The Left Hand of Darkness

Last year, Penguin Books celebrated the 50th birthday of Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin with a new edition. While the novel's discussion of the concept of gender is still unusual today, in 1969 it was quite revolutionary. Rarely do we have the opportunity to appreciate a work of art that pushes so far the idea of a society where prejudices based on gender do not exist.

On a distant planet called Winter, individuals are not sexual. For 18 days in a 26 or 28 day cycle, they are completely androgynous and have no sexual appetite. Then, during 2 to 5 days, they are in kemmerand very sexually stimulated. They pair up, and one of them will become the woman or the man, in a random way, and the other will adapt accordingly by adopting the opposite sex. The woman can get pregnant. Then they return to their normal, non-sexual state. It is this planet that Genly Ai, a human with a permanent male sex, is in charge of persuading to join a kind of union of planets, similar to the Federation of Star Trek.

Imagine, in this world, no one is more or less likely than others to have children. There is no rape. Humanity is not divided in two. To me, that sounds wonderful. But it is a concept so alien to our reality that it is shocking, as expressed rather abruptly by this alien explorer in the book:

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.

– The Left of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin, p. 101

Genly Ai thinks feels alone in this rather hostile world, where it is constantly cold and where, since his sexual appetite is aroused at all times, he is considered a pervert. He does not trust anyone, especially Estraven, the prime minister of Karhide. But this is, literally, a misunderstanding. Estraven will devote himself body and soul to his cause, and for a long time they will only have their friendship to keep them alive.

Impressions

I must admit that at the beginning, I was a bit lost, as if I was starting a trilogy with the second volume. I didn't know the characters when I felt like I should have known them; the world was strange, hostile, and I felt like I had to cope with it, survive it. There were foreign words, specific to the world I was immersed in, that were not explained, or were explained very little.

And then I thought, well, I feel like the character, the stranger who arrives alone on a new planet. Interesting, that.

And then, quietly, through this icy and inhospitable layer, the light begins to break through. Genly Ai and Estraven embark on a vast expedition across a vast plain of ice, and through all their misery, hunger, penetrating cold, loneliness and death, their friendship develops. As the afterword brilliantly explains, the title of the novel comes from a proverb of this planet, which, like the principle of Yin and Yang, explains that light and darkness come hand in hand. And it is true that it is in the darkest episodes of the novel that the light of friendship, hope and solidarity shines brightest.

Ursula K. Le Guin is a renowned author in the science fiction genre. She writes with uncommon finesse. This long expedition, when it was announced, made me a little discouraged. I really wondered how she would manage to make it interesting. Well, I tell you, this is the best part of the book. The alternating points of view, the ancient myths that are scattered throughout, the thoughts and emotions of two such different people trying to survive, day by day, make it an uncommonly rich episode. With wonders of sentences like this one:

Under certain conditions our exhalations freezing instantly made a tiny cracking noise, like distant fire-crackers, and a show of crystals: each breath a snowstorm.

– The Left of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin, p. 262

As the afterword says again (I think this is the first time in my life that I've 1) read the afterword and 2) loved it), a big part of the value of a science fiction story like this is that it allows you to imagine what it would be like if things were really different. And then, when we get back to the "real" world, we bring with us the sense that we can choose our own reality, and that it's up to us to reshape the world.

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To know more about the author, visit her website. It is so pretty that it is worth the detour.