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_david_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The worldbuilding is masterfully executed, revealing a rich and diverse world and culture within the confines of a relatively short book. The characters are captivating, and the narrative effectively captures the challenges of collaboration with a culture one doesn't fully comprehend and vice versa.
The book successfully presents multiple perspectives, with the main character questioning his own ideas and cultural norms after engaging with Winter's people. What stands out is how Winter and its countries aren't portrayed as utopias nor lesser places than earth. They're not good or bad, just different, with their own moral grey areas. Even the two countries that are shown in the book have big cultural differences. Eventhough gender is a significant theme and the first thing you'll likely learn when looking up the book, the core focus revolves around learning to respect and collaborate with another culture. The way gender is represented in the book is in a world that shows the what-if scenario of a society where gender (or sexuality) has no impact on people's role in it.
The only aspect I wish were different is that 'neutral' pronouns and other terms are male to the reader. Perhaps it highlights the flaws of the main character and his default way of thinking. But I still found it odd.
The book successfully presents multiple perspectives, with the main character questioning his own ideas and cultural norms after engaging with Winter's people. What stands out is how Winter and its countries aren't portrayed as utopias nor lesser places than earth. They're not good or bad, just different, with their own moral grey areas. Even the two countries that are shown in the book have big cultural differences. Eventhough gender is a significant theme and the first thing you'll likely learn when looking up the book, the core focus revolves around learning to respect and collaborate with another culture. The way gender is represented in the book is in a world that shows the what-if scenario of a society where gender (or sexuality) has no impact on people's role in it.
The only aspect I wish were different is that 'neutral' pronouns and other terms are male to the reader. Perhaps it highlights the flaws of the main character and his default way of thinking. But I still found it odd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation, Police brutality, Confinement, Grief, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Incest, Suicide, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cursing, Incest, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexism
tigger89's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm ashamed to say that it took me many years and two false starts to get around to reading this. I knew it was going to be good, but it was very much a case of "right book, wrong time" for me. I very nearly had to return the copy unread this time as well, but decided I could marathon it over the weekend instead. I'm glad I did, because this book is a classic for a reason.
What everyone knows about this story is that it's the one where the aliens are gender-neutral, except for once a month when they become either male or female — varying from month to month — in order to engage in sexual intercourse. Frankly, in 2023, that's not the most interesting part of this story. I don't know if it's because Seinfeld is Unfunny(tvtropes) or because of our conversations around and understanding of gender evolving, but it doesn't feel terribly groundbreaking. At times, the binary themes even felt regressive, though I understand that they had a different cultural significance in 1969. Rather, what I found to be far more timeless were the cultural misunderstandings and Genly's struggle, first to salvage his mission and then to survive.
Le Guin's descriptions of the various landscapes were incredible. Let me tell you, I felt the wind on that glacier! And her explorations of the cultural institutions — such as Shifgrethor, Kemmer, and the Foretellers — were SF/F at its best. I'd never heard this book praised for its world before and that's a shame, because those who read to experience fantastical lands and cultures unlike our own(hi!) will find plenty to dig into here.
Something that I really struggled with was the extensive use of male-as-neuter language throughout the text. I found it very difficult to remember that the characters were meant to be androgynous when all the pronouns were he/him. Yes, I know the language is a 1969 thing(see also: "bisexual society", which is way less of a party than it sounds). But that doesn't make it any easier on the reader. The edition I read had an afterword by Charlie Jane Anders, in which she proposed the idea that Genly himself is an unreliable narrator of sorts, expressing his own misogyny through his use of male pronouns for the Gethenians. I really liked that idea, and have adopted it as my own headcanon.
What everyone knows about this story is that it's the one where the aliens are gender-neutral, except for once a month when they become either male or female — varying from month to month — in order to engage in sexual intercourse. Frankly, in 2023, that's not the most interesting part of this story. I don't know if it's because Seinfeld is Unfunny(tvtropes) or because of our conversations around and understanding of gender evolving, but it doesn't feel terribly groundbreaking. At times, the binary themes even felt regressive, though I understand that they had a different cultural significance in 1969. Rather, what I found to be far more timeless were the cultural misunderstandings and Genly's struggle, first to salvage his mission and then to survive.
