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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Daha fazla Ursula romanı okumam gerektiğini anladım," dedirten kitap. Yazarın karakteri gibi gerçek bir feminizm örneği, çakma olanlardan değil. Bir başyapıt bana kalırsa bu kitap. Unutup tekrar okumak isterim. Başlangıçta zorlu gelebilir ama roman içine çekmeyi beceriyor. Psikolojik, sosyolojik, fantastik, kurgu bilimsel, dini, felsefi konuların tümüne oluşturduğu evreni içerisinde değiniyor ve doyurucu bir anlatım sunuyor. Adeta tam teşekküllü bir sofraya oturmuş gibi oluyorsunuz ve kalkarken asla aç olduğunuzu söylemiyorsunuz. Bu kitap her şeye yeterince sahip ve daha fazlasını da istetiyor.
Gündelik bir okuma için uygun olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Kesinlikle türü sevenlerin öncelik tanıması gerektiğine ve onların da yine notlar, yorumlamalar ve çıkarımlar eşliğinde okuması gerektiğini savunuyorum. Seri içinde olduğu belirtilse de tek başına okunabilir ve anlaşılır bir kitap; öncülü ya da devamı yok. Yazar aynı evren içinde belli romanlar yazmış ve bu da onlardan biri. Ancak en başından başlayıp hepsini okumayı çok istiyorum.
Gündelik bir okuma için uygun olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Kesinlikle türü sevenlerin öncelik tanıması gerektiğine ve onların da yine notlar, yorumlamalar ve çıkarımlar eşliğinde okuması gerektiğini savunuyorum. Seri içinde olduğu belirtilse de tek başına okunabilir ve anlaşılır bir kitap; öncülü ya da devamı yok. Yazar aynı evren içinde belli romanlar yazmış ve bu da onlardan biri. Ancak en başından başlayıp hepsini okumayı çok istiyorum.
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was such an amazing experience reading this book. This was such an awesome exploration of friendship, love, space, humanity, war, politics, prestige, culture, gender, and sexuality. Along with these themes are masterful storytelling and character development. The envoy grows greatly overtime, starting out visibly sexist and troubled by the society he is learning about and trying to establish an alliance with, but his growth is brilliant.
"The First Mobile, if one is sent, must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience" (pp. 94-95)
I also liked Estraven from the start and the direction his character goes. I was hooked after the first two chapters and every time I had to put the book down, I was left thinking about what I read and wanting to dive back in. This is a very dark, serious, and even an emotional book, but is beautifully written with excellent worldbuilding. The inclusion of cultural stories between chapters was very authentic and also skillfully set the tone, established additional context, or foreshadowed future events.
Such a great work of science fiction; gritty, dense, and beautiful all at once.
My favorite passage is a turning point in Genly Ai's thinking and it was my favorite section of the book, but will be hidden as a spoiler, along with a brief discussion on the ending:
"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 need 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. Until then I had rejected him, refused him his own reality. He had been quite right to say that he, the only person on Gethen who trusted me, was the only Gethenian I distrusted. For he was the only one who had entirely accepted me as a human being: who had liked me personally and given me entire personal loyalty, and who therefore had demanded of me an equal degree of recognition, of acceptance. I had not been willing to give it. 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" (pp. 248-249)
I saw someone say recently that this book can also be seen as a love story, and it is in a beautiful and sad way.
Talk on the ending:
I was surprised I cried at the ending. I was tearing up a few times before but at the last 10 pages it started to actually go. Estraven had very few options -- even if he somehow made it across the border, he would be imprisoned in Orgoreyn and likely suffer and die, or race towards the guards and be willingly shot, in a way committing suicide, so he could at least be with Arek, his brother who he had a son with and loved deeply. The words Estraven says to Ashe seem to confirm all the mystery surounding his brother in connection with us finding out about his son at the end: "The only true vow of faithfulness I ever swore was not spoken, nor could it he spoken, and the man I swore it to is dead and the promise broken, long ago" (p.74), (14 years ago).
There were so many loves. Estraven loved Arek most of all, missing him forever. He loved Ashe too I think but was angered when Ashe, (like Arek when he committed suicide left Estraven) left to join the Foretellers. Estraven and Ai also seemed to have fallen in love in their own way, unique to their relationship, but this time Estraven was the one to leave Ai behind.
"The First Mobile, if one is sent, must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience" (pp. 94-95)
I also liked Estraven from the start and the direction his character goes. I was hooked after the first two chapters and every time I had to put the book down, I was left thinking about what I read and wanting to dive back in. This is a very dark, serious, and even an emotional book, but is beautifully written with excellent worldbuilding. The inclusion of cultural stories between chapters was very authentic and also skillfully set the tone, established additional context, or foreshadowed future events.
Such a great work of science fiction; gritty, dense, and beautiful all at once.
My favorite passage is a turning point in Genly Ai's thinking and it was my favorite section of the book, but will be hidden as a spoiler, along with a brief discussion on the ending:
I saw someone say recently that this book can also be seen as a love story, and it is in a beautiful and sad way.
Talk on the ending:
I was surprised I cried at the ending. I was tearing up a few times before but at the last 10 pages it started to actually go. Estraven had very few options -- even if he somehow made it across the border, he would be imprisoned in Orgoreyn and likely suffer and die, or race towards the guards and be willingly shot, in a way committing suicide, so he could at least be with Arek, his brother who he had a son with and loved deeply. The words Estraven says to Ashe seem to confirm all the mystery surounding his brother in connection with us finding out about his son at the end: "The only true vow of faithfulness I ever swore was not spoken, nor could it he spoken, and the man I swore it to is dead and the promise broken, long ago" (p.74), (14 years ago).
There were so many loves. Estraven loved Arek most of all, missing him forever. He loved Ashe too I think but was angered when Ashe, (like Arek when he committed suicide left Estraven) left to join the Foretellers. Estraven and Ai also seemed to have fallen in love in their own way, unique to their relationship, but this time Estraven was the one to leave Ai behind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Excrement, Vomit
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow story overall but a lot of complex thought around gender. Some of the stereotypes of gender are very dated now but I think that was meant to be deliberate. I really like her writing style which seems a little stilted at times but it stays with you and the characters and the world building is great
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A