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Title: The Left Hand of Darkness
Author: Ursula Le Guin
Number of pages: 304
Genre: science fiction
Book Number/Goal: 4/52
My Rating: 4/5
Notes: for Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction course
Review:
The story: a human envoy on an alien planet tries to convince the government to join the confederation of planets that he represents. The task turns out to be complicated, due to the natives' uncooperativeness and political intrigues.
The planet's climate is extremely cold, compared to Earth - it's like a permanent Arctic winter. But its main pecularity is that the inhabitants are not divided into 2 genders. Normally they are androgynous, but once a month they enter a short period when their body becomes either male or female, and it's the only time when they can make sex and get pregnant. They find it weird and disgusting that humans are perpetually locked into one gender, and are ready for sexual intercourse any time. The lack of male/female duality allows for more balance and equality in the society (e.g. any one can bear children, so there's no prejudice against half of the population potentially burdened with child-bearing). The human protagonist finds it difficult not to think in terms of gender, and constantly tries to find male or female characteristics in people he meets.
The writing style is incredibly descriptive, to the point of being almost poetic and hard to read, which is also due to the usage of many "native" words. The alien world comes out very vivid and detailed. However, the plot is slow, too heavy on politics, and lacks any exciting twists and mysteries to solve. I couldn't empathize with any of the characters and didn't care what happened to them even in the most tragic moments. The book is a great example of world-building, but the storytelling feels like a mere tool to portray the world from different aspects.
I couldn't give it a 5 because it was rather boring to slog through, but it gave a great perspective on descriptive writing and on gender issues. The cold world sounds like an awesome place to live, and I easily accepted the aliens' view of humans as perverts ;)
Author: Ursula Le Guin
Number of pages: 304
Genre: science fiction
Book Number/Goal: 4/52
My Rating: 4/5
Notes: for Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction course
Review:
The story: a human envoy on an alien planet tries to convince the government to join the confederation of planets that he represents. The task turns out to be complicated, due to the natives' uncooperativeness and political intrigues.
The planet's climate is extremely cold, compared to Earth - it's like a permanent Arctic winter. But its main pecularity is that the inhabitants are not divided into 2 genders. Normally they are androgynous, but once a month they enter a short period when their body becomes either male or female, and it's the only time when they can make sex and get pregnant. They find it weird and disgusting that humans are perpetually locked into one gender, and are ready for sexual intercourse any time. The lack of male/female duality allows for more balance and equality in the society (e.g. any one can bear children, so there's no prejudice against half of the population potentially burdened with child-bearing). The human protagonist finds it difficult not to think in terms of gender, and constantly tries to find male or female characteristics in people he meets.
The writing style is incredibly descriptive, to the point of being almost poetic and hard to read, which is also due to the usage of many "native" words. The alien world comes out very vivid and detailed. However, the plot is slow, too heavy on politics, and lacks any exciting twists and mysteries to solve. I couldn't empathize with any of the characters and didn't care what happened to them even in the most tragic moments. The book is a great example of world-building, but the storytelling feels like a mere tool to portray the world from different aspects.
I couldn't give it a 5 because it was rather boring to slog through, but it gave a great perspective on descriptive writing and on gender issues. The cold world sounds like an awesome place to live, and I easily accepted the aliens' view of humans as perverts ;)