The Left Hand of Darkness is a winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards and Le Guin's if-you-don't-read-anything-else-you-must-read-this. In her introduction she calls the book a thought-experiment, and I find that a good description. The story is about a world where the human inhabitants are completely androgynous and about the effects that such a physiology has on their culture. It is a fascinating question, and I think her answer is logical, credible, and realistically depicted.
I found it difficult to interest myself in the first one or two chapters, but then the plot became more interesting, and I started to identify with the main character, Genly Ai, an envoy from an inter-planet organization to this androgynous world. I understood his culture shock and especially the unexpected, unpleasant reverse culture shock of seeing true women and men after years surrounded by androgyny.
I'm not sure whether I think androgyny, if possible, would be a good idea or not, but considering the idea has certainly made me think differently about sex and gender. Even though the book consistently emphasized that the inhabitants of this planet are both sexes, or perhaps neither, I couldn't help filing them into male gender roles in my mind. This was perhaps exacerbated by the fact that our language lacks appropriate pronouns (he? she? it? all inappropriate). Androgyny is truly a mind-bending concept.
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