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The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin is probably the best known woman in science fiction. She made her reputation in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is certainly one of the few working 30 years ago to still be an active and instantly recognised name today. The Hainish novels she wrote in the late 1960s and early 1970s brought her early renown and awards. The science fiction universe she created is sometimes buried by the success of her Earthsea books and the different directions of her later years but Le Guin has recently revisited and extended this family of books. In the course of her career she has written over 30 novels and short story collections which have, between them, earned her every significant award that SF has to offer, often more than once. Yet, some commentators have become uncomfortable with Le Guin's ideology, allowing their view of her best science fiction to be clouded by her subsequent academic reputation
The Left Hand of Darkness was the first great book written by Le Guin, winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards. It built on her journeyman novels set in the same Hainish universe but they pale beside this book, in which Le Guin fully found both her voice and her subject. The plot is, in barest outline, a standard trope of science fiction -- a visitor from an advanced civilisation brings a message to a non-space-age people. The essential twist seems simple in hindsight but it is an indicator of the new winds blowing through science fiction at the time. The people of the planet Winter are a variant human population, neuter five sixths of the time but who become either male or female when they become sexually active in the remaining part of the month. Every normal adult can -- and most do -- both bear and sire children. The result is a society where sexual inequality is simply impossible. This thought experiment is fascinating reading yet the book does not preach. These people have much in common with the wider community of humanity and the framework of the plot is strong enough for the discursive elements of the text.
Most of the story is told from the perspective of Genly Ai, the solo Earth visitor who holds the role of "First Mobile" to Winter from the League of Worlds. His mission is to bring news of the existence of other inhabited worlds and to encourage Winter's peoples to allow contact. He is, intentionally, a virtually unsupported ambassador, bringing a message of peace and technology; attempting to convince through his words and the presence of his space ship. They seem to find it difficult to believe (or acknowledge) that he is from another planet and consider his fixed sexuality a perversion. Despite his training, it is almost impossible for Ai to understand the personal or political values of the people he deals with. As a result, he is caught up in intrigue within and between governments. The neighbouring nations with which Ai is involved are broadly painted as a stratified, feudal country and a modern but bureaucratised nation. Given the different nature of these humans, the way such societies actually work is interesting through both the similarities and the contrasts with the expectations of first impressions.
Alongside Ai's reminisences, the book includes myths and stories as well as extracts from the journal of one of the inhabitants (which reads very much like an Antarctic sledging diary from a century ago, with its distance travelled and descriptions of ice and weather conditions). These give the book greater depth as an artifact and provide further explanation of the culture without filtering through Ai's understanding. Ai himself undergoes considerable physical and emotional suffering in the course of his mission; the book's ending tells as much about how he has changed as it does of the fate of his mission.
Le Guin's explanation of how Winter and its inhabitants came about is not hard science but the development of her ideas is fascinating. She builds up Winter's human and natural environments without falling into a lecturing style, offering plenty of food for thought by leaving as many questions open as she answers. The book also packs an emotional punch. Throw away any preconceptions and enjoy The Left Hand of Darkness.
You can purchase this book at Fatbrain. You may also be interested in checking out a Le Guin site that Duncan recommends. Would you like to see you review in this space? Check out our book review submission guidelines first :)
Natalie Portman
Turned down a role in Horse Whisperer, The (1998) to act in "The Diary of Anne Frank" on Broadway. (29 June 1999) Graduated from Syosset High School, Syosset, NY. Has been a strict vegetarian since the age of 8. Has taken dance lessons since the age of 4. Says that math is her favorite subject in school because, "There's always an answer." (1999) Stated in a TV interview that with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she will not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying at Harvard University. Can speak fluent Hebrew, French, and Japanese. Originally turned down the role of Ann August in the film Anywhere But Here (1999) because of the love scene between herself and Corbin Allred which required nudity. Susan Sarandon who had co-star approval, said she couldn't continue the movie without Portman, so the script was re-written without the scene and sent to Natalie, and she accepted. Portman is her grandmother's maiden name. She avoids revealing her real name so she can have more privacy. Her mother is an artist, and her father a doctor. She is an only child. She went to Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Camp in 1994 and 1995 where she was Anne in "Anne of Green Gables" in 1994 and "Tapestry" in 1995. Was the first choice to play Juliet in Romeo + Juliet (1996) movie but turned it down because of the scenes, and the age difference, between her and Leonardo DiCaprio. She was discovered in a Pizza parlor and was originally turned down for the role of Mathilda in Léon (1994) because she was too young. Harpers and Queen magazine said that she is "the new Audrey Hepburn". Turned down the title role in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997), due to her feelings about young adult actors/actresses being exposed to sex in films. Before she was cast in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), she had never seen the original 3 Star Wars movies. Moved to the US when she was 3 years old. Turned down the role of Wendy in Ice Storm, The (1997) because she felt the material was "too dark." The role went to Christina Ricci, who has said she often gets the projects Natalie turns down. Said would never be in a horror movie or any other " Jennifer Love Hewitt type" film Has said in interviews that when she gets older, she would like to be a doctor like her father. Was reportedly caught using a fake ID trying to sneak into the Roxy. The performer Moby insisted that she was invited by him, and refused to perform unless she was admitted. She was admitted and security watched her as she stood in the back, watched the show, and didn't drink. Stated in an online interview that the story about sneaking into the Roxy to see Moby is not true, and that she and her friends went home after they were denied entrance. (2000) Studying psychology at Harvard (where she has three room-mates), and says that she may plan to make that her career. Takes pride in the fact that she is a role model for girls and choses roles that are positive so that they will have a positive role model to look up to. Her father is an infertility specialist. Auditioned for Little Women (1994). Became interested in acting after spending three summers at the prestigious (and expensive) Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Camp. Is very close to her parents and says, "The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they always love you." Grew up in Syosset, Long Island, New York, where her parents still reside. (July 2001) Dated Lukas Haas. Personal quotes (On Lolita) "I don't think there needs to be a movie out where a child has sex with an adult." Source:Entertainment Tonight (On Lolita) I think there's enough exploitation out there that it's not nescessary to do more. Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be exploited, and then end up embarassing family, friends, and even strangers. Source:Calgary Sun 11/7/99 (On Acting)"I started to do this at age 11. At age 20, I might say, this is enough" (On violence in the media) "We live in a violent world, but since the success of films like Pulp Fiction (1994), it seems every movie has some violence in it, and it's now being used as a form of comedy-audiences are now being encouraged to laugh when people get their heads blown off. I just don't like hearing people laugh at violence." "I also feel I'm a positive role model by not putting my education on hold." "She's really a smart girl who has had a very rarified upbringing, who has been raised with alot of confidence and self-esteem, so she seems older than she is in many ways. I felt at all times that I was working with and equal. She has a natural grace that doesn't make her seem as if she's of her generation." (Susan Sarandon on Portman) "I want to use college to explore what other careers I might be interested in. " (On acting)"I'm taking it day by day. Right now I like acting, but if something else sparks my interest in college, I'll do that. It's so limiting to say, this is it for the rest of my life. There are so many things that interest me-I love math, science, literature, languages." Source: Vanity Fair may 1999 (On Lolita) "Let me tell you, this movie's going to be sleaze." "I'm going to college. I don't care if it ruined my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star." "I don't know if acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's just what I've, you Know, ended up doing when I was little, and I've kinda grown up with it." "When I'm working they pretty much treat me like an adult, but then when there's a break everyone else goes to their trailers and drinks beer and I like, go to school." "There's so much else to do in the world. To just be interested in doing films would limit my life." Ted Demme (director Beautiful Girls (1996)): "In 10 years she's going to run the entire world, and I want to be one of her assistants..." "I think school is so much harder than real life. People are so much more accepting when they are adults." "Danny [Aiello] told me: Don't do television" "Cute is when a person's personality shines through their looks. Like in the way they walk, every time you see them you just want to run up and hug them." Michael Mann on Natalie Portman: "When I met her, you could tell she was kind of a prodigy". [Harpers and Queen Magazine] : "This school-room cutie has more acting ability in her little toe than Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston combined." "I've never tried smoking. I don't drink. I've never tried drugs." (Australian Dolly August 2000) "Politics is easy to segue into from acting. I'm very interested in it, though I would never run for office. But after this, anything I do is going to seem very bizarre to me." (Interview October 1999) "No, but I've been thinking about it a lot. I love acting, but I don't know if there's something out there that I love more. That's what college is going to be about for me^xchecking things out." (Interview October 1999) When asked by Seventeen magazine what advice she had for teenagers going off to college she said, "I would say practicing laundry it's so hard." (November 1999) "There is a lot lacking on the intellectual side and on the values side when being an actor." (Seventeen, November 1999) Told the November 1999 issue of Mademoiselle magazine that she wished she knew David Letterman because, "He seems to be so smart, but you never get to hang out with him after the show." When asked by German Cosmopolitan (3/00) if she would like having herself as a daughter she replied, "Well of course. I am a good person, nice, smart, witty, trustworthy, know nice people, don't do drugs and earn a lot of money." On what she likes about her parents: "They have made it quite clear that they believe I can be great. Had my parents expected less of me,I would not be the person I am now. And I am very happy with myself." (German Cosmopolitan March 2000) "I'm not planning to be an actress as an adult, I'm planning other things for my future." Source: Venice Magazine July 1995 "I don't think I'd be able to deal with just acting, because I don't know if you get to use your brain that much. You do, for certain roles, but not most. Acting is more of a hobby for me." (W Magazine November 1997) "There's a big intellectual aspect that's kind of lacking, " she says of acting in films. "Right now I supplement that through being in school. I'm not sure I'd be happy if I was just acting. I haven't explored a lot of other avenues. Hopefully I'll figure it out by the end of school, so I know what I want to do with my life." When asked about her prom dress: "A designer is going to give me something to wear. It's the most amazing perk I have." (Source: USA Today May 28,1999) "I didn't have this undying need to be an actress. I didn't have that fire in me ever -- at any point. And still, I don't think I have that within me, " she says. Source: CNN Online 11/10/99 "I don't really know if acting would have ultimately become my passion as an adult, or if there's something else I would have found had I not been in the pizza shop. That's what college is helping me investigate." Source: CNN Online 11/10/99 "I'm ready to ditch the movies and keep at the books. There are so many other things, and it would feel limiting to say, 'Acting is it for me.'... I love psychology. That's what I'm studying right now. It would probably be difficult, because of my current occupation, to become a clinical psychologist, but I could certainly do research. And I'd like to have a family someday, too."
This early post for Ida!
Aw geez... now I want to pull all of those old SF novels out of storage and read them again. So much for learning C++ this week.
This is my haiku
There are many more like it
But this one is mine
Semper Fi, Devil Dogs!
It's also a great piece of feminist literature (and no, not the man-bashing sort of feminism). If you've got any friends who are into Women's Studies or whatnot and who haven't read this book, recommend it to them.
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
I really enjoyed "Left Hand of Darkness." She is a terrific writer.
The sequel is "Appendage of Antimatter" and is very hard to find.
Help end the use of Sigs. Tomorrow
this NFP for all the MS and AOL techs slaving away in their respective support dungeons. _
I read this book a long time ago as part of a still ongoing study of gender in Science Fiction literature. Specifically "strange" gender. The Left Hand of Darkness certainly contained one of the more well designed systems of gender.
It is a good choice for anyone doing gender-studies into Science Fiction writing.
Another book that I read at almost the same time I believe was "Half-way Human" that was about a society that included three fixed genders, male, female, and neuter - where the neuters became the servants to the others. Also a brilliant book, but I do not recall the author.
Amerist.
Mill Avenue Vexations
Ursula K. Le Guin is a crummy author, why bother romping through a used bookstore after her?
I find much Le Guin to have a very Taoist philosophy underneath it all. _The Left Hand of Darkness_ is no exception. Read it. Enjoy it.
Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes
Hans Zimmer, "The Battle" at full volume and Smirnoff quality vodka!
The owls are not what they seem
You JUST NOW recognising this author? Pull your hear out of your ass and read Alfred Bester's works. You might catch up on current events. Sheesh! Douche bag!
...upon reading the title, thought this was Bill Gate's newest autobiography?
____
Flame flame go away, post again some other day...
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Another interesting site here
Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered *BSD community when recently IDC confirmed that *BSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
Fact: *BSD is dead
Now, besides making me seem like a total dork, the preceding quote definitely has an application to being a PhD student. There are many ways in which fear can negatively affect your graduation. Being able to quell these fears will make your work more productive, and might even be what it takes to get your research off the ground. Let's take a look at a few different phobias:
Fear of Failure: This is one that obviously affects a lot of people in many different aspects of their lives. This is a shame. You need not fear failure. In fact, if you go about writing articles with the right attitude, it will be impossible for you to fail. Strive only to exceed yourself, but ALWAYS strive to exceed yourself. Publishing should be all about improving and competing against yourself. If you are increasing your knowledge and getting more results while refining technique over time, you are a success. Do not worry whether you are the smartest guy in the lab, or whether you think you do not have the genetics to get as smart and famous as your favorite scientist. Do not get hung up on the fact that you do not use drugs so you can't get as relaxed as those who use drugs. Too many people use these cop-outs as excuses, and get a type of perverted satisfaction from proving themselves right and determining that they can't dramatically increase their brainpower and luck with women. Do not set this trap for yourself. Do your best every time. One taoist principle that applies here goes something like this: if you aren't hung up only on winning, you can't lose. In other words, only worry about what you can do, and if you stay accountable to yourself you will be on the fast-track to success.
Fear of Rejection: This is one of the least rational fears that a lifter indulges himself in. It makes no sense to me that a group of people who engage in activity that 99% of the populus considers 'weird' are so sensitive in some respects to a 'group mentality'. You see it everywhere: the smartest guys in your lab say you will not get super-smart unless you work all night every day of the week, some of the hard-core students claim that you can't succeed unless you've got the right genes, or some fat lifters in their week-old denim shirts say you are not a 'real' scientist 'cause you don't go raw. Why do you listen to these people? A 'real' man, and a 'real' scientist, thinks for himself. Absorb as much knowledge as you can. I literally have hundreds of books/journals/magazines relevant in some manner or another. Absorb all of this information, and try out anything that seems feasible. Over time, you will find out what works for your mind and learning ability. Once you do, make small periodic changes in order to stave off boredom and overuse problems, but stick to your basic framework.
The owls are not what they seem
I had another burrito last night. God, they are good. It made a nice turd. Well, that might be a bit misleading. the turd had no form to it, so I can't really call it a turd. It was more like a blob. It was brown with black spots in it from the black beans. It smelled pretty rank and one of my cow-orkers commented on it. "God, what is that stink?!", the cow-orker asked. "It's my turd! I made it myself," I yelled over the stall door. The turd came out easily and was satisfying. I rate this turd as a 7.
Michael Loves Me!
Earthsea series was incredible. It was the very first book of that series that got me into scifi
My favorite aspect of the book was LeGuinn's attempt at blending stereotypically male and female characteristics into those of uni/multisexual beings. While reading the book, I alternated my gender perception of characters, and noticed different characteristics emerge from them as a result.
Consider the complex political situation of Winter. If you read the interactions between politicos, viewing them as female, they appear remarkably petty and intriguant. When presumed to be male, they suddenly seem ruthless strategists.
The opportunity to choose and change the gender of characters at will gave me the opportunity to discover some of my own gender-based prejudices - one's I was not aware I had - and to confront and correct for them.
The book was a real eye-openner for me in this respect.
When read from a different perspective entirely, it is a brilliant treatise on the meaning of "Statesmanship" and "Patriotism". The exploration of what it means to do the right thing for one's people, versus the recognition of this, and the consequences, is something that is as poingiant in today's terrorist age as it was during the times of the Vietnam and Cold Wars.
The World of Winter is a great creation in itself. The detailed and lifelike descriptions of the land, it's people, and their lifestyle and culture, all leave the reader awestruck and familiar with the planet.
The relationship that develops between Genly and his liaison on the glacier, was a remarkably beautiful and touching motif.
The tribal, almost mind-altering Seer experience, simply oozed sexuality, and cleverly melded the pagan "sexual divinity" with LeGuinn's own Taoist leanings.
