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The Left Hand of Darkness
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"Left Hand of Darkness" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*
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Sarah
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 10, 2017 10:25AM
It appears that there's not a specific thread for our last impressions so here's a new one. Spoilers allowed.
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OK, I am a geek - kinda - maybe - sometimes. But what I loved about this book was UKLG's exploration of how much gender influences society. Now she was writing from the perspective that gender influence had a negative outcome, but reality tells us that there will always be both good and bad. I am sure how you see the scales balance is dependent on your gender and situation. But her exploration of how pervasive and wide spread the influence is was very interesting.
I think what I was most impressed with was the multiple thought experiments in one setting. There's the business of everyone being both male and female. Then there's the related but distinguishable effect of everyone being asexual most of the time and very sexual some of the time. Besides that there's the effect of climate on culture - I read this and The Dispossessed right after Dune and it was useful to contrast their takes on it. And there was the conditionally permitted incest, though as far as I could tell that just turned out to be a new way to engineer tragic love stories.
This one was definitely an idea book, to the detriment of the storytelling, in my opinion. I felt that the old writer's adage "Show, don't tell" should have been followed. I realize that it's not an absolute, but I think that what is shown and what is summarized are important choices. I wish that some of the space spent on factional discussions and on physical demands of the icy trek had been given instead to more depth for characters and plot.I did like the ideas, and I liked the way the relationship between Ai and Estraven developed.
Despite have been awarded five Locus, four Nebula, two Hugo awards, induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and being named Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, I’m not all that sure that Ursula K. Le Guin is a science fiction writer. I suspect that she is really a sociologist who writes about how people interact in societies, using imaginary distant worlds as the medium by which she explores how her subjects react in a given situation. Maybe Le Guin would disagree with me. In her magnificent introduction, she scoffs at the commonly accepted notion that science fiction is predictive. Her response is that:
Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.
Predictions are uttered by prophets (free of charge), by clairvoyants (who usually charge a fee, and are therefore more honored in their day than prophets), and by futurologists (salaried). It is not the business of novelists. A novelist’s business is lying.
Chris wrote: "This one was definitely an idea book, to the detriment of the storytelling, in my opinion."I agree to a point which is why I found the beginning of the book slow going. Once Genly Ai was arrested, though, the pace picked up and I couldn't read it fast enough.
Tom wrote: "I’m not all that sure that Ursula K. Le Guin is a science fiction writer. I suspect that she is really a sociologist who writes about how people interact in societies, using imaginary distant worlds as the medium by which she explores how her subjects react in a given situation."Well... sociology is a science. There is a tendency to limit the label of science fiction to just books about math, physics, and biology ("hard" sciences? does "hard" = "male"?), but that limits the things we can explore in this genre. And as far as writing about how people react to situations - that's what makes many science fiction ideas great, IMHO. Otherwise it is just a book about things...
It is interesting that she says novelists are liars. That seems tongue-in-cheek to me. For example, Jack noticed in an earlier comment that she is showing the pervasiveness of gender in a society. This seems like a "truth" about our own human societies to me. Though I see she may be implying the best lies are "true lies"...
Tom wrote: " I’m not all that sure that Ursula K. Le Guin is a science fiction writer. I suspect that she is really a sociologist who writes about how people interact in societies, using imaginary distant worlds as the medium by which she explores how her subjects react in a given situation. "I agree. It's clear that Le Guin knows virtually nothing about science (in this book she describes rubies as carbon gems). But then in the appendix she puts in a section that is just superfluous SF world building. I find her books inconsistent in the message she is trying to send.
Michael wrote: "Tom wrote: "I’m not all that sure that Ursula K. Le Guin is a science fiction writer. I suspect that she is really a sociologist who writes about how people interact in societies, using imaginary d..."it is strange to say that her books are not sc fi , such a narrow definition if all sc fi is only physics and maths
Kateb wrote: "it is strange to say that her books are not sc fi , such a narrow definition if all sc fi is only physics and maths..."It's equally strange to point out that the only Ursula Le Guin book I was ever assigned for class was in a political science class. We read The Dispossessed and used it as a basis for discussing the practical application of an anarchistic state.
