Reading Thursday
30 July 2015 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frayadjacentWhat I've just finished
The Left Hand of Darkness! I no longer have this big gap in my Le Guin portfolio. Um, I liked it. It took a long time to get into, like I said before, partly because I wasn't in a reading state of mind but also because I wasn't really connecting with the POV character (Genly), the plot, or the world. That started to change once we started to see Estraven's POV, because OMG I loved Estraven, they are exactly the sort of character I fall for hard. Principled, kind, able to see the big picture and to act for the greater good even when it isn't what's best for them. (I feel like some people think these sorts of characters are boring. I...don't? Or at least not automatically.)
Anyway, once we got into the dual POV, and especially once they got out on the Ice (I am a total sucker for wilderness adventures, plus there was some fun earth science and even a bit of accurate meteorology which is always a happy surprise) I was On Board and finished it pretty quickly. The ending was sad, in that "I should have seen that coming" way. But good. I look forward to reading some fic and re-reading Le Guin's short stories set on Gethen where they do better with pronouns.
Speaking of, it's funny, because I respect TLHoD's place in feminist science fiction history, but reading it in 2015, it doesn't feel very feminist. Especially when Genly is so sexist all the time, and when his statements reinforce the notion that all the other world in the Hainish universe -- except Gethen -- seem to be patriarchal or at least to have gender identities very similar to the ones Le Guin lived in. It does feel a bit sad that, in 1969 Le Guin was able to envision an interplanetary association without a central government, which has apparently abolished war, and has all sorts of amazing technology, but in which women still do the bulk of childrearing and rarely become mathematicians or scientists. And where the POV character disparagingly calls something feminine or womanish every third page, at least for the start of the story. I mean, it's not particularly surprising having read her other work from that time, but still noteworthy.
What I'm currently reading
The Real and the Unreal vol II by Ursula K Le Guin
I'm pretty sure I've already read every short story in this collection, but it'd have been well over a decade for many of them. After reading TLHoD I was in the mood for more Le Guin, and I bought this in e-book form a few months ago. Le Guin's short stories were generally my favorite so I'm glad to be reading them, but I'm still in the very early works period (late 60s, maybe getting into early 70s), whereas I think it's her mid 70s-90s stuff I like best.
BTW, when I looked at Amazon to double check the title of this book, I saw a *ton* of Le Guin e-books. Which was not the case even a few months ago. Part of me is excited since I sold all my books of hers a couple years ago, but I also know she was really against e-books and Amazon in particular. So I want to investigate this more.
What I'll read next
I don't know! I might continue the Le Guin kick, but maybe I should check out something new. I have a huge recs list thanks to y'alls posts.
The Left Hand of Darkness! I no longer have this big gap in my Le Guin portfolio. Um, I liked it. It took a long time to get into, like I said before, partly because I wasn't in a reading state of mind but also because I wasn't really connecting with the POV character (Genly), the plot, or the world. That started to change once we started to see Estraven's POV, because OMG I loved Estraven, they are exactly the sort of character I fall for hard. Principled, kind, able to see the big picture and to act for the greater good even when it isn't what's best for them. (I feel like some people think these sorts of characters are boring. I...don't? Or at least not automatically.)
Anyway, once we got into the dual POV, and especially once they got out on the Ice (I am a total sucker for wilderness adventures, plus there was some fun earth science and even a bit of accurate meteorology which is always a happy surprise) I was On Board and finished it pretty quickly. The ending was sad, in that "I should have seen that coming" way. But good. I look forward to reading some fic and re-reading Le Guin's short stories set on Gethen where they do better with pronouns.
Speaking of, it's funny, because I respect TLHoD's place in feminist science fiction history, but reading it in 2015, it doesn't feel very feminist. Especially when Genly is so sexist all the time, and when his statements reinforce the notion that all the other world in the Hainish universe -- except Gethen -- seem to be patriarchal or at least to have gender identities very similar to the ones Le Guin lived in. It does feel a bit sad that, in 1969 Le Guin was able to envision an interplanetary association without a central government, which has apparently abolished war, and has all sorts of amazing technology, but in which women still do the bulk of childrearing and rarely become mathematicians or scientists. And where the POV character disparagingly calls something feminine or womanish every third page, at least for the start of the story. I mean, it's not particularly surprising having read her other work from that time, but still noteworthy.
What I'm currently reading
The Real and the Unreal vol II by Ursula K Le Guin
I'm pretty sure I've already read every short story in this collection, but it'd have been well over a decade for many of them. After reading TLHoD I was in the mood for more Le Guin, and I bought this in e-book form a few months ago. Le Guin's short stories were generally my favorite so I'm glad to be reading them, but I'm still in the very early works period (late 60s, maybe getting into early 70s), whereas I think it's her mid 70s-90s stuff I like best.
BTW, when I looked at Amazon to double check the title of this book, I saw a *ton* of Le Guin e-books. Which was not the case even a few months ago. Part of me is excited since I sold all my books of hers a couple years ago, but I also know she was really against e-books and Amazon in particular. So I want to investigate this more.
