Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
It does not do to dismiss "the times it was released in" too lightly. Most "ground breaking" things only break ground when the ground is ready to be broken. Besides which, some of the previous posts agree that ground breaking is not precisely the right term anyway - more like ice-breaking (as in breaking the ice so the conversation could start). But the same problem arises, people will only start talking when they're ready. 1959 was too soon. 1969, it seems to me, was running a little late. Added to all that, I think Le Guin's gender - and her personality - plays a part in her work being the one chosen to open the discussion.
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Ice-breaking 
was a great way to put that. I think you got to the essence of the book.
Genly Ai wasn't a man of the Ekemun. He was a man of the mid 20th century who wasn't ready for
that conversation until he reached the right time and place and was being rescued from desperate circumstances.
Reading the novel this time around, I could see how weak the book was as a sci-fi novel. There were a lot of gaping holes in the world-building.
I suspect that the book was set in the future to make it more palatable to discuss gender at that remove.