting libertarian even deign to mention their hated names!?

  2. MDM September 6, 2006 at 8:06 am #

    Roderick,
    Yep, that’s LeGuin. I didn’t realize it was her until after I watched the documentary and then saw that she was listed on the cover.

    P. S. It seems Anonymous2 has created for you a “teachable moment.”

  3. Administrator September 6, 2006 at 11:28 am #

    Anonymous2’s comment sounds tongue in cheek to me.

  4. Joel Schlosberg September 6, 2006 at 1:49 pm #

    One example that comes to mind of another movie that did this sort of thing is Brian Flemming’s documentary “The God Who Wasn’t There” — some of the publicity gave the impression that Richard Dawkins was in the film, but it turns out he appears in a commentary track, not the film itself.

  5. Administrator September 7, 2006 at 12:30 pm #

    Le Guin’s mother, Theodora Kroeber, was also an anthropologist and studied native folktale traditions.

  6. Gail October 9, 2006 at 4:02 pm #

    This page is not very helpful at all. I was trying to look for some information on the book: The Rule of Names. But to my surprise, I only found out information for the author is the book on this web page. It would be greatly appreciated by me and all who wanted to learn more about the book if you would add information about your book to this web page. It only makes sense. Thank you for your time.

    – Gail N.

  7. Erik May 11, 2007 at 1:21 pm #

    Gail,
    It’s actually a short story – it was published in LeGuin’s collection, “The Wind’s Twelve Quarters”.

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