Definitelly a worthwhile read, especially given how accessible U.K. LeGuinn's writing style is.
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
Thought I heard that LeGuin was a neo-pagan of some sort, but I don't know when she converted.
not just "feminist" issues are covered in LHOD, she takes a pretty good swipe at sexual and racial indentification and sterotyping, too
i ?U rsula_K._Le_Guin
remember, the book was written in 1968/1969
here's a pretty good bio/biblio page
http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb-bin/exact_author.cg
she was way ahead of her time, as Heinlein was with "I Will Fear No Evil", when Heinlein's protagonist "he" becomes a "she" and has "her" first orgasm, many reviewers had strokes over the "smut"...In LHOD, LeGuin's approaches the subject much more subtlely and makes her points very effectively, just as Varley did with Scirocco Jones in the Demon Trilogy
...
Ten quid, she's so easy to blind. And not a word is spoken...
... is Connie Willis. Reputed to have won the greatest number of Nebulas and Hugos, though who knows how one counts these things. Much of the SF is 'soft', but the characters are exceptionally well defined, she knows her history, and she can do tragedy and comedy equally well.
Doomsday Book is her most famous piece, and deserves its distinction. To Say Nothing of the Dog is set in the same circumstances, but a comic riff on things Victorian, including Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in A Boat .
As an aside, I remember a sci-fi book with a similar theme where a race of people would alternate between male and female until they came of age at which point they would be forced to choose a gender, or they would be thrown out of society. Anybody remember the title of this book?
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
I just remember this sea of slack-jawed, wide-eyed faces, wondering what planet I'd come from. Here I am, talking about this really great book, throwing out terms like 'latent hermaphrodite'. Is it any wonder I had no real friends there? Or that I didn't have any dates with any of my classmates?
Ahh, high school. Anyone know how to excise 4 years of memories from my brain?
now there's a sinister title! ar ar ar
Beside the book reviewed here I recommend another
;)
book by her - The Dispossessed.
If you always wanted to know if something else
than captalism could work... Read that book
Anyway, my friends usually don't like LeGuin, especially the Earthsea Trilogy (which is another "a trilogy in five parts" now) is bashed all too often. But Dispossesed and Left Hand of Darkness is liked by almost everyone. I strongly suggest these two who have not read any LeGuin yet.
It is also interesting that she can write the most brilliant pieces of science fiction with minimal, almost nonexistant understanding of hard sciences, and without any futuristic stuff.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!
Half.Com also has some copies of that book listed. Most are used. Half.Com is a distributed bookstore: they act as an intermediary between buyers and many independent sellers. (Similar to eBay, but Half also handles the payments)
It's curious that today this fine novel is under attack as being a "sell out." LeGuin, the critics argue, was unable to be bold enough in her depiction of Winter and so the novel fails because it does not go far enough.
I find these criticisms, coming long after "The Left Hand of Darkness" was written, to be a crock. This was an earthquake of a novel. It changed the way many of us viewed gender when we first read it.
I took this novel, along with the later "Dispossessed" to sea with me and it made its way around a good part of the submarine's crew. We argued about it for much of the patrol. It had REAL impact in 1975. It has real impact in 2001.
Just don't let the radical feminists tell you it's a cop-out.
I truly believe Le Guin is one of the great sci fi writers of this time. I fell in love with her writing and the hainish universe when I first read LHoD and have never stopped reading her since. People who like her stuff are highly encouraged to read the reissue of "Worlds of Exile & Illusion"... which contains three novellas set in the hainish universe. Of course one can never overlook her *other* hugo AND nebula award winning book "The Disposessed" (which I think every geek needs to read). Even her works that are vehicles of feminist thought such as Four Ways to forgiveness still manage to convey meaning and dialogue without sounding preachy or resorting to condescension. A highly reccommended author, and if you like her you should check out Gene Wolfe (Fifth head of Cerebrus, New Sun tetrology, Long Sun tetrology) .. and some of Samuel R. Delany (NOT Dhalgren.. but the Neveryona series is pretty cool, and Triton is also pretty nice... his early pulp stuff is also a fun read)...
- Naru Sundar
http://asmodean.shayolghul.org
Here is the link: http://www.half.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=5090867& domain_id=1856&meta_id=1
Help end the use of Sigs. Tomorrow
Her favorite novel of mine, is of course: The Dispossessed, a distopian sci-fi novel of twin planets with completely opposite societies - the fertile, rich planet believing in stratified, hierarchical society, and the dry, barren planet populated by 12th generation (or so) anarchists. A traveller goes from the latter planet to the former, and what starts out as a fish-out-of-water story turns into a pretty damning political/ethical quandry. Read it!
[pink beam of light]
Probably the most influential sf work on gender, just because it came before most everything else and was so uncompromising, was Theodore Sturgeon's VenusPlusX. The sad thing is that its peeks into the "real world," the comic and disturbing gender roles of the 1950s, are not dated, fifty years later.
Turned down a role in Horse Whisperer, The (1998) to act in "The Diary of Anne Frank" on Broadway.
(29 June 1999) Graduated from Syosset High School, Syosset, NY.
Has been a strict vegetarian since the age of 8.
Has taken dance lessons since the age of 4.
Says that math is her favorite subject in school because, "There's always an answer."
(1999) Stated in a TV interview that with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she will not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying at Harvard University.
Can speak fluent Hebrew, French, and Japanese.
