Review Of Darko Suvin's The Left Hand Of Darkness

When reading a science fiction text, a lot goes into what we the reader know and what we don’t know. Often it starts out with a completely new look at the world we live in, or a competently new world in itself and then slowly we use what we know and what we don’t and piece together from the text what is happening in the world we are reading about. This idea is discussed in Darko Suvin’s definition of science fiction. I see this definition really corresponding with The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. The novum is this entirely new world we are presented and getting the occupants of this world to join in an international alien space trade of sorts. The reader is suddenly thrown into a situation they have no background on and no idea the inner workings of this new planet, what these aliens do, what they look like ect, and have to piece together as well as make some things up for themselves along the way. …show more content…
It, by Suvin’s definition, creates a standard science fiction text. In The Left Hand of Darkness there are plenty of things the reader must slowly learn along with Genly about the Gethenians and their culture. Mostly discussed in the book is this idea of how they have sex. This is an idea presented to the reader from a very early time in the text and slowly as the reader goes on the idea that was once so broad, this understanding that they are not one sex nor the other, becomes a vast idea that isn’t so confusing