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The Field of Vision: A Story
The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her spare, elegant prose, rich characterization, and diverse worlds. "The Field of Vision" is a short story originally published in the collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters.
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1973
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About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,045 books30.4k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 26, 2018
one of the nine billion names
January 3, 2022
Fascinating.
May 10, 2018
Le Guin has a way with words that is almost hypnotic. I love her writing style and even when I'm not into the story her prose just pull me in until the last page.
The field of Vision is about a group exploring an alien planet, some of whom experience sudden blindness/brain trauma, but the why and how this happened and the conclusion is confusing. I'm even more bewildered after reading this short sci-fi story originally published in the collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters. I think I'll let Le Guin's introduction speak for itself.
Ok, now that makes more sense...sort of? At least Le Guin has a sense of humour.
The field of Vision is about a group exploring an alien planet, some of whom experience sudden blindness/brain trauma, but the why and how this happened and the conclusion is confusing. I'm even more bewildered after reading this short sci-fi story originally published in the collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters. I think I'll let Le Guin's introduction speak for itself.
"I hardly know what to say about 'The Field of Vision'; it is a sort of sublimated temper tantrum. An indignant letter to the editor. A raspberry."
Ok, now that makes more sense...sort of? At least Le Guin has a sense of humour.
October 20, 2023
4.5
Imagine something infiltrating your senses and being unable to describe it or go back to the way you were before. The madness of truth has infiltrated various fictions of psychological and horror variations. This is one of the few stories (apart from Lovecraft) that make finding the "Face of God" a condemnation of your own humanity that I have enjoyed.
Imagine something infiltrating your senses and being unable to describe it or go back to the way you were before. The madness of truth has infiltrated various fictions of psychological and horror variations. This is one of the few stories (apart from Lovecraft) that make finding the "Face of God" a condemnation of your own humanity that I have enjoyed.
October 22, 2019
And in the room on Mars, 3 astronauts are driven mad by seeing the face of God...
March 13, 2025
Le guins description of Hughes's experience sounded so terrifying, and the fact that he killed himself caught me off guard but also makes a lot of sense.
I liked -.. God.. the re-readability of this is insane- the subtle foreshadowing, the message, the idea of an exploration of a ?millions years old Martian cave gone wrong where only 2 come back and only slightly sane? From that point on a science fi writer could go many ways, and I would've gone more focused on the lost civilisation, but le guin went deep into the human psyche and our godlesness. By the way, I don't believe in God, and I do not believe that to be the true message, I think it doesn't have to be specific to any said religious beliefs, but rather the daily choice of enlightenment or -almost animalistic- dead brained habit. I think I liked it so well because this is exactly what I'm thinking of these days. And I know I'm deciding on my life, I am fully aware of all the control I have, and am mindful of the "wrong" choices I keep on making, out of comfort, habit, seeking pleasure above all else. So then who am I Diss America in the next paragraph? No one. But atleast I'm aware of the problem. And I am part of the problem. I am also the solution. Peace starts with me
One thing that bothered me was the mentioning of America. Even though it was making fun of them, I'm so tired of hearing about America, especially in works of fiction. America is not earth. Anyways, would another setting have been better? Perhaps the very irony of America is the whole point, having read the Vaughan poem in full and understanding the message of it; we pathetic humans don't care (anymore) for God and absolute truth, we're in our own little world, reading the newspaper as entertainment "ah Mars how exciting!" Isn't that exactly what is going on right now with Elon Musk, who is quite an idiot, as far as I've heard.
My flash-new rating system. It rates the things I find important, and if it scores high, it satisfies me!
Overall rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dialogue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pacing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Immersion ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Depth/complexity ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Re-readability ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Creativity ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ending ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
+space explorer Hughes is "blind" and temski is "deaf" except they're the opposite
+scifi, Mars, loneliness, suspense, therapy, exploration, God
I liked -.. God.. the re-readability of this is insane- the subtle foreshadowing, the message, the idea of an exploration of a ?millions years old Martian cave gone wrong where only 2 come back and only slightly sane? From that point on a science fi writer could go many ways, and I would've gone more focused on the lost civilisation, but le guin went deep into the human psyche and our godlesness. By the way, I don't believe in God, and I do not believe that to be the true message, I think it doesn't have to be specific to any said religious beliefs, but rather the daily choice of enlightenment or -almost animalistic- dead brained habit. I think I liked it so well because this is exactly what I'm thinking of these days. And I know I'm deciding on my life, I am fully aware of all the control I have, and am mindful of the "wrong" choices I keep on making, out of comfort, habit, seeking pleasure above all else. So then who am I Diss America in the next paragraph? No one. But atleast I'm aware of the problem. And I am part of the problem. I am also the solution. Peace starts with me
One thing that bothered me was the mentioning of America. Even though it was making fun of them, I'm so tired of hearing about America, especially in works of fiction. America is not earth. Anyways, would another setting have been better? Perhaps the very irony of America is the whole point, having read the Vaughan poem in full and understanding the message of it; we pathetic humans don't care (anymore) for God and absolute truth, we're in our own little world, reading the newspaper as entertainment "ah Mars how exciting!" Isn't that exactly what is going on right now with Elon Musk, who is quite an idiot, as far as I've heard.
My flash-new rating system. It rates the things I find important, and if it scores high, it satisfies me!
Overall rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dialogue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pacing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Immersion ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Depth/complexity ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Re-readability ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Creativity ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ending ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
+space explorer Hughes is "blind" and temski is "deaf" except they're the opposite
+scifi, Mars, loneliness, suspense, therapy, exploration, God
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2021
Collected in The Wind's Twelve Quarters: A Story. Geraint Hughes and 2 other astronauts have had strange symptoms after exploring a room on Mars. Hughs has problems with his sight. Temski has issues with hearing. And the third astronaut died. What did they see in the room? And why has it caused such a change in perspective? Perhaps humanity is not meant to perceive the imperceptible or comprehend the incomprehensible.
August 9, 2023
Wow. What a concept. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews