a C for effort
Has Ursula Le Guin ever written a gay male character who has an actual life, instead of being lonely and hopelessly devoted to the straight hero? I just finished one of her early novels, Planet of Exile, and Huru Pilotson (gay, lonely, hopelessly devoted to the straight hero and resentful of the hero's marriage) reminds me a lot of Bedap from The Dispossessed (gay, lonely, hopelessly devoted to the straight hero, not resentful of the hero's marriage but insead grateful to be accepted on the fringes of a domestic happiness he can never, ever have).
Now, Planet of Exile was published in 1966, and The Dispossessed in 1974, so Le Guin gets some props for (a) including gay characters at all, and (b) not making them the villains. But I'd like to think that in her later books she got better still. (And has she ever written a lesbian character?)
While we're at it, does anybody have an opinion on her more recent books? I love Le Guin's early-ish work--The Left Hand of Darkness is among my favorite novels--but I have vague memories of reading (I think) Four Ways to Forgiveness and finding it unbearably preachy.
*****
Now, Planet of Exile was published in 1966, and The Dispossessed in 1974, so Le Guin gets some props for (a) including gay characters at all, and (b) not making them the villains. But I'd like to think that in her later books she got better still. (And has she ever written a lesbian character?)
While we're at it, does anybody have an opinion on her more recent books? I love Le Guin's early-ish work--The Left Hand of Darkness is among my favorite novels--but I have vague memories of reading (I think) Four Ways to Forgiveness and finding it unbearably preachy.
*****