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Originally Posted by issybird
I also thought of Adams; I also felt that it was a throwback to Western myth, as with enigmatic/gnomic responses from oracles, such as the one at Delphi. I hesitate to comment on Eastern myth since I know so little about it, but perhaps there's a similarity to Zen koans?
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Because Le Guin didn't really explore this any further, I ended up unsure whether she was having a sort of sideswipe at all those gnomic responses (probably Eastern and Western), or whether there was a more serious intent.
A similar curiosity was the telepathic thing that Genly could do. I guess it provided an extra little bit of intimacy between Genly and Estraven ... but it hardly seemed worth introducing just for that. It seemed an unnecessary distraction to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I agree. The societal structure seemed to me a throwback to the European Dark Ages and not especially organic to Gethen, except perhaps as a way to weather harsh conditions. The Gethenians if not humanoid are certainly humanish, and to what extent could they reflect whatever experimentation in regard to biology took place, that is, was a side effect to inculcate "human" responses to environment and socialization, an unconscious preference on the part of the breeders?
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I think I found the Gethenians more human than I expected/remembered. When I nominated this for the lost in translation theme I had it in my memory that the "lost in translation" aspect was a clearer situation than it seems to me on this re-read. On this read it's almost a case of: we didn't need aliens to explain this misunderstanding.