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kromanuski's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
laerugo's review against another edition
5.0
note from the future (sept 2023): i no longer feel so strongly about some of my criticism for this book (e.g. i now think the protagonist's sexism was intentional on le guin's part, even in the latter half, also referring to agender characters with "he/him" pronouns showed his privilege in this regard). i also have more patience now for the early chapters full of dense worldbuilding. however i don't have the spoons to rewrite this review so i'll keep it up for now. in short: book good.
I resisted this book for the first chunk of it. i was comfortably ambivalent about it until the middle of the book, when a sudden and shocking plot twist plunges the book into its surprising, more emotional second half.
i can now see the parallel in the book's organization, and title: the first half, in which our protagonist is able to travel comfortably and with some measure of political shielding between the native countries of Gethen, is the relatively "light" part of the story, though it's undercut by elements of darkness that only become apparent in the second half. after the pivotal shock at the midway mark, the second half itself is the dark: Genly's surroundings are bleak, his situation is bleak, the people around him are not to be trusted, he is constantly near death, and the only light in the darkness is one surprising (or not so surprising, if you were paying attention) person, who Genly failed to trust for the longest time, who risks his life, title, position, everything because he believes in Genly's goal, arguably more than Genly does.
I didn't cry at the ending, but I wanted to. I was so upset, and surprised that I was so upset, because the evolving friendship between the two main characters snuck up on me, and I was upset when it ended (had to end?) the way it did.
there were plenty of things that frustrated me, along with the aforementioned overwhelming info-dumping that makes up much of the first third of the book. Le Guin sadly spends... an un-ignorable amount of time waxing poetic about this or that philosophy that makes up the book, spelling out the themes and messages of the story so obviously that it feels like the characters are no longer there, this is just Le Guin typing her own thoughts onto the page.
that, combined with the annoyingly persistent sexism, is enough to knock it down a star. Genly is an intentional misogynist. his judgment and mockery of anything feminine would be frustrating to read at any time, but it is especially frustrating to read from a woman author, even though I know part of it was the point: he has to judge womanhood on some level, to prevent himself from fully understanding this culture and these people who are both male and female, and this struggle to surmount his prejudices makes up his character arc. and yet, he doesn't achieve it in the end — or at least, in a way that barely matters: he only looks past his prejudices when he has no other option, because someone forces his hand, and even then, the needle barely moves.
(i made bookmarks any time we see his misogyny in action: once describing himself as "a man among eunuchs" beacause his companions are all "effeminate, stolid, slovenly, heavy," "without point or edge." the way he describes people as "shrill" if he does not like them, or Gethenians' female state as only ever being after sex, or female-like if they are being nosy, or emotional, or trying to talk to him in a meaningful way at all, really.)
(another time he talks about how in a society where anyone can be pregnant, and can "father" anyone else's child, and in a society that does not fear intercourse... in a society where anyone can be "tied down" to childbearing, he notes that very few people therefore choose to do it, and contraceptives are freely used everywhere. it reminded me of a study done in spain, where men who receive equal pay and paternity leave often are LESS LIKELY to want children, with the understanding being that they will now, with the time and resources, have no excuse but to participate in more of the childrearing work, and they decided they did not want it at all. and that just annoyed me all over again, but i digress.)
the way that all default, "sexless" Gethenians are identified with masculine pronouns (which apparently Le Guin agreed was a legitimate criticism, and reconsidered post-publication) speaks to Genly more than it does to Le Guin. I understand all of these things were intentional, yet they still bothered me, enough for me to sometimes wonder, "if I don't put up with this sort of misogynistic headspace in books written by male authors, why should I put up with it from a female author?" the point was made, with Genly learning to look past his preconvictions (sort of) but not enough to convince me it was a necessary part of his character.
all that said... I am, emotionally, still reeling from the second half of this book, the long stretches of chapters in which nothing good seems to happen to our main character, and yet I kept holding on even when there was nothing to suggest hope was alive. hope was, as it turned out, alive and heading Genly's way: but the cost of it was my favorite character in the novel, and I am still deeply upset by that. I think that speaks to this book's achievements more than its failures, which is why I am swallowing my pride and annoyance that stuck with me in the beginning, enough to give this four stars out of five.
side note: I am glad I read the 50th edition, because this release has an afterward by Charlie Jane Anders, a trans reader who accurately sums up my feelings, frustrations, longings, and interest that this novel brought up in me, and made me feel less alone in being annoyed at the sexism, however deliberate.
