(no subject)

I've been reading The Left Hand of Darkness, and - I don't know how else to describe it - so far, there are some core aspects (but not others) of the peoples of both nations of Gethen that feel deeply relatable to me as a Chinese person. Not Chinese in the form of superficial impressions of outsiders, but in the sense that I see in the cultures of Karhide and Orgoreyn the ways my own people actually live. It's weird, and I've never had an experience like this before, and I've read and seen many fictional works portray imagined cultures. I don't believe this was intentional, one of the many reasons being that these are aspects you can only understand by living a life there. I think Le Guin is just good at setting up a world and believing it, and so making it easier for the reader to believe it too.

Also she must have been influenced by Taoism somehow right?? I might finally look it up after I finish this book. I started wondering back when I was reading The Lathe of Heaven.