Book: Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand Of Darkness"

I started this book before I left for Spain.  For some reason, during the first couple of weeks, I didn't read at the end of the day.  Finally, after a couple of weeks of just vegging at the end of our walking day, I decided to start reading again, and I have to say, I am kicking myself for not reading sooner.  Reading was the perfect afternoon and evening powering-down activity, and I started sleeping so much better.

This book, "The Left Hand of Darkness", is another on my 'classics' reading list that I'm putting together.  I've never read Ursula K. Le Guin before and I liked her writing style.  The book, published in 1987, is an exploration of gender, gender fluidity, and gender's influence on society.  It's done in a subtle way that isn't in your face, and in a very approachable way.

The book follows an envoy from a planetary alliance visiting a world to invite them to join the alliance.  The envoy is male.  The people of the planet are gender neutral, except for brief months when they randomly become male or female and become fertile.  There is some action as the envoy is not believed and, being male all the time, he is considered a pervert in the eyes of the population.  He is pursued, but in the end, the planet joins the alliance.  This storyline really is just background behind the story of the relationship between the envoy and an exile who helps him.

Strange to think that a book from 1987 is a 'classic', but it is nearly fifty years old, and lately, I've been running into a lot of things celebrating their fiftieth anniversary and considered classics.

I gave this book four out of five stars on Goodreads.  It could have been better, and it was a bit of a slow burn, but I enjoyed it and was impressed.