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The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin

Start date: June 1, 2024

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Discussion: Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Apr 09, 2021 Ileana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

«[…] A friendship so much needed by us both in our exile, and already so well proved in the days and nights of our bitter journey, that it might as well be called, now as later, love. But it was from the difference between us, not from the affinities and likenesses, but from the difference, that that love came: and it was itself the bridge, the only bridge, across what divided us.» [p. 267]

This is the first novel I have read by Ursula K. Le Guin and it was so much better than I expected. It was ...more

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Apr 25, 2016 Yefim rated it really liked it

Shelves: sociological, favorites, very-inspirational, audiobooks, sci-fi, hugo-award, nebula-award, feminist, literary-spec-fic, books-in-english

4.5*

THIS is how you do anthropological science fiction! And not just because of the gender thing (although it’s fascinating in how in her portrayal of an ambisexual society, Le Guin both transcends her time and is constrained by it. Compare “Lacking the Karhidish "human pronoun" used for persons in somer, I must say "he," for the same reasons as we used the masculine pronoun in referring to a transcendent god: it is less defined, less specific, than the neuter or the feminine. But the very use o 4.5*

THIS is how you do anthropological science fiction! And not just because of the gender thing (although it’s fascinating in how in her portrayal of an ambisexual society, Le Guin both transcends her time and is constrained by it. Compare “Lacking the Karhidish "human pronoun" used for persons in somer, I must say "he," for the same reasons as we used the masculine pronoun in referring to a transcendent god: it is less defined, less specific, than the neuter or the feminine. But the very use of the pronoun in my thoughts leads me continually to forget that the Karhider I am with is not a man, but a manwoman.” with “She was probably male, to judge from the angular mazelike patterns quilting her shirt. I wasn’t entirely certain. It wouldn’t have mattered, if I had been in Radch space. Radchaai don’t care much about gender, and the language they speak—my own first language—doesn’t mark gender in any way” of the recent “Ancillary Justice.”).

Rather, the entirety of the novel is brilliantly done, from the ecology of the ice world it’s set on, to the societies- the technologically adept, but pre-industrial Karhide and organized, industrial, and totalitarian Orgoreyn, and the religions- the duality of Karhide’s Taoist-like Handdara vs Orgoreyn’s monotheistic Yomesh. The use of language as a political tool, something examined later in the constructed language of “the Dispossessed,” is touched upon here to illustrate the mentality of alien totalitarianism:

“I can't properly define that Orgota word here translated as "commensal," "commensality." Its root is a word meaning "to eat together." Its usage includes all national/ governmental institutions of Orgoreyn, from the State as a whole through its thirty-three component substates or Districts to the sub-substates, townships, communal farms, mines, factories, and so on, that compose these. As an adjective it is applied to all the above; in the form "the Commensals" it usually means the thirty-three Heads of Districts, who form the governing body, executive and legislative, of the Great Commensality of Orgoreyn, but it may also mean the citizens, the people themselves. In this curious lack of distinction between the general and specific applications of the word, in the use of it for both the whole and the part, the state and the individual, in this imprecision is its precisest meaning. “

Other reviews have mentioned how their authors had trouble identifying with the protagonist, or the book’s perceived lack of feminism, something surprising to them, given the book’s status as a feminist icon. It’s true that Genly Ai is an inveterate sexist, and his narrative doesn’t let you forget it for a moment, with descriptions like "effeminate deviousness", "sullen as an old she-otter," etc. This sort of thing seems incredible to us, but one must remember that the novel was published in 1969, when the Second Wave of feminism had only began getting off the ground, and largely bypassed and ignored science fiction and its fandom. Compare Genly Ai with his literary contemporary- Louis Wu of “Ringworld,” winner of the Hugo a year after “The Left Hand of Darkness,” and the vast gulf between the two becomes readily apparent.

Genly Ai must change to survive. Cut off from all civilization, both Gethen’s and his own, utterly alone with Estreven during their trek across the ice, both he and Estreven must change their preconceptions and biases, and see each other as a person first, gendered object second. (Louis Wu doesn’t change, because there was no need for change. Niven, it seems from reading “Ringworld”, still hadn’t grasped that women are people, too). And it was this theme of change, for the protagonist to change the world, and be changed by it in turn, that has come to define anthropological science fiction since, and which makes “The Left Hand of Darkness” the seminal work it is today.
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Jul 23, 2019 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: borrowed

I try so hard to like Ursula LeGuin. I like her as a person, I like her essays. I haven't found a novel that I've much liked or enjoyed. I heard about this one online, which was touting her forward thinking in making the 'aliens' androgynous humans - every 26 days or so they go into heat and have sex, during that time its purely up to random hormones whether they become male or female. After that brief time period is up, they return to a sexless state. Very interesting idea. Either sex partner c I try so hard to like Ursula LeGuin. I like her as a person, I like her essays. I haven't found a novel that I've much liked or enjoyed. I heard about this one online, which was touting her forward thinking in making the 'aliens' androgynous humans - every 26 days or so they go into heat and have sex, during that time its purely up to random hormones whether they become male or female. After that brief time period is up, they return to a sexless state. Very interesting idea. Either sex partner can develop female traits for the time period and become pregnant and carry a child to term. Therefore, no sexism in this society - since all are both, or, more simply, everyone is the same, and each individual can have the joy and burden of bearing children. Great idea to explore. But other than setting it forth, she doesn't really do anything with it. This is one dull story. The "adventure" part of the story -- the palace intrigue and double crossing, and near escapes in dangerous situations, quite literally put me to sleep. I fell asleep 25 pages from the END of this novel, before the denouement. That's how little I cared. All her novels seem dull to me. I never care about any of the characters, I never develop any emotional bond with them. Which, I have to chalk up to poor character development. Stephen King may not be the philosopher that LeGuin is, but his characters (to me) are very alive and suck me right into whatever ridiculous tale he's telling.

Lastly, I know LeGuin is fascinated by language and the sounds and metre of sentences and writing. I've read many an essay by her on this topic. But one of the things that I found very annoying in reading this tale are her made up place names/people names. Karhidish, Orgota, and my most hated, Orgoreyn. These place names, and many others, occur frequently throughout -- and every damn time I'd have to pause and think about how to "pronounce" them; yes, even in my head, I have to pronounce them somehow. It very much annoyed me and interrupted the flow of the story for me. I read lots of fantasy, science fiction, and stories written in made up languages or dialect. Its rarely a problem -- but LeGuin's made up words drove me nuts. She provided a lengthy explanation of the world's calendar system; I'd of much preferred a pronunciation guide. ...more

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