Originally turned down the role of Ann August in the film Anywhere But Here (1999) because of the love scene between herself and Corbin Allred which required nudity. Susan Sarandon who had co-star approval, said she couldn't continue the movie without Portman, so the script was re-written without the scene and sent to Natalie, and she accepted.
Portman is her grandmother's maiden name. She avoids revealing her real name so she can have more privacy.
Her mother is an artist, and her father a doctor. She is an only child.
She went to Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Camp in 1994 and 1995 where she was Anne in "Anne of Green Gables" in 1994 and "Tapestry" in 1995.
Was the first choice to play Juliet in Romeo + Juliet (1996) movie but turned it down because of the scenes, and the age difference, between her and Leonardo DiCaprio.
She was discovered in a Pizza parlor and was originally turned down for the role of Mathilda in Léon (1994) because she was too young.
Harpers and Queen magazine said that she is "the new Audrey Hepburn".
Turned down the title role in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997), due to her feelings about young adult actors/actresses being exposed to sex in films.
Before she was cast in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), she had never seen the original 3 Star Wars movies.
Moved to the US when she was 3 years old.
Turned down the role of Wendy in Ice Storm, The (1997) because she felt the material was "too dark." The role went to Christina Ricci, who has said she often gets the projects Natalie turns down.
Said would never be in a horror movie or any other " Jennifer Love Hewitt type" film
Has said in interviews that when she gets older, she would like to be a doctor like her father.
Was reportedly caught using a fake ID trying to sneak into the Roxy. The performer Moby insisted that she was invited by him, and refused to perform unless she was admitted. She was admitted and security watched her as she stood in the back, watched the show, and didn't drink.
Stated in an online interview that the story about sneaking into the Roxy to see Moby is not true, and that she and her friends went home after they were denied entrance.
(2000) Studying psychology at Harvard (where she has three room-mates), and says that she may plan to make that her career.
Takes pride in the fact that she is a role model for girls and choses roles that are positive so that they will have a positive role model to look up to.
Her father is an infertility specialist.
Auditioned for Little Women (1994).
Became interested in acting after spending three summers at the prestigious (and expensive) Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Camp.
Is very close to her parents and says, "The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they always love you."
Grew up in Syosset, Long Island, New York, where her parents still reside.
(July 2001) Dated Lukas Haas.
Personal quotes
(On Lolita) "I don't think there needs to be a movie out where a child has sex with an adult." Source:Entertainment Tonight
(On Lolita) I think there's enough exploitation out there that it's not nescessary to do more.
Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be exploited, and then end up embarassing family, friends, and even strangers. Source:Calgary Sun 11/7/99
(On Acting)"I started to do this at age 11. At age 20, I might say, this is enough"
(On violence in the media) "We live in a violent world, but since the success of films like Pulp Fiction (1994), it seems every movie has some violence in it, and it's now being used as a form of comedy-audiences are now being encouraged to laugh when people get their heads blown off. I just don't like hearing people laugh at violence."
"I also feel I'm a positive role model by not putting my education on hold."
"She's really a smart girl who has had a very rarified upbringing, who has been raised with alot of confidence and self-esteem, so she seems older than she is in many ways. I felt at all times that I was working with and equal. She has a natural grace that doesn't make her seem as if she's of her generation." (Susan Sarandon on Portman)
"I want to use college to explore what other careers I might be interested in. "
(On acting)"I'm taking it day by day. Right now I like acting, but if something else sparks my interest in college, I'll do that. It's so limiting to say, this is it for the rest of my life. There are so many things that interest me-I love math, science, literature, languages." Source: Vanity Fair may 1999
(On Lolita) "Let me tell you, this movie's going to be sleaze."
"I'm going to college. I don't care if it ruined my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star."
"I don't know if acting is what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's just what I've, you Know, ended up doing when I was little, and I've kinda grown up with it."
"When I'm working they pretty much treat me like an adult, but then when there's a break everyone else goes to their trailers and drinks beer and I like, go to school."
"There's so much else to do in the world. To just be interested in doing films would limit my life."
Ted Demme (director Beautiful Girls (1996)): "In 10 years she's going to run the entire world, and I want to be one of her assistants..."
"I think school is so much harder than real life. People are so much more accepting when they are adults."
"Danny [Aiello] told me: Don't do television"
"Cute is when a person's personality shines through their looks. Like in the way they walk, every time you see them you just want to run up and hug them."
Michael Mann on Natalie Portman: "When I met her, you could tell she was kind of a prodigy".
[Harpers and Queen Magazine] : "This school-room cutie has more acting ability in her little toe than Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston combined."
"I've never tried smoking. I don't drink. I've never tried drugs." (Australian Dolly August 2000)
"Politics is easy to segue into from acting. I'm very interested in it, though I would never run for office. But after this, anything I do is going to seem very bizarre to me." (Interview October 1999)
"No, but I've been thinking about it a lot. I love acting, but I don't know if there's something out there that I love more. That's what college is going to be about for me^xchecking things out." (Interview October 1999)
When asked by Seventeen magazine what advice she had for teenagers going off to college she said, "I would say practicing laundry it's so hard." (November 1999)
"There is a lot lacking on the intellectual side and on the values side when being an actor." (Seventeen, November 1999)
Told the November 1999 issue of Mademoiselle magazine that she wished she knew David Letterman because, "He seems to be so smart, but you never get to hang out with him after the show."