What I'll read next
I don't know! I might continue the Le Guin kick, but maybe I should check out something new. I have a huge recs list thanks to y'alls posts.
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on 30/7/15 01:21 pm (UTC)The ending totally got me by surprise, which I don't evwn know why because as you say it was fairly obvious. I also didn't really engage with it until Genly was imprisoned and it became clear that Eatraven would save him. I really enjoyed the journey on the ice! I kept thinking back to how much I hated the journey through the woods in Fellowship of the Ring and wondering what made Le Guin so different from that...
Anyway, I also felt like reading MOAR afterwards, but still have two other reading club books to do, and then I'm back at work, so even if I wanted to read more Le Guin I probably don't have time for it. I'm sorry to hear she was against ebooks. I read LHoD in fan-edited epub (I don't have many compunctions of not-buying books by authors who have passed on anyway, *hands*).
no subject
on 30/7/15 11:06 pm (UTC)Le Guin is still alive! (My phrasing kind of made it seem like she isn't, oops.) But she's probably materially more comfortable than most writers, especially women SF writers.
Do you know what the fan-edits were? Did they fix the pronouns? It was really difficult for me to not picture everyone as a man, which also detracted from my enjoyment.
ETA: nope, not part of the reading club. Just a funny coincidence. :D I hope you enjoy your last few books before you have to go back to work!
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on 31/7/15 07:23 am (UTC)Ack! Your phrasing just seemed to confirm what I had been assuming the whole time! I think I have had her mixed up with another older female writer, who I'm pretty sure passed not that long ago... I really should find another way to get ebooks, but Amazon just makes it so darn convenient :/
The fan-edit was "just" a scan of the '97 edition. It seems to have been manually edited several times to fix scan errors and add italics etc.
What a coincidence! :D It's so nice to have people to talk to about the stuff you read!
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on 31/7/15 08:11 pm (UTC)Yep, same here. It was pretty brilliant of them: "here, buy this device that will store all your books and make purchasing super convenient, oh and btw you can only buy them from us. (I know that's not technically true, but it's functionally true for many kindle users.)
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on 31/7/15 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
on 31/7/15 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
on 30/7/15 02:24 pm (UTC)Glad you did ultimately enjoy TLHoD! I hear what you're saying about it not being very feminist, but I do think making Genly a sexist was part of the book's mission statement. The whole experience on Gethen is meant to blow his tiny mind.
IIRC, the other worlds of the Ekumen aren't necessarily patriarchal and heteronormative. There is O, for example, with its group marriages, and of course Anarres. But her early work does indeed have some fairly standard gender representations. Like you, I tend to prefer her middle period.
no subject
on 30/7/15 11:32 pm (UTC)I do think making Genly a sexist was part of the book's mission statement. The whole experience on Gethen is meant to blow his tiny mind.
I think, if it weren't for having read Le Guin's other work from that time period (namely The Wizard of Earthsea), I'd totally subscribe to that reading as well.
IIRC, the other worlds of the Ekumen aren't necessarily patriarchal and heteronormative. There is O, for example, with its group marriages, and of course Anarres. But her early work does indeed have some fairly standard gender representations.
Yes, that's true! So part of my response depends on how much I treat this work like an isolated novel vs approach it with the knowledge of how she'll treat gender in her later Ekumenical books.
Like you, I tend to prefer her middle period.
Oh man, I just got to "The Shobies' Story" in the short story anthology I'm reading. It's from The Fisherman of the Inland Sea, published in the early 90s. I can't remember, do you have that one or was that the one you thought about buying (except the print quality was terrible)? Anyway I really enjoy those stories. The Shobies' Story is about a group of people from various Ekumenical planets doing the first test of faster-than-light space travel. Being Le Guin, it's all about their personalities and cultural differences and relationships. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. (I feel a bit silly talking about "so far" for a short story, but I mostly only read on the train/bus or right before bed unless I'm really sucked in.)
BTW, thanks for that email you sent me a few weeks ago! I keep forgetting to respond, but I have some thoughts on it.
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on 4/8/15 09:08 pm (UTC)I think, if it weren't for having read Le Guin's other work from that time period (namely The Wizard of Earthsea), I'd totally subscribe to that reading as well.
Hmm. I think Ged is similar to Genly in that he starts off pretty clueless about gender. But as you suggest, I'm not sure that was her original point -- the first three books are pretty gender-rigid, which I have always assumed is why she wrote the rest of the series later.
OTOH, Earthsea wasn't explicitly ABOUT gender in the way TLHoD is. I have to assume at least some, if not most, of Genly's gender-cluelessness is intentional, just because that's the theme Le Guin is exploring.
I have The Fisherman of the Inland Sea! "The Shobies' Story" is one of my very favorites. I crave more Ekumen, always.
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on 14/8/15 07:59 am (UTC)Re craving more Ekumen: god, me too. I always wanted more more more about Hain and Hainish people especially, as well as Anarres.
I just finished The Matter of the Seggri, which was so damn good. This return to Le Guin is really working for me.
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