The Left Hand of Darkness

eBook

English language

Published 2017 by Orion Publishing Group.

ISBN:
978-1-4732-2163-5
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4 stars (124 reviews)

[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969)

One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 years I've been recommending this book to people who want to try science fiction for the first time, and it still serves very well for that. One of the things I like about it is how clearly it demonstrates that science fiction can have not only the usual virtues and pleasures of the novel, but also the startling and transformative power of the thought experiment.

In this case, the thought experiment is quickly revealed: "The king was pregnant," the book tells us early on, and after that we learn more and more about this planet named Winter, stuck in an ice age, where the humans are most of the time …

42 editions

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

5 stars

Una reflexión sobre las relaciones humanas, el género, el poder, el nacionalismo, la guerra y la política dentro de un marco de ciencia ficción, en un planeta inhóspito y frío, que invita al recogimiento. Los mensajes que deja el libro son como el frío de Invierno, se filtran hasta los huesos. Una vez lo empecé no pude parar. Cualquiera diría que es de 1969, con cuestionamientos y reflexiones muy actuales.

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

5 stars

It feels weird to give an out-of-five star rating, the same way I'd rate a USB cable I bought online, to a book like this.

It's like the worst of asking lay people whether they like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony or Einstein's paper on the photoelectric effect. Yes, of course, but that's almost beside the point now, and focusing on it distracts from the true importance.

This is an incredible story, from the nature of the telling, to the glimpses given of a vast science fiction universe that say a lot in few words in Le Guin's classic manner, to its depiction of gender that, as I understand it, feels less shocking now in part due to the impact it had when it first came out. My only regret for this book is that it took me so long to finally start to read it. It's even a fast and easy …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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