Armchair Adventure Book Club: The Left Hand of Darkness

Hosted by Tempe resident bibliophile Tracy Sobers

The Book: The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. 286 pages

Published in 1969, The Left Hand of Darkness became immensely popular, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction. It is a classic in the genre and centers and many themes that will be fascinating to discuss, including gender roles, religion, loyalty and betrayal.

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.

What to Bring? You do not need to bring anything. Simply read the book OR listen to the audio book before attending the meeting. It can be useful if you bring your physical or digital copy of the book.

Who? This is a fun book club event that men and women from the neighborhood potluck list are invited to, along with everybody else who is interested.

Fun Book Club: This will be the 34th monthly meeting of this book club. We had so much fun at the all of the meetings so far, with wonderful, fascinating discussions with great neighbors and new friends. If you like books or interesting discussions... or simply want to have fun meeting new people, I highly recommend RSVP-ing for this event.