Le Guin: Left Hand of Darkness: 5] LHOD conclusion: Chapters 16 - 20. Between Drumner and Dregemole -to- A Fool's Errand

[Derek, Miéville fan-boi]

Oh, Nataliya, you over-achiever! I tend to glaze when it comes to Introductions and Prefaces. I'm certain I _did_ read it, but that doesn't mean I took much in. She also apologized (perhaps not in the same place) for getting it wrong...

I just don't see the value in simply reiterating wrong ideas of the time - sure that resonates with the average SF reader of 1969 (young, white, male) - but it won't teach them that it's a stupid pig-headed way of thinking.

[Nataliya]

Derek wrote: "Oh, Nataliya, you over-achiever! I tend to glaze when it comes to Introductions and Prefaces. I'm certain I _did_ read it, but that doesn't mean I took much in. She also apologized (perhaps not in..."

Haha, my copy of the book had the introduction, and I absolutely loved it! I love reading introductions ever since childhood (I remember picking up Tom Saywer and Huck Finn when I was 5 and starting to read with the 30+ pages of introduction - confused me for the next few years since I was too young to realize that it was not actually a part of the plot).

[Traveller]

Argh. I hate, hate hate it when Goodreads swallows long comments! I just lose my courage in typing it all out again...

[Derek, Miéville fan-boi]

been there, done that. For the latest GR group read I did, my first long comment got swallowed twice before I was smart enough to copy/paste before submitting it the third time.

[Traveller]

Anyway, just quickly want to say that it's good to see Nataliya came back to the discussion, and though she is a pretty darn competent advocate pro what Le Guin did here, I must stick to my guns (and funny that Allen and Derek seem more on the women's side? I love it!) that she could have shown more clearly that the reason that women have not been able to contribute to permanent culture and technology to their full abilities is more because they've not been allowed to, rather that they would not have the inherent abilities (or many of them, in any case) if given a chance.

But your arguments have softened my attitude to the issue somewhat, Ruth and Nataliya, re that she was probably also not that young when she wrote it, and was probably so deeply entrenched in the culture that she grew up in that it possibly didn't even occur to her at the time?