I think a lot of sci fi is about social and political ideas, the "what if" story line. Some of my most fav books are about a future different to what we have now. Thus a social/ political change.
Part of the problem with pigeon holing a book is that it limits the scope and impact. Is the Left Hand of Darkness a Sociology book looking at gender Issues? Is it a Philosophy book looking at definitions of love/attraction? Is it Literature making commentary on society, class, gender, communication, self reflection? Is it genre fiction read for pleasure? Is it Science Fiction? The great thing is that because a book does not have to be just one thing, the answer is yes.Good writing/stories transcend being only one category.
Jack wrote: "Part of the problem with pigeon holing a book is that it limits the scope and impact. Is the Left Hand of Darkness a Sociology book looking at gender Issues? Is it a Philosophy book looking at defi..."what a great answer
Jack wrote: "Part of the problem with pigeon holing a book is that it limits the scope and impact. Is the Left Hand of Darkness a Sociology book looking at gender Issues? Is it a Philosophy book looking at defi..."Well said. It is also a great topic for conversation.
Necroposting :)Everything Jack said above! The moment I realised that SF doesn't have to be about spaceships, robots and the technical development was the moment I fell in love with the genre.
For me the best of SF is about the development of the human mind, the expansion of our understanding. And this is what UKLG did here in this absolutely beautiful novel. I was totally captured by the book. Usually I'm not a fast reader (mostly due to the fact that I'm not so skilled in English), but I finished this book in 1.5 days. I'm still under its spell, and at the moment I would say, I loved everything about it.
Once I realised that all the words, where my ebook dictionary showed me "no definition found", are in fact made up words (took me some time *blush*) I was fascinated by the use of "alien" language. Only shifgrethor I had to look up (thanks to all the wonderful ppl who put Gethen Glossaries on the internet), cause I couldn't imagine what this could mean. The vocabulary worked so well in creating a truly different society.
I loved the way Ai was portrayed as a man who tried to hold on to his "masculinity" - with the occasionally thrown in derogative remarks about qualities he assumed "feminine" - only to find his whole philosphy questioned when he learned to know Estraven better, up to the point when he sees his shipmates again and deemes them to be somehow wrong. This transition of mind was so subtly and believably written.
I also loved how the different understandings of communication of Ai and Estraven lead to the catastrophe. Since the author shows both POVs, the reader can comprehend both sides.
And not to forget: a good idea does not mean a good book, when the author can't enthral me with the wording and pacing. UKLG excelled in both, which had me in tears several times towards the end of the book. Beautiful!
(And why on earth do I ALWAYS have to fall in love with the doomed ones?)
Gabi wrote: "Necroposting :)Everything Jack said above! The moment I realised that SF doesn't have to be about spaceships, robots and the technical development was the moment I fell in love with the genre.
..."
I’m so glad you were so taken by this novel, Gabi. I blazed through it as well. And I agree with every single thing you said.
One of the aspects of Le Guin’s writing that continues to amaze me is how muscular it is. How spare and clean and precise and unsentimental, and yet it is teeming with life and soul, and so often moves me to tears. In this book and in the Earthsea Trilogy, she crafts such an incredibly believable arc of two characters who don’t fully know or trust one another forging an indelible bond through hardship and *having* to trust one another. I can’t think of many other authors who so beautifully and skillfully navigate that path.
Among the most affecting sections of the book for me was the journey to the work camp. It came as a total surprise that such a place would exist in this world, and her depiction of the combination of despair and will to survive was so powerfully and tragically drawn.
