The Left Hand of Darkness in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Nov 10, 2008 Lianna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasic-title

Four stars on the introduction alone! This is the first intro I've come across that wasn't some latin-spouting, spoiler everywhere, condescending claptrap. Honestly if a movie had an introduction where a pompous guy comes on screen smoking a pipe, says the character's dad is really an alien and then there's a roman numeral footnote on the bottom of the screen that reads "Obviously the viewer will note the parallels between the cinematography and George Sand's Les Beaux Messieurs Bois-Doré (1857) ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 M added it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Bought this upon the news of Ursula K. Le Guin's death, as I had always meant to but never read it.

I'm not sure how to rate this one. Clearly an important book, at least or especially for its time. But also clearly speaking from/limited by that time, in how it tackles sex, gender, and sexuality. Though it's saved a bit from datedness by its sci-fi premise (we're not talking about a human from our Earth visiting another planet, but a human from another, merely similar Earth) and the unreliable na Bought this upon the news of Ursula K. Le Guin's death, as I had always meant to but never read it.

I'm not sure how to rate this one. Clearly an important book, at least or especially for its time. But also clearly speaking from/limited by that time, in how it tackles sex, gender, and sexuality. Though it's saved a bit from datedness by its sci-fi premise (we're not talking about a human from our Earth visiting another planet, but a human from another, merely similar Earth) and the unreliable narrator who voices the biases I find troubling. I think I'll just make some observations and withhold judgment.

The story arc is atypical for a novel. It feels like one part of a whole series of tales set in the same planetary system--which I'm assuming is true given its label as part of the Hainish Cycle. It also feels very influenced by LOTR (or just a saga structure more generally), with a focus on physical travel and exploration of different regional cultures. Though there is a "full circle" moment near the end, it didn't ring all that true for me, since I didn't feel attached to the first iteration at the beginning--it happened too early.

I also felt somewhat detached from the Envoy's mission overall. Though it technically drove the novel, all the requisite politicking was far less visceral than the harsh planetary conditions and oral traditions of Winter that le Guin peppers throughout. The stakes for everyone aside from the Envoy (and Estraven) seemed pretty low. Particularly because the Envoy acknowledged that if he failed another person would be sent to try it all over again until it worked. (I read a review that guessed Star Trek writers were very inspired by this book, and I also found the two central premises similar while reading--but in a jarring sort of way. Probably I'm too much of a trekkie. :)

Basically, Winter was interesting, its different political structures were interesting, its social traditions were interesting. I found the Envoy himself annoying (a little biased, a little dumb), though his position as the only member of his species on an alien planet was sympathetic and worth exploring. A lot of the macro Hainish stuff (like mindspeech) bogged things down imo. Honestly I didn't find the novel's conception of either androgyny or gender very fair or nuanced. At all. But the fact that it made those topics a central issue, and won the Hugo Award for it in 1970, I suppose is a victory in itself...? ...more

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Nov 19, 2008 Jamie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

I have to agree with mellion108 about this...the world of Winter is so aptly described that I found myself turning up the heat and snuggling beneath a Bierderlach blanket in order to warm myself;-)

This was a wonderfully interesting tale and Le Guin's writing made me feel as if I were reading actual reports and tales from the planet of Winter. The flow of the story was not in any way impaired by over explanation of the details of Winterian life and the characters were so finely drawn I found it o ...more

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May 01, 2008 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, read-in-2009

Read with the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club as the July 2009 book
Theme: literary Science Fiction

This was a hard book to rate. It was very difficult to read. In places, it seemed to drag on forever. (Like when they were traveling across the glacier..) But there were so many ideas brought up. And in many cases, they seemed to be just tossed out there, waiting for me to think about them. If I didn't read carefully, I might miss them.

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