A planet where one changes sex at a whim?
I found her writing lacking and her "imagination" puerile; especially when compared with Bradbury, Heinlein, Finney, Orwell, Verne, Huxley, Asimov, H.G. Wells, Ellison, Clarke, Dick,and so many more!
But each to his or her own....:-)
I met up with him again in 1973 when I was in a chaplaincy training program near where he lived. Interesting guy. EXCELLENT teacher.
He used the school's observatory to host some science fiction writers. He preset the star systems they mentioned in their books. Cute idea.
He said Le Guin was a PITA. Just FYI.
For 6 months I spent half my time on a GYN floor. I had more than enough time to think about, ah, sex. Among the many I remember was this absolutely stunning young lady. I mean, really. The kind where you have to take a deep breath before you can have a normal, much less a pastoral, conversation. She wasn't just pretty, she was beautiful.
She was in for breast augmentation.
That's just one example. A Lot of issues on the gyn floor were not simply “mechanical” but touched on a patient’s struggles with ... how to say it ... her “validity” as a woman.
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I wore “clericals” which de-emphasized my individuality and, so to speak, neutralized my sex. I've noticed that it's not so easy to tell a 60 year old Zen monk from a 60 year old Zen nun. All the usual ‘signals’ are muted by the shaved head and the voluminous robes.
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As a clergyD00d I found two things. (1) women talk to ministers more than men do. (2) SOME women will make a play for you; they view you as a challenge.
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So, it's not so much the “sex (more or less) at will” feature that got my attention. It was the idea of a people who did not ascertain sex immediately upon meeting someone. It was the idea of people who were usually “gender-neutral.”
As they say, after we know the baby is well, the next question is, “Boy or girl?” What would social dynamics be like if that were not the case?
This, from the POV of a chaplain or pastor (or other counselor), amounts to an admonition not to forget how important gender is to someone’s life experience and weltanschauung.
SO, I thought Le Guin’s premise was ... fun and even useful.
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In one of her sillier novels she said that love is like bread, you have to make it everyday. Again speaking as a (former) pastor, I wish couples would think about that.
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I'm a conservative Catholic. Le Guin would probably disapprove of me. But I still think she amusingly asks some good questions.