Thank you for the informative video! The Left Hand of Darkness is actually my favorite novel of all time (and this is coming from an avid reader) - so thank you for taking the time to do this video and posting it for the world to see, because anything that promotes Left Hand is wonderful. I actually forgot about a couple of the names/terms that were used like Stabile and Mobile, so that was cool to recall them again in your video. A couple points too that I wanted to note to enhance the video / enhance the understanding of the novel in the spirit of this video is that Estraven also had different names, his formal one being Therem Harth rem ir Estraven, and sometimes is referred to in the novel by his first name, Therem. Additionally, I thought I had read that Genly was from the planet Terra. Lastly, the ONLY slight thing I disagreed with about your video was the main question you posed saying it is the central question of the book about what is the relationship between politics/government/power/gender. And I know that this is all just personal opinions (and your opinion of the book was interesting especially because I could tell that you were a good history student as you focused more on the historical and political aspects of this book), but my opinion is that the central message of this story is about friendship and loyalty. There is a startlingly deep friendship between the two main characters that develops throughout the book that is absolutely beautiful and powerful and that I have not come across in literature very often. I guess I should write SPOILER ALERT here to anyone who reads past this, but Genly was always a flawed character (tying into your video about gender/power) because he could not see people outside of the lens of gender, and he was biased in favoring the male gender which shows up in the book as he distrusts Estraven whenever he is being "feminine" (also intentional seeming since it seems Estraven's name almost sounds like estrogen, ha). Their journey through the ice lifts the veil, so to speak, from Genly's eyes, and he comes to see Estraven for who he truly is, BOTH male and female, like Taoism and the duality that Ursula writes about throughout the book. It is a fascinating culmination to the book where Genly finally trusts Estraven after mistrusting him the whole time. The ironic part is that Estraven was the one who believed in Genly's mission from the very beginning and who risked/sacrificed EVERYTHING in order to get his planet to join the Ekumen. From another review I wrote, "he gave up so much to aid Genly, his posh career as Prime Minister of Karhide, the leveraging of his connections in Orgota, and ultimately his life for Genly’s cause." I also likened Estraven to the concept of Nietzsche's overman, "the one who is willing to risk all for the sake of enhancement of humanity." For these reasons, Estraven is my favorite character I've ever come across in reading, he/she is just so admirable and layered/complex. Everything he did was with strategic intention and foresight, a true political player, and yet one with an incredible heart. And think of how he used to be a prime minister and then he commits all the worst crimes that you can commit on the planet Gethen (steal food, vow kemmer twice which you are not supposed to do, commit suicide), and he did those things for the causes he believed in. It also made me think a lot about how we perceive traitors throughout history - Estraven could very well be called a traitor to his nation and to his king, and some would even say to his race/people and to his planet, but would any of those be correct? Or is he not indeed the most loyal denizen of the planet? It made me reexamine the way history is written from the perspective of the winners, and how some people who are deemed traitors might have been the most loyal ones to the causes that they believed in (not all traitors, of course, since some are only motivated by money). Anywho, I did thoroughly enjoy your video, and especially gained a lot from it regarding the historical perspective / time period that Ursula was writing this novel in, so that was interesting to add that facet to my understanding of this story.
Thanks, Cecelia, for being so generous with your thoughts on the novel. I will absolutely incorporate them into my own understanding of this important work. I'm doing a live stream discussion of the novel next Tuesday. I'm just starting to experiment with the format, and I find I really enjoy it. Drop in and share your insights in the chat, if you can. Link: czcams.com/video/RpxGVtjNwSE/video.html
@@ThomasLewandowski Thank you, I will try to make it if I can (I have a little one at home so it's hit or miss sometimes unfortunately)! If I make it, it will be interesting as it will be my first live stream discussion to watch.
Feminine/masculine I feel is a better way to describe people sometimes moreso than male/female. As males age they become more feminine and females become more masculine , this is a biological occurrence in humans. We see men are more prone to violent acts when younger and much less likely when older. Women become more dominant in heterosexual relationships towards the end of life. We don't kemmer for 2 days on earth but we definitely alter our masculine/feminine qualities through time.
I just finished it. Having just gotten into sci fi books and having just read the Foundation series and the 3 Body Problem trilogy plus having read 2001 in the past I was caught off guard by the unusually imaginative, gender breaking, highy meditative nature of the book but thats what got me into it. It also showed me the limitations of the imagination of the main writers I knew which wrote an extrapolated version of the reality they knew which is in my opinion mainly a male academic perspective. I am really happy I now have a wider perspective on what is possible to write about in sci fi.
Thank you for the video. I am translating this novel into Arabic and this helped me a lot to better understand how to deliver it with integrity. My only struggle is names pronunciation lol.
This helped refocus my thoughts on the book -- I've read all of the Earthseas and LOVED them, but found her Hainish novels a little more challenging to absorb and appreciate. This helps. I think this might be the first book I'll read all the way through then turn around and read again. Thanks for the video, dude!!!
I have to say that, while everything he says about the novel is true and interesting, he doesn't really get into why I think the book is so great -- that is so damn well written. It is just simply a beautiful read; a masterpiece of prose style.
I've read many books aloud to my children at home. The Wizard of Earthsea was my favorite, for exactly that reason. Every paragraph is a prose poem. For my ear, the only writer who compares is Cormac McCarthy. My children particularly enjoyed my reading of Blood Meridian. Just kidding. Cheers!
This is my favorite book of all time and I can't count the number of times I've read it. I wish there was a good audiobook version that had young voice actors for Estraven and Genly Ai. Maybe Tati Gabrielle and Chance Perdomo? My first copy was a paperback, so I took a pencil and labeled each chapter by the narrator, it was a great help. And, I will say, the first time I read it I didn't get much out of it. I'm glad I gave it that second read.
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel read by George Guidall. To be fair, I had never read the book before, but I found his narration to be really compelling and I ended up loving the book too.
Nice analassis! Something for intertextuality, maybe? : ) The Knight in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli (medieval epic poem written in the 12th century) 1. Story Of Rostevan, King Of The Arabians 36. "My day is done; old age, most grievous of all ills, weighs on me; if not today, then tomorrow I die--this is the way of the world. What light is that on which darkness attends? Let us instate as sovereign my daughter, of whom the sun is not worthy." “Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light. Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way.” Therem Harth rem ir Estraven --> Rostevan What light is that on which darkness attends? ---> Light is the left hand of darkness; and darkness the right hand of light, ...like hands joined together,
Thank you for the amazing video! I really enjoyed watching your drawings and hearing your comments! Although there're some points that I agree & disagree, it was really fun to watch and remember/rethink!
Thank you for this video Mr. Lew. I read the book last year and I really loved it, but I didn't make the mental connection to 1969. I read it from a modern view as a exploration of gender and continual war, but orgoreyn makes much more sense in the frame of 1969.
Awesome. I read the whole Earthsea series aloud to my children. It was a great experience, as a parent and as a reader. More people should read Ursula K. LeGuin.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this. I recently found this book at a thrift store and have found it very engaging so far. Nice to have more context to a deep and complex story.
Yes! An excellent pen. My favorite pencil is the Mirado Black Warrior. Cheers! www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-Mirado-Warrior-Pencils/dp/B00006IEES/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1S2H81JYAUKK1&dchild=1&keywords=black+mirado+warrior+pencils&qid=1635614673&sprefix=black+mirado+%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-5
Thank you for making this video! Should I watch this now or after I'm done reading the book? I'm in the middle right now but I don't want any spoilers.
Really enjoyed the video especially where you broke down the major themes and questions as well as the cultural influences that shaped the writing of the novel! I do think if we’re going to talk about stonewall and it’s relationship to this book which is so heavily concerned with gender it’s important to note that the major events of stonewall were lead by trans women specifically (I think an entire separate analysis video could be made about this book and it’s relationship with transness today) but I love that you included that as a cultural moment important to the book and I whole heartedly agree!
I've been assigned this book for a college course, but Le guin has been on my reading list for a while now, especially her Earthsea Cycle. This is such a helpful guide, thank you for making this. I didn't even think about viewing the book from a 1969 lens. Very cool!
Thanks for this! I'm listening to this book on audible right now and to say I've been a bit confused, more than once, is an understatement lol I'm currently on ch 8, and what I'm really curious about is... the species on winter, they don't seem to be having the reactions I would expect them to have, to a interstellar alien who has landed on their planet! Like, if and when we here on Earth finally have disclosure and contact with an alien race who comes here in friendship with advanced technology and knowledge, to invite and welcome us into a galaxy wide federation of other alien planets?? I mean, lol it changes everything, proof we're not alone in the universe, and that there are other inhabitable planets? Why is this not a life altering event to them? They don't seem all the curious or interested or shocked about this alien creature who traveled in a space ship landing on their planet.... I'm so confused lol do they have prior knowledge or experience with space exploration at all?
"the way": I thought of Christ, not taoism. Light and dark exist bc of each other. I don't think I'll be able to read this book; fantasy and sci-fi are not my thing for some reason, including Tolkien, to my dismay. This book is on a top 20 novels list that I'm reading so I don't know if I can struggle my way through it. Thanks for the video!
I like Le Guin for the beauty of her sentences. There is a ton of confusing terminology early in the novel, mostly related to alien (Gethen) culture, biology, politics, and history. If you can wade through all that, and make it to the adventure parts, and the powerful relationship between Estraven and Genly Ai, you'll make it to the end. If you put it down, you might want to try Wizard of Earthsea first. It's not the same series, but it's more approachable, less strange. I fell in love with Le Guin's sentences reading that book aloud to my children. Because Earthsea is so great, it gave me the trust in Le Guin to plow through the difficult beginning that Left Hand of Darkness offers the reader. Good luck! Let me know if you make it!
Now here is one interesting side note. In my language we dont have the neutral pronoun (they/them), so in my copy of the book, you can actually feel protagonists struggle to coprehend gender even further, than i assume is the case in English.
Damn! I just finished it yesterday. This would've helped me out a bit! Haha Edit: that being said, I picked up on a lot of this info. I would've benefitted greatly from the narration guide, though. Really great video!
Hey, Thanks! Le Guin is so good with language. Her paragraphs are poetry. Like songs that can be enjoyed over and over again, her books were written to be reread!
in read up to chapter 4 so far, the book mentions "Hearth" is that part of Ekuman or Gethen? please advise if possible....... thanks for the breakdown very helpful!!!!
If I remember correctly, Hearth is a Gethen term. It refers to the ancestral family home / traditions? Maybe a symbol of family allegiance, obligation, or affiliation?
Sorry, I found it dull, slow and nothing really of interest in it. Way overrated. For the life of me, there are much better sci-fi books than this. Give me a Foundation, or Dune or almost anything else.
Gotta be honest, I'm a third of the way in and kinda feeling the same way. I just don't buy some of the sociological tangents she's goes off on (especially in chapter 7, I feel like history and evolution clearly show how the harshness of an environment would irl catalyze war, not inhibit it for us to live in relative peace in some sort of communistic seeming manner, way too idealist imo) and feel like the world building, characters , writing style, and plot are immensely underdeveloped and unexciting. I like philosophical sci Fi but this just wasn't it. Yeah it was progressive for it's time, but it's just uninteresting imo nowadays.
Interesting reactions. Having read Dune and three of the Foundation books, I can see where all three authors deserve the status and accolades for their visions. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for in the story. The Foundation and Dune tales involve a gigantic array of characters, planets, societies, while Left Hand lays a backdrop of three cultures and focuses on the relationship and inner lives of two characters. There is nothing dull going on inside these people’s lives or thoughts, but it can seem that way if you aren’t looking for that kind of magnifying glass in your storytelling. LeGuin’s prose, though, regardless of the topic, is many levels higher in skill than anything Asimov put on paper in his early Foundation years. Those first couple of books are painful to read when it comes to humans interacting with each other.
Thank you for the informative video! The Left Hand of Darkness is actually my favorite novel of all time (and this is coming from an avid reader) - so thank you for taking the time to do this video and posting it for the world to see, because anything that promotes Left Hand is wonderful. I actually forgot about a couple of the names/terms that were used like Stabile and Mobile, so that was cool to recall them again in your video. A couple points too that I wanted to note to enhance the video / enhance the understanding of the novel in the spirit of this video is that Estraven also had different names, his formal one being Therem Harth rem ir Estraven, and sometimes is referred to in the novel by his first name, Therem. Additionally, I thought I had read that Genly was from the planet Terra. Lastly, the ONLY slight thing I disagreed with about your video was the main question you posed saying it is the central question of the book about what is the relationship between politics/government/power/gender. And I know that this is all just personal opinions (and your opinion of the book was interesting especially because I could tell that you were a good history student as you focused more on the historical and political aspects of this book), but my opinion is that the central message of this story is about friendship and loyalty. There is a startlingly deep friendship between the two main characters that develops throughout the book that is absolutely beautiful and powerful and that I have not come across in literature very often. I guess I should write SPOILER ALERT here to anyone who reads past this, but Genly was always a flawed character (tying into your video about gender/power) because he could not see people outside of the lens of gender, and he was biased in favoring the male gender which shows up in the book as he distrusts Estraven whenever he is being "feminine" (also intentional seeming since it seems Estraven's name almost sounds like estrogen, ha). Their journey through the ice lifts the veil, so to speak, from Genly's eyes, and he comes to see Estraven for who he truly is, BOTH male and female, like Taoism and the duality that Ursula writes about throughout the book. It is a fascinating culmination to the book where Genly finally trusts Estraven after mistrusting him the whole time. The ironic part is that Estraven was the one who believed in Genly's mission from the very beginning and who risked/sacrificed EVERYTHING in order to get his planet to join the Ekumen. From another review I wrote, "he gave up so much to aid Genly, his posh career as Prime Minister of Karhide, the leveraging of his connections in Orgota, and ultimately his life for Genly’s cause." I also likened Estraven to the concept of Nietzsche's overman, "the one who is willing to risk all for the sake of enhancement of humanity." For these reasons, Estraven is my favorite character I've ever come across in reading, he/she is just so admirable and layered/complex. Everything he did was with strategic intention and foresight, a true political player, and yet one with an incredible heart. And think of how he used to be a prime minister and then he commits all the worst crimes that you can commit on the planet Gethen (steal food, vow kemmer twice which you are not supposed to do, commit suicide), and he did those things for the causes he believed in. It also made me think a lot about how we perceive traitors throughout history - Estraven could very well be called a traitor to his nation and to his king, and some would even say to his race/people and to his planet, but would any of those be correct? Or is he not indeed the most loyal denizen of the planet? It made me reexamine the way history is written from the perspective of the winners, and how some people who are deemed traitors might have been the most loyal ones to the causes that they believed in (not all traitors, of course, since some are only motivated by money). Anywho, I did thoroughly enjoy your video, and especially gained a lot from it regarding the historical perspective / time period that Ursula was writing this novel in, so that was interesting to add that facet to my understanding of this story.
Thanks, Cecelia, for being so generous with your thoughts on the novel. I will absolutely incorporate them into my own understanding of this important work. I'm doing a live stream discussion of the novel next Tuesday. I'm just starting to experiment with the format, and I find I really enjoy it. Drop in and share your insights in the chat, if you can. Link: czcams.com/video/RpxGVtjNwSE/video.html
@@ThomasLewandowski Thank you, I will try to make it if I can (I have a little one at home so it's hit or miss sometimes unfortunately)! If I make it, it will be interesting as it will be my first live stream discussion to watch.
Feminine/masculine I feel is a better way to describe people sometimes moreso than male/female. As males age they become more feminine and females become more masculine , this is a biological occurrence in humans. We see men are more prone to violent acts when younger and much less likely when older. Women become more dominant in heterosexual relationships towards the end of life. We don't kemmer for 2 days on earth but we definitely alter our masculine/feminine qualities through time.
I just finished it. Having just gotten into sci fi books and having just read the Foundation series and the 3 Body Problem trilogy plus having read 2001 in the past I was caught off guard by the unusually imaginative, gender breaking, highy meditative nature of the book but thats what got me into it. It also showed me the limitations of the imagination of the main writers I knew which wrote an extrapolated version of the reality they knew which is in my opinion mainly a male academic perspective. I am really happy I now have a wider perspective on what is possible to write about in sci fi.
Thank you for the video. I am translating this novel into Arabic and this helped me a lot to better understand how to deliver it with integrity. My only struggle is names pronunciation lol.
This helped refocus my thoughts on the book -- I've read all of the Earthseas and LOVED them, but found her Hainish novels a little more challenging to absorb and appreciate. This helps. I think this might be the first book I'll read all the way through then turn around and read again. Thanks for the video, dude!!!
I have to say that, while everything he says about the novel is true and interesting, he doesn't really get into why I think the book is so great -- that is so damn well written. It is just simply a beautiful read; a masterpiece of prose style.
I've read many books aloud to my children at home. The Wizard of Earthsea was my favorite, for exactly that reason. Every paragraph is a prose poem.
For my ear, the only writer who compares is Cormac McCarthy. My children particularly enjoyed my reading of Blood Meridian. Just kidding.
Cheers!
Just shared w my book club as we are discussing it tonight. I was so confused! Thank you for this 🙏🏽
Glad it was helpful!
This is my favorite book of all time and I can't count the number of times I've read it. I wish there was a good audiobook version that had young voice actors for Estraven and Genly Ai. Maybe Tati Gabrielle and Chance Perdomo? My first copy was a paperback, so I took a pencil and labeled each chapter by the narrator, it was a great help. And, I will say, the first time I read it I didn't get much out of it. I'm glad I gave it that second read.
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel read by George Guidall. To be fair, I had never read the book before, but I found his narration to be really compelling and I ended up loving the book too.
Thank you for making this!! We're reading this book in my book club and this was such a helpful tool to share with folx to better understand it!
This is awesome. I'm going to teach this book for the first time this year and you've really helped me organize my thoughts.
Nice analassis! Something for intertextuality, maybe? : )
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli (medieval epic poem written in the 12th century)
1. Story Of Rostevan, King Of The Arabians
36. "My day is done; old age, most grievous of all ills, weighs on me; if not today, then tomorrow I die--this is the way of the world. What light is that on which darkness attends? Let us instate as sovereign my daughter, of whom the sun is not worthy."
“Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer,
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way.”
Therem Harth rem ir Estraven --> Rostevan
What light is that on which darkness attends? ---> Light is the left hand of darkness; and darkness the right hand of light, ...like hands joined together,
Thank you for the amazing video! I really enjoyed watching your drawings and hearing your comments! Although there're some points that I agree & disagree, it was really fun to watch and remember/rethink!
Thank you for this video Mr. Lew. I read the book last year and I really loved it, but I didn't make the mental connection to 1969. I read it from a modern view as a exploration of gender and continual war, but orgoreyn makes much more sense in the frame of 1969.
Awesome. I read the whole Earthsea series aloud to my children. It was a great experience, as a parent and as a reader. More people should read Ursula K. LeGuin.
Love your notes and diagrams, very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to explain this. I recently found this book at a thrift store and have found it very engaging so far. Nice to have more context to a deep and complex story.
Great choice of pen. The Pilot G-2 is the most enjoyable thing to write with in the world.
Yes! An excellent pen. My favorite pencil is the Mirado Black Warrior. Cheers! www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-Mirado-Warrior-Pencils/dp/B00006IEES/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1S2H81JYAUKK1&dchild=1&keywords=black+mirado+warrior+pencils&qid=1635614673&sprefix=black+mirado+%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-5
Thanks a bunch for this wonderful explanation
Thank you for making this video! Should I watch this now or after I'm done reading the book? I'm in the middle right now but I don't want any spoilers.
Hi! You'll find the first 12 minutes helpful with no spoilers. After that, I do talk about the book as a whole.
@@ThomasLewandowski Thank you so much!
Really enjoyed the video especially where you broke down the major themes and questions as well as the cultural influences that shaped the writing of the novel! I do think if we’re going to talk about stonewall and it’s relationship to this book which is so heavily concerned with gender it’s important to note that the major events of stonewall were lead by trans women specifically (I think an entire separate analysis video could be made about this book and it’s relationship with transness today) but I love that you included that as a cultural moment important to the book and I whole heartedly agree!
I've been assigned this book for a college course, but Le guin has been on my reading list for a while now, especially her Earthsea Cycle. This is such a helpful guide, thank you for making this. I didn't even think about viewing the book from a 1969 lens. Very cool!