When asked by German Cosmopolitan (3/00) if she would like having herself as a daughter she replied, "Well of course. I am a good person, nice, smart, witty, trustworthy, know nice people, don't do drugs and earn a lot of money." On what she likes about her parents: "They have made it quite clear that they believe I can be great. Had my parents expected less of me,I would not be the person I am now. And I am very happy with myself." (German Cosmopolitan March 2000)
"I'm not planning to be an actress as an adult, I'm planning other things for my future." Source: Venice Magazine July 1995
"I don't think I'd be able to deal with just acting, because I don't know if you get to use your brain that much. You do, for certain roles, but not most. Acting is more of a hobby for me." (W Magazine November 1997)
"There's a big intellectual aspect that's kind of lacking, " she says of acting in films. "Right now I supplement that through being in school. I'm not sure I'd be happy if I was just acting. I haven't explored a lot of other avenues. Hopefully I'll figure it out by the end of school, so I know what I want to do with my life."
When asked about her prom dress: "A designer is going to give me something to wear. It's the most amazing perk I have." (Source: USA Today May 28,1999)
"I didn't have this undying need to be an actress. I didn't have that fire in me ever -- at any point. And still, I don't think I have that within me, " she says. Source: CNN Online 11/10/99
"I don't really know if acting would have ultimately become my passion as an adult, or if there's something else I would have found had I not been in the pizza shop. That's what college is helping me investigate." Source: CNN Online 11/10/99
"I'm ready to ditch the movies and keep at the books. There are so many other things, and it would feel limiting to say, 'Acting is it for me.'... I love psychology. That's what I'm studying right now. It would probably be difficult, because of my current occupation, to become a clinical psychologist, but I could certainly do research. And I'd like to have a family someday, too."
I live in Portland, Oregon, home of LeGuin. I'm working on NW Raleigh St, just a few blocks from her house on NW Thurman. I've seen LeGuin speak, been to book-signings at Powell's, and seen her guest-lecture at PSU.
:). It's in her collection of essays, Dancing at the Edge of the World .
.)
She's brilliant, and her contribution to science fiction is immeasurable. I'm a man, and I don't want to bash male SF writers unduely, but until LeGuin started writing much SF was pretty dull.
LeGuin herself has said that for years she wrote SF as a man, because she had no idea how a woman would or could write it. Her main characters were male, they did manly things (conquered, explored, solved problems). After she wrote The Dispossessed she realized she was doing a disservice to herself, and to the world, and started to consciously write as she would - not as she thought others wanted her to. Her success is proof that many people agreed with her.
If you want to read more LeGuin, read two essays. A Non-Euclidean View of California as a Cold Place to Be is beautiful social criticism, and interesting for other reasons: about half-way through she consulted the I Ching, casting the yarrows asking it to describe for her "a yin utopia." "Yang" being bright, masculine; "yin" being dark, feminine. A "yang utopia" would be, for instance, the highly-mechanized, clean, bright future cities of much of the male-dominated SF of the early century. A "yin utopia" would be, well, read the essay
Also, her introduction to The Norton Book of Science Fiction is a deep and thoughtful introduction to SF. The book is one of the best SF collections ever, and worth it for that essay alone.
(She's also written a beautiful poetic translation of the Tao Te Ching
On another note, for those who don't know, Philip K Dick also used the I Ching extensively when writing The Man in the High Castle. He said he threw the yarrow thousands of times, consulting the book at every plot point and decision. Circularly, the book's characters use it, too.
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
The Right Hand of Darkness and the Repossessed, which is a touching story about a struggling family in the deep South.
Not strictly on topic, but having stumbled across this oeuvre in my parent's bottomless pit of a library a couple of months ago, and since then, having badgered all my friends (well, the litarate ones) about them _having_ to read this great book, I'm "jumping with glee" (as it were) to see this actilce on /. and add my two cents:
... maybe if you have your head frozen ... but I digress) which is fascinating, i.e. "a real trip, man", but also tells us much about the world we can/do experience in the flesh. In times to come, books such as these will not be sidelined into "science fiction", but rather will be up there with the rest of literature, albeit of a perhaps more consciousness-expanding type (maybe when spaceships become commonplace). It tells of things which could not fit into a non-science fiction piece - or at least, give a new and vastly different perspective on the state of being human.
this is what SF is about, or rather, for.
It paints a vivid picture of a world none of us will ever see in the flesh (well
Heh. Where was I? Oh yeah - I liked it and recommend it.
yes, we have no bananas
I suppose The Left Hand of Darkness is okay, but The Lathe of Heaven is her best book. I've read it five or six times and am blown away each time.
-- Brian
The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
On this planet, the founders wanted to both eliminate man's violence to women (and everything else in general), and to create a very stable society where change is possible, but frowned on. So they created a society consisting of 95% clones (all female), 4% 'vars', and 1% males. The 'vars' and males are produced by normal sexual means, but only very rarely. The clones are seen as normal, and each clone dynasty provides a specialized product or service to society. The vars are turned out into the world at adolesence to try to find their way, and if successful will create their own clone clan. The men are relegated to sailing ships and other minor tasks, are only used once a year to stimulate the cloning.
The story is about one var's coming of age in this society. And although it is not central to the story line, this planet has also been recently rediscovered by the main stellar society, which has sent a lone ambassador to attempt to initiate relations with the outside world.
Brin makes it plausible, and the storyline keeps the pages turning. I know most s.f. readers probably know him by his Uplift universe series, but this one is also a keeper.
"The only good windmill is a tilted windmill."
About half of John Varley's stories contain the idea of safe, reversible sex-change operations. At least three or four contain the idea that this kind of sexual exploration is for the young. I can't narrow it down any more than that, I'm afraid.
His work is very interesting because, while it contains many elements that reflect what feminism should be about, he shows some pretty strong impatience about what feminism is.
The Hand of Fate? More specifically, Manos, the Hand of Fate?
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
I am a big fan of Connie Willis. She is excellent and writes with good emotion, usually humorous, but sometimes quite grim (The Doomsday Book).
However, there is a not-so-subtle difference. LeGuin is definitely a woman writer, except perhaps for The Lathe of Heaven. Willis is a writer who is a woman.
In the same sense, Woody Allen is a Jewish comedian. Groucho Marx was a comedian who was Jewish. Richard Pryor started off as a Black comedian but later became a comedian who was black. Bill Cosby did it the other way around. Octavia Butler is a Black Woman Writer. Samuel Delaney started off as a writer who was gay and black, became a Gay Writer who was black and then, unfortunately, stopped writing SF right after that cliffhanger in Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand.
There are a couple other notable science fiction works that address gender and society. Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time takes an oppressed underclass woman from mid-1970s America and projects her into a future utopia in which differences in gender and sexuality have been erased. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale imagines an America dominated by Reagan-era patriarchy.
In both these novels, gender difference is seen as the central problem in society. In The Handmaid's Tale, rigidly-defined gender roles form the basis of everyone's oppression. The utopia of Woman on the Edge of Time depends on the complete eradication of gender roles, even using technology to allow men to breast-feed.
In LeGuin's fictional world, however, genderless societies prove to be just as oppressive and intolerant as the real world. Militarism dominates one society, political repression the other, and in both, deviating from sexual and gender norms makes you a pervert.
The Left Hand of Darkness is more of a thought experiment on the subject of gender than it is a political argument. It achieves a sophistication lacking in the other two novels. Both The Handmaid's Tale and Woman on the Edge of Time based their fictional societies on contemporary feminist political theory. Piercy gives us an unintentionally insufferable utopia dominated by feminized (not necessarily feminist) forms of social interaction and 1970s commune culture. Atwood creates a cartoonish distopia dominated by masculine militarism and 1980s conservative ideology. LeGuin's fictional world is equally rooted in the political context of its times; its cold war themes make it read, in parts, like a John LeCarre spy novel. However, The Left Hand of Darkness seems more plausible and less dated than the other two novels because it draws on a broad view of society rather than one focused on gender as a single issue.
I read the LHoD about 5-10 years ago and really found it quite boring. Maybe it was too short for anything to really happen.
Beyond the Si-fi she also has several series of childrens books, including one about flying cats (very cute).
The only political statement I've heard is that she strongly supports copyright laws and is angrily opposed to information trading and "napster" like things.
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
So let me get this straight. I post comments saying online information, stuff, songs, papers, books, etc. are few, hard to find, a waste of time (try the library stupid 'cause data is too fat to put too much online or it's not free info) and what happens? People accuse me of being a ludite. Now, Slashdot itself advises finding classics "in an old book shop".
;p
Just wanted to point out the irony!
This is a very good book, but is far from her best. I found it a touch depressing, so I put it down for a while before finishing. I was glad when I finally did, but it took a little effort.
:)
is also a true classic. It's one of those fantasy tales that has that spark of quality you don't find often.
Of LeGuin's sci-fi, nothing compares to "The Lathe of Heaven", which stands as a true classic. I would suggest that anyone thinking of reading LeGuin for the first time read this book first.
If you're more into fantasy, her "Wizard of Earthsea" trilogy (which is now up to 6 books
I recently met LeGuin at a book reading, which was, for me, almost like meeting Tolkien. (Not quite on the same scale, of course, more like meeting a demigod.) When asked about what inspired her to write the Earthsea books, she said her publisher asked her to write a fantasy book. Lord of the Rings had just become very popular about that time in the 60's, and her publisher wanted to capitalize on the Tolkien fans' hunger. She said she always wondered what Gandalf must have been like when he was a boy (though us diehard LOTR fans know he never actually was a boy), so she created Ged, the main character in the Earthsea novels, as her interpretation of a young Gandalf.
In the end, I think Ged ends up being quite different from Gandalf, which is probably for the better because the books don't feel like LOTR rehashed. They are quite creative and original, with an amazing quality all their own.
Censors abound here on DOT SLASH. Must be homo, pedo fags...these posts always disappear.Un-American I call it.
Oh I have to disagree there. Dhalgren is a rough, nasty and hard to follow book, but is one of the more interesting sci-fic looks at gender in society (and society in the face of it's own collapse). Yeah, it's not for everyone, tho'.
One funny aside: when I read Dhalgren the first time I didn't know Delany was black, assumed he was white, and dismissed it as "very racist."
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
I read Varley's Wheel(?) Trilogy when I was much younger and it had a definite impact on my views of women. Imagining Cirroco Jones as a strong archtype along with the general sense of gender confusion in the series was a powerful message.
Good sci-fi that challenges your innate perspectives is very underrated in todays world.
Is Left Hand, by any chance, part of the highschool curriculum in anybody's neck of the woods?
Wouldn't surprise me.
One of my long fostered conspiracy theories is that they give kids lame & dull books to read in school just to discourage their further intellectual growth by making reading seem like a soul draining pile of hard work which is best avoided. (See kids? Drinking is much more fun! Don't think. Thinking is bad. Let us think for you. Buy our hamburgers, electric garage door openers and DVD players. What? You want to read? Fuck you! Here. Read, Moby Dick, and the Scarlet Letter, you little puke! What? You want more? Have some Bronte Sisters, you little shit! Now, stop thinking, damn it!)