(SPOILERS)
Favorite lines and moments:
- the entire chapter of "Down on the Farm," particularly the never-ending truck ride (I felt as though I were in that truck with them) and Genly's quiet conversations with the dying Asra
- surprisingly, the entire trek across the Gobrin Ice, particularly the way the cold, and weather, felt like its own character: how the blizzard "yelled" at them for days from outside the tent, and eventually went to "sobbing" and "whimpering" before they could move again. I am not usually a fan of these sorts of long journeys, I'm impatient and these sorts of daily, grinding travel logs tend to blend into each other in text form. but I read every word of this one, and enjoyed it. it was long and stressed enough to make me feel the weight of Genly's and Estraven's three months alone on the ice, all eighty-five days or whatever it was, and when they emerged I felt disoriented too, like I had also lost count of time and also forgotten what other people were like, outside of the world of their small tent.
- "And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man. Any nee d to explain the sources of that fear vanished with the fear; what I was left with was, at last, acceptance of him as he was ... I had not been willing to give [an equal degree of recognition, of acceptance]. I had been afraid to give it. I had not wanted to give my trust, my friendship to a man who was a woman, a woman who was a man."
- any descriptions of hunger, between the rationing at the Farm and the Gobrin Ice. Genly really goes through it in the second half of this book. Le Guin doesn't hold back: "I was not much troubled by hunger ... Eating did not seem to be a part of this existence in Kundershaden, and I did not often think about it. Thirst, on the other hand, was one of the permanent conditions of life." / "I was hungry, constantly hungry, daily hungrier. I woke up because I was hungry."
- Estraven hears Genly's mindspeech voice as his dead lover's voice. he calls him "Arek" as he's dying. and this absolute gut-wrencher of a paragraph: "I took his head in my arms and spoke to him, but he never answered me; only in a way he answered my love for him, crying out ... Then no more. I held him, crouching there in the snow, while he died. They let me do that. Then they made me get up, and took me off one way and him another, I going to prison and he into the dark."
- "It had taken Estraven six months to arrange my first audience. It had taken the rest of his life to arrange this second one." (just kill me with that line) subsequently, the way Genly's sense of time and energy distort around and after Estraven's death. ("When I realized that I did not even know what deay of the month it was, I began to realize how badly off I had in fact been, lately. I had to count back to the day before Estraven's death.")
I resisted this book for the first chunk of it. i was comfortably ambivalent about it until the middle of the book, when a sudden and shocking plot twist plunges the book into its surprising, more emotional second half.
i can now see the parallel in the book's organization, and title: the first half, in which our protagonist is able to travel comfortably and with some measure of political shielding between the native countries of Gethen, is the relatively "light" part of the story, though it's undercut by elements of darkness that only become apparent in the second half. after the pivotal shock at the midway mark, the second half itself is the dark: Genly's surroundings are bleak, his situation is bleak, the people around him are not to be trusted, he is constantly near death, and the only light in the darkness is one surprising (or not so surprising, if you were paying attention) person, who Genly failed to trust for the longest time, who risks his life, title, position, everything because he believes in Genly's goal, arguably more than Genly does.