Thanks for this! I'm listening to this book on audible right now and to say I've been a bit confused, more than once, is an understatement lol I'm currently on ch 8, and what I'm really curious about is... the species on winter, they don't seem to be having the reactions I would expect them to have, to a interstellar alien who has landed on their planet! Like, if and when we here on Earth finally have disclosure and contact with an alien race who comes here in friendship with advanced technology and knowledge, to invite and welcome us into a galaxy wide federation of other alien planets?? I mean, lol it changes everything, proof we're not alone in the universe, and that there are other inhabitable planets? Why is this not a life altering event to them? They don't seem all the curious or interested or shocked about this alien creature who traveled in a space ship landing on their planet.... I'm so confused lol do they have prior knowledge or experience with space exploration at all?
"the way": I thought of Christ, not taoism. Light and dark exist bc of each other. I don't think I'll be able to read this book; fantasy and sci-fi are not my thing for some reason, including Tolkien, to my dismay. This book is on a top 20 novels list that I'm reading so I don't know if I can struggle my way through it. Thanks for the video!
I like Le Guin for the beauty of her sentences. There is a ton of confusing terminology early in the novel, mostly related to alien (Gethen) culture, biology, politics, and history. If you can wade through all that, and make it to the adventure parts, and the powerful relationship between Estraven and Genly Ai, you'll make it to the end.
If you put it down, you might want to try Wizard of Earthsea first. It's not the same series, but it's more approachable, less strange. I fell in love with Le Guin's sentences reading that book aloud to my children. Because Earthsea is so great, it gave me the trust in Le Guin to plow through the difficult beginning that Left Hand of Darkness offers the reader.
Good luck! Let me know if you make it!
Now here is one interesting side note. In my language we dont have the neutral pronoun (they/them), so in my copy of the book, you can actually feel protagonists struggle to coprehend gender even further, than i assume is the case in English.
Damn! I just finished it yesterday. This would've helped me out a bit! Haha
Edit: that being said, I picked up on a lot of this info. I would've benefitted greatly from the narration guide, though. Really great video!
Hey, Thanks! Le Guin is so good with language. Her paragraphs are poetry. Like songs that can be enjoyed over and over again, her books were written to be reread!
@@ThomasLewandowski & reread it i certainly will, at some point. It certainly deserves a reread!
Perfect explanation 👏👏👏
This is great~
it helped a lot, thanks
OMG thank you so much !! Amazing
in read up to chapter 4 so far, the book mentions "Hearth" is that part of Ekuman or Gethen? please advise if possible....... thanks for the breakdown very helpful!!!!
If I remember correctly, Hearth is a Gethen term. It refers to the ancestral family home / traditions? Maybe a symbol of family allegiance, obligation, or affiliation?
thank you ! Very useful :)
Ty! V helpful
16:00
The preface of the book is strong and provocative ... Yet then it becomes a bit s sedated ... Still trying to read it though
How's it going? Did you finish?
Sorry, I found it dull, slow and nothing really of interest in it. Way overrated. For the life of me, there are much better sci-fi books than this. Give me a Foundation, or Dune or almost anything else.
Gotta be honest, I'm a third of the way in and kinda feeling the same way. I just don't buy some of the sociological tangents she's goes off on (especially in chapter 7, I feel like history and evolution clearly show how the harshness of an environment would irl catalyze war, not inhibit it for us to live in relative peace in some sort of communistic seeming manner, way too idealist imo) and feel like the world building, characters , writing style, and plot are immensely underdeveloped and unexciting. I like philosophical sci Fi but this just wasn't it. Yeah it was progressive for it's time, but it's just uninteresting imo nowadays.
Interesting reactions. Having read Dune and three of the Foundation books, I can see where all three authors deserve the status and accolades for their visions. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for in the story. The Foundation and Dune tales involve a gigantic array of characters, planets, societies, while Left Hand lays a backdrop of three cultures and focuses on the relationship and inner lives of two characters. There is nothing dull going on inside these people’s lives or thoughts, but it can seem that way if you aren’t looking for that kind of magnifying glass in your storytelling.
LeGuin’s prose, though, regardless of the topic, is many levels higher in skill than anything Asimov put on paper in his early Foundation years. Those first couple of books are painful to read when it comes to humans interacting with each other.