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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story isn't an easy read. I love the concept, the lone human going to a place where the inhabitants are both genders (gender fluidity in 1969!) and freely move between them as needed. Where they bond once and everyone can reproduce. There is no war, there is no male ego.
The main character doesn't have it easy but makes the most of what he does have. The ending is thought provoking.
The main character doesn't have it easy but makes the most of what he does have. The ending is thought provoking.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Excellent ideas. An author who is in love with her world and knows it as thoroughly as her own reality. Gender neutrality and/or gender concurrency changing how an entire society behaves is an exciting and riveting prospect, especially from the perspective of a woman from the mid 20th century. Though the prose was written to favour tasks and environment and less the intricacies of the character’s inner life, I still felt drawn into Genly Ai’s perspective and was left wanting more from him and Estraven.
This was a very challenging novel and I had a hard time following the character progressions. I did like how Le Guin wrote it as a field guide and with a sardonic and critical tone. I didn't feel a ton of emotional investment in the central bond, but I was intrigued by the incredibly vast, somewhat inaccessible scope that Le Guin achieves, because it's so far beyond what I see in modern writing. Maybe it will read better for me on a revisit. On the first read I thought it was bold but just didn't resonate with me emotionally.
P.S. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis unironically being exalted by the Afterword author is BIG YIKES, coming from my school of functional linguistics.
P.S. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis unironically being exalted by the Afterword author is BIG YIKES, coming from my school of functional linguistics.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
I didn't know what to expect from this. It's an eclectic mix of things - first contact with another planet, political intrigue, travelogue, all occasionally interspersed with legends from this world. And for a hot second, you think you've slipped and fallen into [b:One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|17125|One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427731744s/17125.jpg|838042].
I didn't find it to be a page-turner, but it is a masterclass in creating cultures and civilizations that don't look like carbon copies of anything on Earth. I liked the way Le Guin portrayed the communication barrier that stems not just from differences in language, but from cultural assumptions and expectations.
I think the primary reason I found it a slow read is that it took me a long time to latch onto either of the main characters. They start to come alive eventually, but they felt very distant and even wooden for most of the book.
The most interesting way this book shows its age is in its treatment of gender. Even though a key part of the concept is that people of Gethen do not have a set gender, Le Guin defaults to he, man, and boy where today an author would choose gender neutral words. The human narrator even seems to betray his own biases when he notices feminine characteristics in the Gethenians - often these are not flattering comparisons. Whether this stems from something in his own past or psyche that might have prompted him to volunteer for this particular assignment is left as an exercise for the reader.
I didn't find it to be a page-turner, but it is a masterclass in creating cultures and civilizations that don't look like carbon copies of anything on Earth. I liked the way Le Guin portrayed the communication barrier that stems not just from differences in language, but from cultural assumptions and expectations.
I think the primary reason I found it a slow read is that it took me a long time to latch onto either of the main characters. They start to come alive eventually, but they felt very distant and even wooden for most of the book.
The most interesting way this book shows its age is in its treatment of gender. Even though a key part of the concept is that people of Gethen do not have a set gender, Le Guin defaults to he, man, and boy where today an author would choose gender neutral words. The human narrator even seems to betray his own biases when he notices feminine characteristics in the Gethenians - often these are not flattering comparisons. Whether this stems from something in his own past or psyche that might have prompted him to volunteer for this particular assignment is left as an exercise for the reader.
Finally at the end... This one was a real slog for me.
First off - there isn't much actual plot. The book is more about characters and society, than things actually happening.
I liked the idea of people being neither male nor female, but having the potential to be either. But while in "Ancillary Justice" it worked perfect for me, in this one it bored me on the one hand, and annoyed me on the other one.
The main character always refers to females as weak, and he dislikes the people there for not being real males, but too soft and not substantial enough...
Besides that there was a lot, a whole LOT, of explaining going on. I'd have liked more "show don't tell" or the learning curve somehow packed into the plot. In "Three Body Problem" there was a lot to learn too, but it never felt as boring, tedious and longwinded to me.
I didn't really like any of the characters. The main character was annoying, the others felt a but like cardboard cutouts to me. I didn't really get to know them.
The world also stayed quite blank. It's cold, the people are neither/both sexes, but otherwise there wasn't much interesting or engaging new things.
Overall this really wasn't my book at all. I was bored 80% of the time, and my thoughts kept wandering due to that. And despite that I never felt like I really missed anything important.
First off - there isn't much actual plot. The book is more about characters and society, than things actually happening.
I liked the idea of people being neither male nor female, but having the potential to be either. But while in "Ancillary Justice" it worked perfect for me, in this one it bored me on the one hand, and annoyed me on the other one.
The main character always refers to females as weak, and he dislikes the people there for not being real males, but too soft and not substantial enough...
Besides that there was a lot, a whole LOT, of explaining going on. I'd have liked more "show don't tell" or the learning curve somehow packed into the plot. In "Three Body Problem" there was a lot to learn too, but it never felt as boring, tedious and longwinded to me.
I didn't really like any of the characters. The main character was annoying, the others felt a but like cardboard cutouts to me. I didn't really get to know them.
The world also stayed quite blank. It's cold, the people are neither/both sexes, but otherwise there wasn't much interesting or engaging new things.
Overall this really wasn't my book at all. I was bored 80% of the time, and my thoughts kept wandering due to that. And despite that I never felt like I really missed anything important.
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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:
No