♀️♂️ ♀️♂️ ♀️♂️ ♀️♂️
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Leguin
304 pages
Ace Publishing
The Left Hand of Darkness is a classic work of science fiction, which, at its best, uncovers deep truths about humans and society. I should preface this review with the fact that I am not a long time fan of science fiction and have only recently been introduced to it by my husband who loves the genre. I have, in the past, tried my best to avoid it. I have recently become a fan of Deep Space Nine and thought I would venture into the world of science fiction literature. While, as a neophyte, I think I prefer the visual component of a television show or movie in the genre, the books are beginning to grow on me. I certainly now understand the lessons that good science fiction books can offer and that they are not merely made up worlds and overactive imaginations.
This is what Ursula Leguin said about science fiction: “This book is not extrapolative. If you like you can read it, and a lot of other science fiction, as a thought-experiment. […] The purpose of a thought-experiment, as the term was used by Schrödinger and other physicists, is not to predict the future—indeed Schrödinger’s most famous thought-experiment goes to show that the “future,” on the quantum level, cannot be predicted—but to describe reality, the present world. Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.”
Many, including me, who do not know science fiction, have looked at the genre as fantastical and as a way to predict the future. Don’t get me wrong; there is an element of that in the genre. There have been many things that have been part of science fiction that have been predictive of devices and inventions that emerge later as reality. However, I am really speaking about human behavior. Successful science fiction tells us (whether in movie/television form or in book) how people actually behave, often disclosing the problems in society that need to be worked out. In Leguin’s world, she is really speaking of American society and culture in 1969. The protagonist, Genly Ai, is from Ekumen but is an ambassador to Gethen in an effort to get Gethenians to join their interplanetary union. In Gethen, there is no male or female, per se. Their society is neutral sexually except for certain times of the month that their cycles, called kemmer, its members can reproduce. They are ambisexual. Genly Ai, while presented as a flawed character, is not a “bad” one but he struggles with the concept of ambisexuality as opposed to the more traditional sex roles and mores. He clearly sees himself as more male than female.
This theme and exploration is on the one hand quite reflective of American culture and changes it was undergoing in 1969 with respect to gender roles and on the other hand, it is further prophetic that our culture is still undergoing in 2025 with respect to gender norms and roles and nonbinary identities.
Even though I do think that the book becomes mired down in some minutia along the way and becomes a little more tedious later on, I think this book is important enough to push one’s way though because it is so reflective and prophetic. In fact, I think that Ursula Leguin understated the power of good science fiction. I am actually seriously surprised at why this novel (and perhaps science fiction overall) is not required reading in school. When one considers the myriad reasons that some books are assigned, being insightful into society and the human condition (and even though science fiction often talks about aliens, they are really stand ins for us), this fits right in.
Leave a Reply