Above all else, Le Guin was a writer of conscience, with a deep belief in the power of humanity to overcome difference and stare down and survive the worst tragedies; and yet she was also a profound realist, able to recognize and depict the monsters that human beings could become, but always seeing all sides with compassion. Her work has made my life better many times over, and I still have a lot of it left to read.
Yes, the whole work camp section came as a surprise. I had to read the beginning of that twice, cause I thought, I missed something. It was a very bleak and inhumane situation, written in a matter-of-fact style that made the scenes even more concise.I realised that there are some 10 novels in the Hainish series, so my TBR list just extended.
I thought I remembered this book better than I actually do - in the many years since I last read it, my view of it has been affected by reading commentary on it (by Le Guin and others) and seeing it on stage. While these have been by no means negative experiences, their focus on particular parts of the book made me forget how much I enjoyed the writing and story of the original.
Apparently I'll be the first one to comment for the 2020 re-read. I am extrapolating what follows from an otherwise detailed post, because it summarizes what puzzles me about some of the reactions to the novel.
Chris wrote: "This one was definitely an idea book, to the detriment of the storytelling, in my opinion."
Now, isn't that the exact definition of speculative fiction? I didn't walk into this expecting an action movie. Usually, I don't enjoy action movies.
This novel takes place during an Ice Age. The Gethenians are people of the cold. They do not chat; their words have weight. True, they are also aloft; they keep their shifgrethor. They are aguably opaque, to each other and the reader (Gethenians know how to read such opaqueness; Genly Ai doesn't). This is instrumental in setting the tone of the novel.
It has already been noted that a lot actually happens within the narrative. I know more than one contemporary writer who could take lessons in spareness from Le Guin.
Well said, AGE! Le Guin was a poet among storytellers. I did think the story was a bit hard to get into but once I realized what sheèd done with the writing, I was transfixed. The end gave me shivers.
Well she was also a poet, and you have piqued my curiosity, although that might be off topic. But her prose is always extremely vivid: the opening parade, the trip to the prison camp, the trek on the glacier, and many other passages registered with all of my senses and faculties. I think this has to do not just with her ability in describing, but also in setting a scene that will resonate with the reader.
About a third of the way through this and its looking to be my favourite Le Guin.
I'm so excited for your thoughts about later!
Ryan wrote: "About a third of the way through this and its looking to be my favourite Le Guin."👀💕
Cant wait to hear!
I’m always very happy to read the thoughts of someone who’s been touched and impressed by this book. I consider it to be a masterpiece. Thanks for sharing!
Likewise. One of the very best from Le Guin, and of all of literature - as far as I know.It is exciting to see people experience it. So, thank you for sharing. Were you previously familiar with Le Guin? With SF or otherwise. The Dispossessed can not be highly enough recommended for the wide array of themes it touches, from sociopolitical to philosophical and beyond.
There seems to be a trend in Le Guin's Hainish novels of having most of the action on the planet and not in spaceships even though spaceships exist. I read Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions before The Left Hand of Darkness and they all follow the same pattern. Very different from Star Trek where a lot of things happen on space ships and space stations. But the Hainish cycle books I have read all deal with aliens interacting with natives of planets which seems very sci-fy to me and similar to Star Trek in a lot of ways. Just seems like the author chose to focus on action on the planets instead of in space.I liked all of the Hainish cycle books very much. They are right up my alley in terms of the type of book I enjoy reading.
That’s a good point, Bobby. I think UKL was more interested in social aspects of SF, anthropological and cultural. What some people call “soft” Science Fiction. And she didn’t write Space Opera or about Big Dumb Objects.
The Hainish cycle books I have read have a lot of the same things that other space books and movies/tv that I like. They have space ships, aliens, travel between stars. There is a lot of drama and conflict and emotion. The Left Hand of Darkness is a first contact story. There are a collection of star systems that form a government and are trying to bring a new system into the fold much like on Star Trek. I guess I don't care if it is called Space Opera as long as I enjoy reading it. But it has similarities to works that I enjoy that fall into that category.
