The Left hand of Darkness...Lijeva ruka tame...

It seems that lately I take outfit photos after dark. The thing is that I take them when (and where) I have the chance which mostly means a willing photographer and somewhat suitable location (in this case my sister in law and the parking of the mal a few hours ago). Now about the title... The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 novel by Ursula K. Le Guin that I have managed to finish today and that I would like to recommend. I'm immensely impressed both by the writer's writing skill not to say anything about the complexity with which she creates her fictional universe. Tolkien, you have found your match!

“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.”

 Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

About the outfit: I'm wearing the same tights that I did last night just this time with a shorter skirt. The jacket you've seen before: Tally WeiJl (but man's department). The bag is from Borsa, shoes from Peko. The rest is vintage.

HR Lijeva ruka tame je roman Ursule K. Le Guin koji sam danas uspjela dovršiti i koji me oduševio tako da toplo preporučavam. Em žena ima talenta za pisanje, em je nevjerovatno sa koliko detalja je stvorila taj izmišljeni svijet i svemir. U zadnje vrijeme se slikam po noći, pa je tu poveznica sa tamom i naslovom posta (opet naravno izlika za preporuku knjige) a zapravo fotografiram se kada ulovim vremena i fotografa, u ovom slučaju nevjestu na izlazu iz City Centra u Splitu. Puno ljudi unutra, a gdje bi i išli drugo po kiši?

“The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.

The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.”

 Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOVEL CITED FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, it became immensely popular, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction.^[7] The novel is set in the fictional Hainish universe as part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin, which she introduced in the 1964 short story "The Dowry of Angyar". It was fourth in sequence of writing among the Hainish novels, preceded by City of Illusions, and followed by The Word for World Is Forest.^[4]

The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a human native of Terra, who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Ai's mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by a lack of understanding of their culture. Individuals on Gethen are ambisexual, with no fixed sex; this has a strong influence on the culture of the planet, and creates a barrier of understanding for Ai.

“The Gethenians do not see one another as men or women. This is almost impossible for our imaginations to accept. After all, what is the first question we ask about a newborn baby? ....there is no division of humanity into strong and weak halves, protected/ protective. One is respected and judged only as a human being. You cannot cast a Gethnian in the role of Man or Woman, while adopting towards 'him' a corresponding role dependant on your expetations of the interactions between persons of the same or oppositve sex. It is an appalling experience for a Terran.... ”

The Left Hand of Darkness was among the first books in the genre now known as feminist science fiction and is described as the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction.^[8] A major theme of the novel is the effect of sex and gender on culture and society, explored in particular through the relationship between Ai and Estraven, a Gethenian politician who trusts and helps Ai. When the book was first published, the gender theme touched off a feminist debate over the depiction of the ambisexual Gethenians. The novel also explores the interaction between the unfolding loyalties of its two main characters, the loneliness and rootlessness of Ai, and the contrast between the religions of Gethen's two major nations.

“There is neither source nor end, for all things are in the Center of Time. As all the stars may be reflected in a round raindrop falling in the night: so too do all the stars reflect the raindrop. There is neither darkness nor death, for all things are, in the Light of the Moment, and their end and their beginning are one.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness has been reprinted more than 30 times,^[9] and received high praise from reviewers. In 1970, it was voted the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel by fans and writers, respectively, and was ranked as the third best novel, behind Frank Herbert's Dune and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, in a 1975 poll in Locus magazine.^[10] In 1987, Locus ranked it second among science fiction novels, after Dune,^[11] and literary critic Harold Bloom wrote, "Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time".^[9]

MEMORORABLE QUOTES FROM THE NOVEL 

“I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy.”

......

“A man wants his virility regarded. A woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. [Here] one is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.”

MEMORABLE QUTES FROM THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS 

“How does one hate a country, or love one? Tibe talks about it; I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession... Insofar as I love life, I love the hills of the Domain of Estre, but that sort of love does not have a boundary-line of hate. And beyond that, I am ignorant, I hope.”

.......

“A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt.”

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

“I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth. The only truth I can understand or express is, logically defined, a lie. Psychologically defined, a symbol. Aesthetically defined, a metaphor.”

.....

“It is a terrible thing, this kindess that human beings do not lose. Terrible, because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have. We who are so rich, so full of strength, we end up with that small change. We have nothing else to give. ”

.....

“To be an atheist is to maintain God. His existence or his non existence, it amounts to much the same, on the plane of proof. Thus proof is a word not often used among the Handdarata, who have chosen not to treat God as a fact, subject either to proof or to belief: and they have broken the circle, and go free.
To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.”

The unknown," said Faxe's soft voice in the forest, "the unforetold, the unproven, that is what life is based on. Ignorance is the ground of thought. Unproof is the ground of action. If it were proven that there is no God there would be no religion. No Handdara, no Yomesh, no hearthgods, nothing. But also if it were proven that there is a God, there would be no religion. ... Tell me, Genry, what is known? What is sure, unpredictable, inevitable -- the one certain thing you know concerning your future, and mine?"

That we shall die."

Yes, There's really only one question that can be answered, Genry, and we already know the answer. ... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness