[cdent]

Yeah, there is a very strong critique of the way in which neighbors on Anarres can effectively be tyrants.

Le Guin is masterful at letting no one and no thing off the hook. No character or society is ever perfect. She clearly has preferences and hopes. Any character or society which intentionally and actively constrains the liberty of another is subject to withering.

I'm currently in the midst of a read through of everything I can find of hers. Started with the Earthsea books (which I hadn't read before) and now in the midst of the Hainish cycle books (on The Telling at the moment). Many of those I had read before, but the differences in me between now and when I read them before are very apparent. I'm responding to the books in a much more emotional way, now.

Left Hand of Darkness and Dispossessed are deservedly the classics. If you've limited time, read those. "Five Ways to Forgiveness" is a very moving collection of five (funny that) novellas in the same story line.

The Telling is proving to be very interesting to me. It is very explicitly about the notions of humans creating culture by learning and telling mentioned in the original post. That is helping to illuminate many of the reasons why I've remained invested in computing and the web, despite many wrong turns.