Week10: The fiction of ideas

I read The book "The Left Hand of Darkness", and I think it's a little interesting. The setting of The book is so strange that Sometimes I can't understand The meaning at all. Although they are science fiction and fantasy respectively, the Left Hand of Darkness and The Wizard of Earthsea have some similarities: 1. Strong setting, fully structuring the second world, including ecosystem, religious belief, social class, political system... The Left Hand of Darkness even constructs a complete calendar and timing method. This is similar to the dune series. 2. Show the world in the form of "adventure"; 3. The works reflect the reality, such as gender, religion, politics, outlook on life and death, world view...

Imagine a society in which there is no perception of gender as "male" or "female"; Residents spend most of their lives in a state of sexual apathy; The disappearance of the sex drive reduces aggression and prevents society from waging war on a large scale. When thinking about the impact of gender identity on society, Kinley-Ai mentioned:

In most societies, this determines a person's expectations of himself, behavior, world view, morality, way of life -- almost everything. Your language, your use of symbols, your clothing, even your diet... A woman... Women usually eat less...

"The Left Hand of Darkness" is not only about sex, but also about the political system: the territorial dispute between Kahad and Ogrein did not erupt into a major war, but the border towns were targeted. When He became prime minister, Mr Tebow trumpeted nationalism and nationalism, using border disputes to boost national pride -- a familiar propaganda tactic. The Ogrein is a mixture of nationalization, oligarchy (power is divided among the heads of the thirty-three districts) and centralization. There are checkpoints and inspectors everywhere, and it is hard to get anywhere without identification.

In addition to sociological and political references, "The Left Hand of darkness" also reveals exotic wonders, such as the ability to "prophesy". Winter stars have innate "hunches" that, if not trained, manifest as "intuition" and "luck". After training, become a prophet. The seer was an ascetic. Prophecy requires the cooperation of several prophets. Kinley-ai witnessed a process of prophecy in which a network of prophets formed spiritual connections centered around one prophet. The central seer mediates and controls the spiritual connection network. The process of prophecy consumes a great deal of energy by the seer, so it costs the seeker a great deal of money. Moreover, questions have to be asked right -- the wrong questions are only asking money. In history, the wrong question has led to tragedy. All in all, it's a great book.