I didn't cry at the ending, but I wanted to. I was so upset, and surprised that I was so upset, because the evolving friendship between the two main characters snuck up on me, and I was upset when it ended (had to end?) the way it did.
there were plenty of things that frustrated me, along with the aforementioned overwhelming info-dumping that makes up much of the first third of the book. Le Guin sadly spends... an un-ignorable amount of time waxing poetic about this or that philosophy that makes up the book, spelling out the themes and messages of the story so obviously that it feels like the characters are no longer there, this is just Le Guin typing her own thoughts onto the page.
that, combined with the annoyingly persistent sexism, is enough to knock it down a star. Genly is an intentional misogynist. his judgment and mockery of anything feminine would be frustrating to read at any time, but it is especially frustrating to read from a woman author, even though I know part of it was the point: he has to judge womanhood on some level, to prevent himself from fully understanding this culture and these people who are both male and female, and this struggle to surmount his prejudices makes up his character arc. and yet, he doesn't achieve it in the end — or at least, in a way that barely matters: he only looks past his prejudices when he has no other option, because someone forces his hand, and even then, the needle barely moves.
(i made bookmarks any time we see his misogyny in action: once describing himself as "a man among eunuchs" beacause his companions are all "effeminate, stolid, slovenly, heavy," "without point or edge." the way he describes people as "shrill" if he does not like them, or Gethenians' female state as only ever being after sex, or female-like if they are being nosy, or emotional, or trying to talk to him in a meaningful way at all, really.)
(another time he talks about how in a society where anyone can be pregnant, and can "father" anyone else's child, and in a society that does not fear intercourse... in a society where anyone can be "tied down" to childbearing, he notes that very few people therefore choose to do it, and contraceptives are freely used everywhere. it reminded me of a study done in spain, where men who receive equal pay and paternity leave often are LESS LIKELY to want children, with the understanding being that they will now, with the time and resources, have no excuse but to participate in more of the childrearing work, and they decided they did not want it at all. and that just annoyed me all over again, but i digress.)
the way that all default, "sexless" Gethenians are identified with masculine pronouns (which apparently Le Guin agreed was a legitimate criticism, and reconsidered post-publication) speaks to Genly more than it does to Le Guin. I understand all of these things were intentional, yet they still bothered me, enough for me to sometimes wonder, "if I don't put up with this sort of misogynistic headspace in books written by male authors, why should I put up with it from a female author?" the point was made, with Genly learning to look past his preconvictions (sort of) but not enough to convince me it was a necessary part of his character.
all that said... I am, emotionally, still reeling from the second half of this book, the long stretches of chapters in which nothing good seems to happen to our main character, and yet I kept holding on even when there was nothing to suggest hope was alive. hope was, as it turned out, alive and heading Genly's way: but the cost of it was my favorite character in the novel, and I am still deeply upset by that. I think that speaks to this book's achievements more than its failures, which is why I am swallowing my pride and annoyance that stuck with me in the beginning, enough to give this four stars out of five.
side note: I am glad I read the 50th edition, because this release has an afterward by Charlie Jane Anders, a trans reader who accurately sums up my feelings, frustrations, longings, and interest that this novel brought up in me, and made me feel less alone in being annoyed at the sexism, however deliberate.
(SPOILERS)
Favorite lines and moments:
- the entire chapter of "Down on the Farm," particularly the never-ending truck ride (I felt as though I were in that truck with them) and Genly's quiet conversations with the dying Asra
- surprisingly, the entire trek across the Gobrin Ice, particularly the way the cold, and weather, felt like its own character: how the blizzard "yelled" at them for days from outside the tent, and eventually went to "sobbing" and "whimpering" before they could move again. I am not usually a fan of these sorts of long journeys, I'm impatient and these sorts of daily, grinding travel logs tend to blend into each other in text form. but I read every word of this one, and enjoyed it. it was long and stressed enough to make me feel the weight of Genly's and Estraven's three months alone on the ice, all eighty-five days or whatever it was, and when they emerged I felt disoriented too, like I had also lost count of time and also forgotten what other people were like, outside of the world of their small tent.
