The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin (In-person)

About this event

PLEASE NOTE THE DAY OF THIS MEETING \- we usually meet on the second Wednesday of the month\, but for the foreseeable future\, we will be meeting on the second Tuesday of each month\. This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme (https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/fund-your-event/). This meeting will be held in person in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden. There is also an online session held on Thursday if you are not in London or are unable to attend in-person. This month, we're going on a mission of persuasion with Genly Ai - an envoy of a galactic civilisation as he tries to understand the inhabitants of the planet he has been sent to recruit. Differences of biology, gender, religion and philosophy separate Genly from the Gethenians and all feature as just some of the themes we will explore when discussing this book. The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to. Here's the blurb from goodreads.com: A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.