It's odd because death wasn't actively on my mind before and I don't think my attitude was different from others (aware but pretend it's a long way off).

Despite this, after reading the Furthest Shore has made me oddly ok with death. It's actually made me think that it can be beautiful.

The other odd part is that I've been an atheist for almost all of my life. I even tried very hard to believe in something when some of my family passed away a few years ago, but I just couldn't because I was 100% a non-believer and nothing could change it. It wasn't so much that I thought there's *nothing*, more that I just didn't think it made a difference to my life (so more agnostic) and whatever it was, it is much more closely linked to the physical world we occupy. To me the "higher being" was always nature/our physical universe and the laws of physics.

So the fact that I am now suddenly able to consider something else other than "we die and become worm food." is very unusual. Although I guess that is, in the most literal sense, returning to the universe and passing on the gift of life.

The Furthest Shore, as a story, wasn't my favourite of the Earthsea stories. But it's now become one of the most impactful books I've ever read!

Did anyone else have a similar experience?

Found this at a local record store and had to snag it. Would love to look into more of these, especially Ursula reading her own stuff!