- "And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man. Any nee d to explain the sources of that fear vanished with the fear; what I was left with was, at last, acceptance of him as he was ... I had not been willing to give [an equal degree of recognition, of acceptance]. I had been afraid to give it. I had not wanted to give my trust, my friendship to a man who was a woman, a woman who was a man."
- any descriptions of hunger, between the rationing at the Farm and the Gobrin Ice. Genly really goes through it in the second half of this book. Le Guin doesn't hold back: "I was not much troubled by hunger ... Eating did not seem to be a part of this existence in Kundershaden, and I did not often think about it. Thirst, on the other hand, was one of the permanent conditions of life." / "I was hungry, constantly hungry, daily hungrier. I woke up because I was hungry."
- Estraven hears Genly's mindspeech voice as his dead lover's voice. he calls him "Arek" as he's dying. and this absolute gut-wrencher of a paragraph: "I took his head in my arms and spoke to him, but he never answered me; only in a way he answered my love for him, crying out ... Then no more. I held him, crouching there in the snow, while he died. They let me do that. Then they made me get up, and took me off one way and him another, I going to prison and he into the dark."
- "It had taken Estraven six months to arrange my first audience. It had taken the rest of his life to arrange this second one." (just kill me with that line) subsequently, the way Genly's sense of time and energy distort around and after Estraven's death. ("When I realized that I did not even know what deay of the month it was, I began to realize how badly off I had in fact been, lately. I had to count back to the day before Estraven's death.")
addmh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
katiesphone's review against another edition
5.0
I love this exploration of imagination. I think this is more about war and individuals relationships with their countrys than gender, it's probably less poignant than it was in 1969. romantic tooooooo I really like estraven
1blue1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
cmcmurry's review against another edition
5.0
This is, without a doubt, the best book I have ever read. It is compelling, beautiful, subtle, intensely profound, and absolutely breathtaking as a work of art. This is a book that will stay with me, that has changed me, and that I know I will return to over and over. It is comforting, challenging, tender, fascinating, and—above all—deeply human.
joebobhi's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.5
notgeebee's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
glitterpricked's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
"Tell me, Genry, what is known? What is sure, predictable, inevitable—the one certain thing you know concerning your future, and mine?”
“That we shall die.”
“Yes. There’s really only one question that can be answered, Genry, and we already know the answer. … The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”
As with a lot of sci-fi, I found the book confusing to begin with (I am not a smart person). But once the worldbuilding settled into my brain, this was a great read! It features a combination of everything that makes sci-fi great: queerness, political intrigue, linguistics, anthropology... the list could go on. We follow two protagonists, both from very different cultures. The centrality of gender and sexuality to their understandings of human nature made the worldbuilding truly special, and added to the socio-political elements of the plot. The confusion, character development and cultural exchange make the pace a little slow, but this was by no means a shortcoming. I really love when a book gradually opens you up, just as the characters are opened up. The protagonists are subtly lovable, and just two really great characters to follow. The way their agency is played with is particularly fascinating.
In between the main story chapters, there were also short lore and history chapters, which tied in to the plot really well. They made the world seem fuller and added a lot to the story. I love a book that feels like a cohesive standalone, while also pulling you into the world enough to want more. Nothing felt missing, but it also didn't feel like I could put this book down and permanently be done with the world. Le Guin herself later critiqued her own writing here, and future books built on this foundation. I think this is so important because you shouldn't just read a book and then put it away; escapism is fine and all, but I love sci-fi that brings you closer to the world, that challenges your understandings of themes like masculinity and power. Here is one writing of an alternate society: what changes might we make to our own? And for whose sake?
(i will definitely like this much more when i reread further down the line. like i said, i'm so easily confused by literally anything ever, but i'm really excited to read more of le guin's work! she has already changed my life for the better! very thankful to have buddyread this with ash, because otherwise it would have languished on my tbr for god knows how long)
phantomeyer's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a solid read, which accomplished a lot in not many pages. The sort of book that manages to be more than the sum of its parts.