Written in 1969, Le Guin’s novel continues to resonate half a century later. The author prefaces the text by claiming that she does not attempt to predict the future, but merely observes the present—and perhaps this is why her novel captures that irrefutable quality of being human, albeit her story is set in a completely different world with species so separate from us. The novel is most astoundingly remembered for introducing a genderless race of beings who only become a man or woman once a month when their hormones kick in; but otherwise live their lives never beholden to one sex. Apart from this, the novel also delves into issues of the environment, patriotism, and race, rendered in Le Guin’s deft diction that details her world into being. Though science fiction is usually thought of as imagined landscapes far removed—The Left Hand of Darkness speaks to our concrete realities.
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