On the planet Winter, there is no gender. The Gethenians can become male or female during each mating cycle, and this is something that humans find incomprehensible.
The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent an ethnologist to study the Gethenians on their forbidding, ice-bound world. At first he finds his subjects difficult and off-putting, with their elaborate social systems and alien minds. But in the course of a long journey across the ice, he reaches an understanding with one of the Gethenians — it might even be a kind of love
I get why it's held in high esteem, but not a top favorite for me
4 stars
It's well-written, contains interesting ideas, and takes place in an interesting setting, but the story itself just didn't grab me. It was still pretty easy to keep reading though, in part because the writing was so enjoyable, and in part because there were some bits of lore sprinkled in that I actually found more engrossing than the main plot. They don't feel clunky enough for me to call them infodumps, though I suppose that's kind of what they are. Whatever you want to call those, I think they were my favorite parts.
Ultimately, I would say this is one of those books I admire more than I like, but don't take that overly harshly. I would say this is purely a matter of taste, not quality.
On the one hand, I didn't enjoy the main story that much. I wouldn't say it's boring, it just didn't grab me I guess. On the other hand, the writing/prose is quite good, and there were parts I did quite enjoy. I did like the core idea, and the setting is interesting and well-constructed. There are a couple of "lore dumps" in particular that were my favorite parts of the book.
I remember hearing someone say about some other book something along the lines of "I admire it more than I enjoyed it," and I think that somewhat fits my feelings here. I wouldn't go so far as to say I didn't like it, but I wouldn't call it a favorite either. That said, I find it hard to give it just an average rating, as it was so well-written.
Sòlida ciència ficció que no deixa fred (badumtss)
No rating
El títol és una conya perquè la novel·la transcorre en el planeta Hivern, que té temperatures significativament més baixes que les de la Terra.
I Le Guin posa força llenya a l'estufa (prometo parar!): no només hi ha la construcció de com seria la vida en un món així de fred amb una biosfera particular, i on la humanitat va arribar fa milers d'anys des de l'espai en condicions gens clares. El nivell tecnològic seria com és ara l’actual, adaptat al planeta.
Un altre gran tema és que lis habitants d’aquest planeta passen la major part del temps en un estat andrògin, des del que poden manifestar qualsevol dels dos sexes biològics quan entren en zel. Al principi em preocupava trobar-me amb essencialismes de gènere, però en tot cas són el punt de vista incomplert d’un dels protagonistes, que anirà canviant. I com afecta la particularitat biològica de la població …
El títol és una conya perquè la novel·la transcorre en el planeta Hivern, que té temperatures significativament més baixes que les de la Terra.
I Le Guin posa força llenya a l'estufa (prometo parar!): no només hi ha la construcció de com seria la vida en un món així de fred amb una biosfera particular, i on la humanitat va arribar fa milers d'anys des de l'espai en condicions gens clares. El nivell tecnològic seria com és ara l’actual, adaptat al planeta.
Un altre gran tema és que lis habitants d’aquest planeta passen la major part del temps en un estat andrògin, des del que poden manifestar qualsevol dels dos sexes biològics quan entren en zel. Al principi em preocupava trobar-me amb essencialismes de gènere, però en tot cas són el punt de vista incomplert d’un dels protagonistes, que anirà canviant. I com afecta la particularitat biològica de la població d’Hivern a la història? Doncs al meu parer de manera molt natural l’allibera de divisions de gènere. En tot cas permet que ens plantegem com moltes de les coses que atribuïm a diferències de gènere són adquirides socialment.
L’altre gran punt, que pesa bastant, és la crítica social i política, i de fet vaig estar a punt de compartir-ne un parell de cites fent duríssima crítica al patriotisme. Es detallen dos països; l’un és una mena de monarquia disfuncional: el llibre mostra com els horrors vénen des d’aquest grup polític priviliegiat que governa sobre un poble que culturalment practica el suport mutu. Kropotkin ens diria que per necessitat, donades les difícils condicions del planeta. No n’escatima la crítica, esclar: és admirable com Le Guin elabora les seves societats incorporant-hi sempre la foscor, seguint línies taoistes que tant li agraden i que van apareixent en el llibre.
Però si un dels països és un garbuix, l’altre és una clara referència a una dictadura socialista. I com ja passava en «els Desposseïts», la crítica és brutal. I és que realment quin tipus de persona voldria viure en una distopia de control social i submissió política?
El recomano molt: tot el que he explicat queda barrejat en les aventures del primer enviat que arriba a Hivern des d’un altre planeta, de forma molt entretinguda... I és difícil no trobar-hi idees en les que aprofundir!
Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Here it is... this infamous volume of feminist sci-fi that I have found my younger contemporaries have never heard about. Which I find shocking, as this book is trumpeted as an infamous volume of feminist sci-fi literateur. Does it deserve this reputation? Does it deserve the Nebula and Hugo award that it concurrently? Is that even an indication of quality since garbage like Ender's Game seems able to.... but I digress.
The Left Hand of Darkness follows (mostly) Genly Ai, an Envoy originally from Terra (code for our world!) sent to the creatively named planet of Winter to try and convince them to join a planetary union known as the Ekumen. On Winter, Ai must find a way to navigate the strange, alien politics to achieve his goal without being killed in the process.
And what's so strange about this society that the politics would be hard to navigate? Well, …
Here it is... this infamous volume of feminist sci-fi that I have found my younger contemporaries have never heard about. Which I find shocking, as this book is trumpeted as an infamous volume of feminist sci-fi literateur. Does it deserve this reputation? Does it deserve the Nebula and Hugo award that it concurrently? Is that even an indication of quality since garbage like Ender's Game seems able to.... but I digress.
The Left Hand of Darkness follows (mostly) Genly Ai, an Envoy originally from Terra (code for our world!) sent to the creatively named planet of Winter to try and convince them to join a planetary union known as the Ekumen. On Winter, Ai must find a way to navigate the strange, alien politics to achieve his goal without being killed in the process.
And what's so strange about this society that the politics would be hard to navigate? Well, get ready for the gimmick here, because it will blow your mind if Harold Bloom can be believed (that pretentious bastard). On Winter, there is no such thing as gender. Everybody is mostly sexless except for at certain times of the month when they go into 'kimmering'. While in kimmer, they hook up with other kimmerlings and, depending on the hormones of the participants, one will be the male and the other female as they have wanton, progressive alien sex until their hormones calm down and they return to their sexless self.
That's the gimmick in this novel... well, that and it's really cold on this planet. I call this a gimmick because that is the function this plays in the book. The Left Hand of Darkness is what would be commonly known at the time as a sort of 'science fiction travelogue' which combines generic science fiction adventure with new, wondrous world with new wondrous beings.
And, as such, it works very well. You get a sense of the landscape, cultures, and society of this planet. Further, there really is no generic science fiction adventure in this. If anything, the conflict is between Ai and his sense of identity as a 1)Freak of nature and 2) Exile cut off from his own kind. And LeGuin handles his development masterfully without having to resort to 'space sex' as her contemporaries would/do... all...the... time...
I can not see this as breaking new grounds with 'gender norms' in science fiction. To tell the truth, the inhabitants of Winter are mostly portrayed as men. The only femininity they possess seems to be that of a eunuch's quality. But it does deserve a place as one of the classics of science fiction, and no doubt acted as a stepping stone for Le Guin to find her voice and the themes she would visit in later writings.
