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A review by libellum_aphrodite
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
It took me a while to warm up to this book (first time only got a few pages in before due back to the library; second time didn't even open it before the due date; third time's the charm!), but flew once it clicked. I suspect the first part being full of Gethenian terms and bureaucratic shifgrethor (formal unspoken social rules of [indirect] interaction) creates a barrier between the world and the reader, a nice mirror of our protagonist Genly's experience.
I became hooked at the Handdarrata foretelling, as religious mythology proved a strong entry point to connect to Gethen, being generally prevalent in our Earth's cultures (plus the foretelling's specific parallels to real ancient practices). I fell in love with the story during Estraven and Genly's trek across the Gobrin ice sheet. It's probably more accurate to say I fell in love with Estraven, from his backstory to his dedication to Gethen joining to Ekumen.
The book's main claim to fame (seemingly the first mention in all articles about it) is the ambisexual Gethenians, who are sexually latent most of the time, with a monthly cycle of sexual receptiveness called kemmer. While I enjoyed that thought experiment, it ultimately didn't have much to do with my excitement about the book. The bridging of the cultural differences between Genly and Estraven was more important than the particular source of that difference, though conception of gender was definitely a good one.
I became hooked at the Handdarrata foretelling, as religious mythology proved a strong entry point to connect to Gethen, being generally prevalent in our Earth's cultures (plus the foretelling's specific parallels to real ancient practices). I fell in love with the story during Estraven and Genly's trek across the Gobrin ice sheet. It's probably more accurate to say I fell in love with Estraven, from his backstory to his dedication to Gethen joining to Ekumen.
The book's main claim to fame (seemingly the first mention in all articles about it) is the ambisexual Gethenians, who are sexually latent most of the time, with a monthly cycle of sexual receptiveness called kemmer. While I enjoyed that thought experiment, it ultimately didn't have much to do with my excitement about the book. The bridging of the cultural differences between Genly and Estraven was more important than the particular source of that difference, though conception of gender was definitely a good one.