La main gauche de la nuit

by Ursula K. Le Guin

epub, 305 pages

français language

Published Oct. 6, 2021 by Robert Laffont.

ISBN:: 978-2-221-25855-2

(115 reviews)

Sur Gethen, planète glacée, il n'y a ni hommes ni femmes, seulement des êtres humains. Des hermaphrodites qui, dans certaines circonstances, adoptent les caractères de l'un ou l'autre sexe. Genly Aï, un ambassadeur venu de la Terre, est chargé de rallier Gethen aux autres planètes déjà réunies sous les couleurs de l'Ekumen. Mais mille obstacles se dressent devant lui. La tâche sera rude. Parviendra-t-il à mener à bien sa mission ?

25 editions

the_lirazel reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

4.5 stars

AndySoc1al reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I see why this is considered a classic of speculative fiction, and don't know why it took me decades to get around to reading it. The story and ideas clearly influenced entire generations of modern writers.

Arturo Urbanos reviewed La Mano Izquierda de La Oscuridad by Ursula K. Le Guin

Review of 'La Mano Izquierda de La Oscuridad' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Llevo muchísimo tiempo queriendo leer esta novela pero cuando Le Guin no ganó el Nobel me dió un arrebato y me puse enseguida a leerla.

Quizás el principio de esta novela es algo difícil de comprender pero al cabo del tiempo lo vas haciendo y te vas enamorando de la narración de esta autora y del mundo tan guay que ha construido.

Sin duda es una novela imprescindible por lo que cuenta y por la forma de contarlo.

stinkingpig reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness (Penguin Galaxy) by Ursula K. Le Guin

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness (Penguin Galaxy)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Mildly dated but clearly written and well thought out

Bastian Greshake Tzovaras reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Largely agree with Philipp's review of this one, though I feel the gender aspects don't play such a minor role in the book.

What I really enjoyed was how the use of the special vocabulary made you as the reader be as clueless as the main character of the book is in the beginning. And the latter parts of the book make a great travel/wilderness story.

Steen Christiansen reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The quantum leap in Le Guin’s Hainish series. Astonishing exploration of identity and landscape as contrast and supplement.

Erin reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

My second reading of this was different, I think. I enjoyed it more, probably because I have more patience now for the slow, quiet story that it is.

This story is oddly both dated and ahead of its time. It includes an ambisexual people, presenting as androgynous, male, or female at different times. But at the same time Genly talks about men/women as if their earthly, Western tendencies are universal and timeless. It’s odd to project that into the future.

When the story gets to the snowy trek in the north, I thought I’d get bored, and probably did on my first read. But this read I found it wonderful. I didn’t remember that Genly and Therem fall in love of a sort, that they grow close in survival together. There were multiple beautiful moments and lines in that part of the book.

A few favorite quotes:

I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy.

And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man. Any need to explain the sources of that fear vanished with the fear; what I was left with was, at last, acceptance of him as he was.

And I wondered, not for the first time, what patriotism is, what the love of country truly consists of, how that yearning loyalty that had shaken my friend’s voice arises, and how so real a love can become, too often, so foolish and vile a bigotry. Where does it go wrong?

johnny dangerously. reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Straight up, this is one of my favorite books ever, so I'm invariably going to be more than a little bit biased when discussing it. I think it's gorgeous. A fantastic example of economizing the plot until only the essentials are used, the story never feels sparse or minimalist. The plot zig-zags at a leisurely pace, but neither does it ever feel slow or rushed. It's a true classic. I'll stop before I get ahead of myself. This book is absolutely wonderful, and that's all I can really say about it without revealing too much.

Thomas Gaffney reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

My first Ursula K. Le Guin book and I thought it was fantastic! Tipped to the book from watching "The Jane Austin Book Club" on cable, it's probably one of the reasons the 70s is considered the heyday of sci-fi novels.

Highly recommended for sci-fi lovers and novices and anyone who hasn't read any Le Guin yet.