Le Guin's descriptions of the various landscapes were incredible. Let me tell you, I felt the wind on that glacier! And her explorations of the cultural institutions — such as Shifgrethor, Kemmer, and the Foretellers — were SF/F at its best. I'd never heard this book praised for its world before and that's a shame, because those who read to experience fantastical lands and cultures unlike our own(hi!) will find plenty to dig into here.
Something that I really struggled with was the extensive use of male-as-neuter language throughout the text. I found it very difficult to remember that the characters were meant to be androgynous when all the pronouns were he/him. Yes, I know the language is a 1969 thing(see also: "bisexual society", which is way less of a party than it sounds). But that doesn't make it any easier on the reader. The edition I read had an afterword by Charlie Jane Anders, in which she proposed the idea that Genly himself is an unreliable narrator of sorts, expressing his own misogyny through his use of male pronouns for the Gethenians. I really liked that idea, and have adopted it as my own headcanon.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Suicide, and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness
pastelkerstin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book took a while to get interesting, but once it did, I found it hard to put down.
At its core there are some pretty good radical ideas in here about favouring community over patriotism. Genly speaks of a world based on cooperation and without law enforcement out among the stars. What a vision.
Gender and sex is also obviously a big topic in this book. I think it shows the arbitrariness of gender roles well, even though Genly and the other Envoys struggle with understanding this, as they come from a binarist society. Genly often makes sexist comments about manly or womanly qualities he sees in the Gethenians, people who are neither men nor women (or who are both, depending how you want to see it). But I don't think that means that the reader is supposed to agree with Genly. Seeing whatever a main character says as correct is a misguided way of reading fiction, in my opinion.
That's also why when Genly's interior monologue says that sexual desire/attraction is people's driving force (a very Freudian idea) and a requirement for being human, and therefore the Gethenians with their sexual cycle seem strange and inhuman to him, I think we're not supposed to think he's right. After all,Genly learns to see Therem fully, as not fitting into Genly's ideas of sexuality and gender, but as a full human being, despite these differences. There is the implication here that asexuality either doesn't exist on the other planets or that Genly isn't aware of it. So I would put an aphobia warning on this just in case, because reading "no sexual attraction = inhuman" stings even if you know that Genly struggles to see past his own experience of the world.
I think Genly and Therem's relationship is the most interesting part of this book. And it feels very queer to me, even thoughthey are never officially together and Gethen doesn't seem to have a concept of queerness (unlike Genly's homeworld).
Overall, I liked this book, even though it has some elements that are a bit squicky or hard to read for me, like the way incest is tolerated on Gethen under certain circumstances and how this is part of one the main characters' backstories, or the aforementioned sexism and (almost certainly unintentional) asexual erasure from Genly.
At its core there are some pretty good radical ideas in here about favouring community over patriotism. Genly speaks of a world based on cooperation and without law enforcement out among the stars. What a vision.
Gender and sex is also obviously a big topic in this book. I think it shows the arbitrariness of gender roles well, even though Genly and the other Envoys struggle with understanding this, as they come from a binarist society. Genly often makes sexist comments about manly or womanly qualities he sees in the Gethenians, people who are neither men nor women (or who are both, depending how you want to see it). But I don't think that means that the reader is supposed to agree with Genly. Seeing whatever a main character says as correct is a misguided way of reading fiction, in my opinion.
That's also why when Genly's interior monologue says that sexual desire/attraction is people's driving force (a very Freudian idea) and a requirement for being human, and therefore the Gethenians with their sexual cycle seem strange and inhuman to him, I think we're not supposed to think he's right. After all,
I think Genly and Therem's relationship is the most interesting part of this book. And it feels very queer to me, even though
Overall, I liked this book, even though it has some elements that are a bit squicky or hard to read for me, like the way incest is tolerated on Gethen under certain circumstances and how this is part of one the main characters' backstories, or the aforementioned sexism and (almost certainly unintentional) asexual erasure from Genly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Minor: Infertility, Suicide, Ableism, and Homophobia
troisha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Death
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Suicide
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