I'm not saying that every book should spark the spirit to life. --And not just because most of the stories out there which try to be uplifting fail miserably because they're also insipidly stupid, surface-only, retarded crap, (Shrek. Charlie's Angels. Jay & Silent Bob. Monster's Inc. Etc.), but I am saying that while I give LeGuin a nod for her intellectual prowess, I nonetheless thought Left Hand of Darkness was needlessly cold. Somebody as together as her should know better!
Smart writing doesn't have to be depressing writing. I don't get why so many people buy into that concept.
-Fantastic Lad
Like anybody would care to know that, but I couldn't help myself. I grew up reading sci-fi, and went on to earn an M.A. in Literature, and this book still rockets above all the rest. It's ... well ... I don't want to ruin anything. Just read it so we can discuss!
It's hard to miss the undercurrent of world- and mythology-building, not to mention grappling with gender issues and the roles society expects of them when your parents are two of the principal figures in American anthropology research.
If your looking for gender ideas in SF:
Theodore Sturgeon - "Venus plus X"
John Varley - lots, try "Barbie Murders" for example
Robert Heinlein - "I Will Fear no Evil", "Time Enough for Love"
Joanna Russ - lots, particularly "Female Man"
Carol Emshwiller - "Sex, and or Mr. Morrison", a short story in Ellison's "Dangerous Visions", there are also a few others in that book
James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon) - "Houston, Houston, do you read?" and "The Screwfly Solution" are good short stories.
These are all classics in the field and represent a wide range of authors and periods.
You can listen (via RealAudio) to an interview with her at:
w s_ 2001-10.html
http://www.hour25online.com/Hour25_Previous_Sho
{please remove the extraneous space that the editing window added in front of '2001')
and scroll about halfway down the page. Warren James is an excellent interviewer and has webbed a number of interviews he has made over the past year-and-a-half.
It isn't inherently smut; from an author with credibility it could easily served an artistic purpose. The thing you have to remember about Heinlein, though, is that he's basically a pervert. Bestiality, pedophilia, orgies, you name it. The concept isn't inherently smutty, but his execution of it is.
I really did not enjoy this book. I read it a month or so ago for an English course I'm taking, and I considered it one of the least enjoyable books I've ever read.
The interesting thing is that I sincerely enjoyed the Earthsea series, the first one most of all. Perhaps I simply don't enjoy the "gender" topics.
At any rate, I'd recommend this for people who enjoy the intersection of gender & science fiction topics in literature, because I'm probably the anomaly.
Personally my fave LeGuin is ROCANNAN'S WORLD, one of the saddest books I've ever read. And I did like all her early stuff. OTOH I've found her more-recent stuff (mid-Earthsea and later) overly philosophical at the expense of both characters and plot. I can do without plot if the characters are good, but when they only exist to put forth a philosophy, that's not good fiction, no matter how stylish the writing.
I'll probably get modded down for stating an honest opinion about the pretentiousness of "art", but there it is.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I find that most people who poo-poo _Moby Dick_ never even started to read it and were only intimidated by its thickness (and, nope, no sexual inuendo meant!). "Oh, I can't read this! It will take me _months_ to read this!" Go to your library (this way it doesn't cost you anything except some of your time) and give this and _Left Hand of Darkness_ a try.
Did you know the name of the book "The Dispossessed" was a pun on "The Possessed" by Dostoyevsky? At my university in Turkey when I was an undergrad, this was the informal required reading for all new students (probably still is).. IT was bigger than LOTR.
Danny.
I have written over 900 book reviews
The Left Hand of Darkness falls right in line with a great many of LeGuin's books. It contains a main character who is on a mission which, in turns, to be much more of a discovery of the protagonist's own self, as well as a general understanding of the tremendous balance that exists in the universe.
"Light is the left hand of darkness", (Left Hand of Darkness) and "to cast a light is also to create a shadow" (Wizard of Earthsea) are examples of LeGuin's extensive immersion of Taoist beliefs (Yin-Yang) into her work. LeGuin spent several years studying Taoism, and making it into her personal belief system.
On the side, I highly recommend the Earthsea Trilogy. It's well written, easy to read, and is quite enjoyable (especially in all this hub-bub about Harry Potter).
Yes, yes, yes. Once every couple of years I pull out "The Left Hand of Darkness" (and "Watchmen" by Alan Moore) just so I remind myself what good writing sounds like. (And yes, every five years I pull out "Dune" and "The Lord of the Rings" but that takes me weeks to get through. But, I can get through "The Left Hand of Darkness" or "Watchmen" in a day and a half, each. I have no choice, they are both so damned addictive I must must must read it all at once.)
Doomsday Book has especially nice resonance when read today, with threats of plagues in the air. (no pun intended)
--LP
One funny aside: when I read Dhalgren the first time I didn't know Delany was black, assumed he was white, and dismissed it as "very racist."
Just a thought. Why is a statement racist depending on the race of the person making the statement? Isn't a racist thought, idea, or statement "racist" in and of itself? Isn't this basically argumentum ad hominem?
Isn't a racist thought, idea, or statement "racist" in and of itself?
Nope. There's a great illustration of this in the movie "Down to Earth" with Chris Rock. There's a scene where Rock's soul, in the body of a white man does a routine at a black comedy club. What would be social commentary coming from a black comedian sounds like a racist diatribe coming from a white one. Content is not the absolute of all information. Sometimes the delivery system is important too.
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco