Ursula K. Le Guin has died

The New York Times, National Public Radio, and other news outlets are reporting the death of Ursula K. Le Guin, an author, mostly of fantastic literature, at the age of 88. She passed away on January 22, 2018, in Portland, Oregon, her long-time home.

Le Guin wrote carefully and well, and with a deep understanding of the human condition. Her parents were anthropologists, and the background of some of her novels reflected that -- different societies and races were portrayed in credible ways. The most different society is that of Gethen, where the inhabitants are mostly non-sexual, externally or in thought, for most of the time, but enter a sexual phase, where they can be either male or female, every few weeks. Gethen is also remarkable because it is so cold most of the time. The people have adapted to this in various ways. See here and here for my posts on the novel about Gethen, The Left Hand of Darkness. The Tombs of Atuan presented a religion, and its practices and those who led in worship, in a credible way. That book is part of a trilogy, with A Wizard of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore as the first and third books. The books have one character, Ged, who matures and changes roles as the stories progress. The trilogy, about the wizards, and the planet with so many islands, and with dragons, was extended later.

Le Guin's The Dispossessed was about two different societies, and their political and economic systems, seemingly very different. See here for my post on that novel.

The books cited above won numerous awards, which were well-deserved. Le Guin was also outspoken about fantastic literature, arguing that it really is literature, and that it is, or at least can be, important.

Le Guin was, as far as I know, a Taoist.

I shall miss expecting new works from her. May she rest in peace, really.

Thanks for reading. Read Le Guin.

Religion in Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness

In a previous post, I mused about Ursula K. Le Guin's great novel, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) (LHD). Here's more.

Le Guin says that she is a Taoist. I don't know any more about Taoism that I can find in the page that the previous sentence links to, which is the Wikipedia article on the subject. I am guessing that, when Le Guin says this, she is speaking more of her philosophy than of her religion, although the two are often intimately intertwined, at least in Christianity and materialism.

There are two religions in LHD. One of these is the Yomeshta cult, which seems to be the official religion of Orgereyn, one of the two countries on the planet Gethen in which the action of the book takes place. The other country, Karhide, is described, by Estraven, the most important Gethenian character, as not a kingdom, but a family quarrel. It is subdivided into many small principalities, villages, and households. The people have many beliefs. Some are Yomeshta. Some follow the way of the Handdara. This lifestyle is the most interesting to Le Guin, and to her readers. Karhide is more interesting than Orgeryn.

The Handdara is a religion without institution, without hierarchy, without vows, without creed; I am still unable to say whether it has a God or not. The Left Hand of Darkness (New York: Ace, 1969) p. 57. Genly Ai, the Envoy, a native of earth, describing his findings, after a few years spent on Gethen.

"Well, in the Handdara . . . you know, there's no theory, no dogma. . . ." The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 222. Estraven, a Gethenian who follows the Handdara way, to Genly Ai. First ellipsis in original.

The interesting parts of the Handdara way include their disciplines. Adherents practice controlled starvation, in part as a way of surviving this harsh environment when little or no food is available. They can go into dothe, a state allowing for prolonged exertion, and physical feats. For example, Estraven carries Genly Ai, who is heavier than he, a long distance through the snow. After dothe, the practitioner must have an extended rest period. The Handdara are also able to foretell. A group of them, led by a Weaver, and including at least one member who is coming into sexual readiness (which is cyclical among most Gethenians), one pervert -- person who is permanently sexually ready, and "zanies" (psychotics) are able to answer specific questions about the future. This ritual is performed at physical risk to the participants, and only if the person who wants an answer pays an acceptable price. Often the answer does not tell what the questioner wanted to know -- in one case, a Gethenian asked when he would die, and he was told, in effect, on the 22nd, but not which month or year. According to the Handdara, the Yomesh cult is the result of a Gethenian forcing a Weaver and associates to answer a question, "What is the meaning of life?" which implies that the answer was not valid.

As for Genly Ai, there is little to indicate his religion, except that, once, when Estraven recites a poem with these lines:
Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.

Genly Ai sketches the yin and yang symbol, which is sometimes associated with Taoism, and asks Estraven if he is familiar with it (p. 222). The Gethenian is not.

Thanks for reading.