Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

11 reviews

ekgranstro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I unironically think this book has changed me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Abandonment

red_lapis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A deeply thoughtful and fascinating exploration of humanity and our connections with one another. 

Le Guin is masterful at world building - like any story set in another world it can be a bit of a mouthful to chew on in the first few chapters, but other than that we're fed only what is necessary, and more importantly when it is necessary to understand the impact and consequences of growing up in these worlds. 

The world itself is so rich and full of depth. Though is it firmly sci-fi, at times it doesn't feel too far from home, and sometimes it feels absolutely mystical. It is unlike any other sci-fi I've ever read, that's for sure. Despite being set many thousands of years in our future, there's a comforting timelessness feeling to it. I'm sure there is so much more to learn about the cultures and people of these worlds in the sequels and I can't wait.

The characters are again so tangible and full of depth. Despite being so different from us, it's easy to find them so relatable as they learn to understand themselves and each other. The characters and the plot is compelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

Minor: Incest

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

acemummerz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, and Deportation

Minor: Child death, Incest, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I read "The Left Hand of Darkness" in 2018 and didn't really get it. Yeah, I got the subversion of man-as-default, but I didn't get some of the deeper considerations Le Guin was going for regarding societies that previously did not know war and totalitarian systems that don't match one-for-one to our earthly systems. I also found Genly and Estraven's trip over the icefield monotonous - but after four years of serious mountaineering pursuits, it's anything but that, and Le Guin masterfully captured the sheer stress of being on the run for one's lives while also underneath the beauty of the stars. I'm tempted to argue that the gender fiction aspect falls prey to TVTropes' "Seinfeld is Unfunny" given how much has progressed in half a century (like the he/him pronoun aspect not being as radical), but the fact it still makes me think shows it's relevant 25 years into the new millennium. Masterful book, and a good example of "the worst criticism I have is that it could be longer"... and the ending felt a little saccharine, losing the conceit of it being a report. But still!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Incest, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Sexism, Pregnancy, and War

cdc95's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

kaziaroo's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Synopsis: an envoy is sent from a vast, interplanetary alliance to a wintery planet to recruit its inhabitants, a people of no gender whose bodies instead develop sexual organs for just a few days each month; in his quest, the envoy becomes embroiled in the politics both within and between two feuding countries, while being drawn to one figure in particular.

This was very interesting to read, especially from a 21st century perspective where we are accustomed to the boundaries of the gender binary being pushed, twisted, and ignored in wonderful diversity. We are also mostly familiar with, and accepting of,  the gender neutral pronoun "they" being used exclusively to refer to a particular person. 

In The Left Hand of Darkness, the main character, Genly Ai, is a poor representative of planet Earth in this respect; he is frequently disgusted by the Gethenians' bodies and attitudes towards sex and constantly tries to fit them and their characteristics into gendered boxes. He refers to the Gethenians using masculine pronouns, and seems to reject their femininity; it is only when one of them cries, or flirts, or is distressed, that he thinks "Ah ha! There is his femininity!" when it has been there all along. Genly's awkwardness around the Gethenians' sex and even his own fumbling description of what defines a woman, paired with the fact that he is the minority, the alien, on this planet, betray the notion that perhaps it is us earthlings who are the silly ones, forcing divides and highlighting differences between genders where there are none, and believing ourselves superior because of it. The Gethenians have no gender, yet they also have so far had no testosterone-fueled war or sexism (although they are not perfect; some parts of the book had strong echoes of 1984). On the other hand, the society of Earth that we see glimpses of is cisnormative and allonormative; at the beginning of the book, Genly cannot fathom a sexless and genderless society

and yet by the end he is in the beginnings of what I would tentatively call a queerplatonic relationship with no sex and no gender roles

. 

I enjoyed this book a lot, and although I would have liked an earlier explanation of certain concepts (mostly kemmer), once I understood them I could fully immerse myself in the world. The Gethenians' societies and customs felt incredibly detailed and well thought out for such a short novel. It was interesting reading from the perspective of both the alien visitor and the visited, except this time it's us earthlings who are the visitors.  I particularly loved the scenes journeying across the icy landscape. I highly recommend this book, but it's important to remember the publication date before complaining about the intricacies of gender politics – it was ahead of its time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Rape, Pregnancy, and War

emilo's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Torture, Medical trauma, and Murder

katastrophism's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Incest and Medical trauma

swampmonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A story very focused on political intrigue, the concept of home and humanity, and, most of all, nationalism and it's impacts. Not my favorite on a personal level, but well-done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy