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angorarabbit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
TLDR: A bit challenging, it needs a closer reading than many first contact sci-fi novels, but is worth the effort for the ideas and the writing.
Clarketech: Mind speech, near light speed space travel, ftl communications, Chabe stoves, cryosleep or hibernation during space flights.
Context: I loved what had been published in the Earthsea series in the late 1970’s so tried to read this then. Sadly, my head was too full of wizards and dragons for me to appreciate this gem. I am sorry I didn’t rectify my error before now.
I did have difficulty getting into the novel. The book is written first person singular with short hearth-tales, interspersed for the first quarter of the novel. Then a second voice is added. You then go back and forth between povs with the only indication being the context of the chapter..
Ms LeGuin does not hold your hand introducing you to this new world. While my edition did have a few helpful footnotes and a Gethenian Calendar and Clock addendum; there are many words are in the native languages with little to no explanation as to what an earth translation might be. It took me awhile to understand that Estraven was writing in a journal and that the strange words were dates.
I have read that there is some controversy over the use of the pronoun he to describe the inhabitants of Gethen. Ms LeGuin has appologized for this. I would point out that he was used instead of they in the US in the 1960’s The author has also acknowledged and apologised for the presumption that all Gethens were heterosexual . So much of the novel being Genly’s report, I don’t think there is enough information to judge how the Gethens actually felt about orientation. I would agree that Genly does appear to be homophobic or perhaps in denial over his own orientation, especially in the middle chapters.
I also wondered at Genly’s statement that very few women were known as mathematicians, composers, or inventors. He seems to be at a loss when talking about women at all and seems to be uncomfortable with what he sees as feminine characteristics. It seemed that the Ekumen would have an equal division of labour on its ships. In fact the first Ekumen off the ship in the last chapter is identified as female. One would also think that their first contact on a planet would be more comfortable with any gender.
There are many thoughtful and beautiful passages in the book and it is a great starting point to discussing gender and orientation. I did not see any passages that would be problematic for a tween to read. I would like to get the collected Hainish Cycle and read the novels and stories in sequence, plus reread this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Incest, Gun violence, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Suicide, Torture, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Death, and Child death
Minor: Alcohol
gender and orientation diversity is complicatedfreyaan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
zkeita's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.5
marusinp's review against another edition
5.0
If term 'grown-up science fiction' has any meaning, this must be it!
onespaceymother's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
As a feminist Science Fiction fan, I always feel a bit ashamed that I haven’t read more Le Guin and that (frankly) I don’t enjoy her work more than I do. I found the first 2/3 of this book relatively tedious to get through but the final third was engaging. It’s a lot of politics. I also understand that her interest in exploring gender and sex was revolutionary at the time, and admire and respect that, but in modern reading, the constant discussion of the technicalities gets a little old.
shibh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rinoftheforest's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
artemisjohnson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
For a book exploring the complexities of gender written in the 60s, this is a surprisingly nuanced take on how gender affects how we perceive others and how society treats us in accordance with our perceived gender.
That being said, it is still limited by the time it was written. Le Guin herself in later writings admitted that she failed to properly explore how the lack of gender impacted Gethenian culture. The Gethen are solely referred to by he/him pronouns, despite a gender-neutral pronoun probably being more appropriate. Le Guin also admitted that she failed to show the Gethen in nurturing or familial roles, solely portraying them in traditionally masculine roles.
Overall, I really enjoyed TLHoD as an exploration of another culture in an attempt to reveal more about our own. Not always successful, but always earnestly tackling some thorny issues that are just as relevant today as when Le Guin first wrote about Gently Ai and Estraven
That being said, it is still limited by the time it was written. Le Guin herself in later writings admitted that she failed to properly explore how the lack of gender impacted Gethenian culture. The Gethen are solely referred to by he/him pronouns, despite a gender-neutral pronoun probably being more appropriate. Le Guin also admitted that she failed to show the Gethen in nurturing or familial roles, solely portraying them in traditionally masculine roles.
Overall, I really enjoyed TLHoD as an exploration of another culture in an attempt to reveal more about our own. Not always successful, but always earnestly tackling some thorny issues that are just as relevant today as when Le Guin first wrote about Gently Ai and Estraven