The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ursula K. Le GuinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-07-01
ISBN: 0441007317
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Ace Trade
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780441007318
- Condition: New
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Book Reviews of The Left Hand of Darkness
Book Review: A Masterpiece of "social science" fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
A Masterpiece of "social science" fiction
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, most notably in the fantasy and science fiction genres, and it is as writer of the last of these that she is best known. She was first published in the 1960s, and her works have explored eastern spirituality and ecology as well as anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, psychological and sociological themes. She has received several Hugo and Nebula awards, and was awarded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award in 2003. Le Guin was raised in Berkeley, California, the daughter of the anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber (her father was granted the first Ph.D. in Anthropology in the United States in 1901 by Columbia University) and the writer Theodora Kroeber.
Much of Le Guin's science fiction places a strong emphasis on the social sciences, including sociology and anthropology, thus placing it in the subcategory known as soft, or "social science" fiction. Her writing often makes use of unusual alien cultures to convey a message about Earthly culture. Perhaps the best example is her exploration of gender identity through the hermaphroditic race in "The Left Hand of Darkness," which forms an important part of the canon of what has come to be called feminist science fiction.
"The Left Hand of Darkness" ("LHOD") is the account of the efforts of an Earth human named Genly Ai, a representative from a galactic federation of worlds (the Ekumen), who seeks to bring the world of Gethen (also known as 'Winter' for its globe-spanning frigid climate) into that federation. The inhabitants of Gethen/Winter are androgynes, biologically hermaphroditic humans. For twenty-four days of each twenty-six day lunar cycle they are biologically neuter, and for the remaining two days are either male or female, as determined by the presence of a prospective partner. Thus the mother of several children may be the father of several more (families on Winter are large) and humanity is not categorized into protecting ("male") and protected ("female") halves. This is a situation that makes Genly, an Earth male, more than a trace uncomfortable and his proneness to ascribe all of the negative, supposedly "feminine" traits of obliqueness, inconstancy and untrustworthiness to his multigendered hosts is painfully evident.
The story opens in the feudal kingdom of Karhide, one of Gethen/Winter's many nation-states where the two primary characters, Genly of the Ekumen and Estraven, the prime minister of Karhide, are introduced. Karhide is a barely governable feudal monarchy ("a bloody family quarrel rather than a nation"), ruled by a highly eccentric and ineffectual king whose chief interest is in preserving his royal prerogatives against rivals for the throne. Genly, dissatisfied with his rebuffed attempts at enrolling reactionary Karhide into the Ekumen, leaves the capital city hoping to explore the older mythology of the country-folk and to learn more of the ancient Karhidish religion, its priesthood and its highly accurate practice of prophecy ("foretelling").
Satisfied that he has seen enough of impoverished Karhide, which he believes is too backward, anarchic and irrational to understand much less accept Ekumen membership, he leaves for Orgoreyn.
In the second part of the book, the account unfolds in the centralized, efficient and totalitarian state of Orgoreyn, where Genly is accepted as a means to an end by an Orgota political faction. When Genly first arrives in Orgoreyn, he is pleased with the state of the country, believing it more progressive and less hidebound in tradition than Karhide, and more ready to accept the Ekumen. Gradually as Genly sojourns in Orgoreyn, he begins to feel as if he is not seeing everything, as if what he is seeing is an officially approved but profoundly dishonest misrepresentation of Orgota life.
The differences between these two states, roughly paralleling those between contemporary superpowers on Earth, and the reactions of Genly, Estraven, and other characters in the book provide insights into the motivations of Genly and the inhabitants of Winter.
During the third part of the book, Estraven, whom Genly has misjudged as a traitor, saves the envoy from imprisonment and death, and they travel together across the glaciers and ice deserts forming the borders of Orgoreyn and Karhide, creating an intense friendship between the envoy and deposed prime minister that transcends gender and culture.
Le Guin creates believable worlds populated by strongly sympathetic characters, making these worlds credible by the attention she pays to the ordinary transactions of everyday life ("a common eating utensil on Gethen's tables is an ice-pick with which one chips away the ice that forms on one's mug of ale"). Her interactions between characters are sympathetic to human expression from the myriad of "un-Earthly" perspectives she creates, and she adroitly explores a wide array of political, ethical and cultural themes. This story is a testament to the universality and the indomitability of the human spirit regardless of the nature of the environment, the outlandishness of the society or the cruelty of the political system: people are people no matter how odd the culture or how "alien" the appearance.
While LeGuin is one of my favorite authors and "LHOD" one of my favorite and most re-read books, I find the first several chapters to be quite tedious. It does take some intestinal fortitude to force oneself through a dry, slow and frankly uninteresting beginning, however the character development and plot quickens, and the reader's perseverence is rewarded: the book is more than well worth the effort. I'd suggest "LHOD" for the more patient reader and for readers with a relatively mature mindset about issues relating to gender. In summary, a masterpiece, but perhaps not for everyone.
Summary of The Left Hand of Darkness
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards
A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
Genly Ai is an emissary from the human galaxy to Winter, a lost, stray world. His mission is to bring the planet back into the fold of an evolving galactic civilization, but to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own culture and prejudices and those that he encounters. On a planet where people are of no gender--or both--this is a broad gulf indeed. The inventiveness and delicacy with which Le Guin portrays her alien world are not only unusual and inspiring, they are fundamental to almost all decent science fiction that has been written since. In fact, reading Le Guin again may cause the eye to narrow somewhat disapprovingly at the younger generation: what new ground are they breaking that is not already explored here with greater skill and acumen? It cannot be said, however, that this is a rollicking good story. Le Guin takes a lot of time to explore her characters, the world of her creation, and the philosophical themes that arise.
If there were a canon of classic science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness would be included without debate. Certainly, no science fiction bookshelf may be said to be complete without it. But the real question: is it fun to read? It is science fiction of an earlier time, a time that has not worn particularly well in the genre. The Left Hand of Darkness was a groundbreaking book in 1969, a time when, like the rest of the arts, science fiction was awakening to new dimensions in both society and literature. But the first excursions out of the pulp tradition are sometimes difficult to reread with much enjoyment. Rereading The Left Hand of Darkness, decades after its publication, one feels that those who chose it for the Hugo and Nebula awards were right to do so, for it truly does stand out as one of the great books of that era. It is immensely rich in timeless wisdom and insight.
The Left Hand of Darkness is science fiction for the thinking reader, and should be read attentively in order to properly savor the depth of insight and the subtleties of plot and character. It is one of those pleasures that requires a little investment at the beginning, but pays back tenfold with the joy of raw imagination that resonates through the subsequent 30 years of science fiction storytelling. Not only is the bookshelf incomplete without owning it, so is the reader without having read it. --L. Blunt Jackson
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