The Left Hand of Darkness

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Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1986, Ace Books)

English language

Published Aug. 5, 1986 by Ace Books.

ISBN:
978-0-441-47811-8
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OCLC Number:
152413826

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5 stars (8 reviews)

4 editions

Truly one for the 'everyone must read' list

5 stars

After an unassuming and somewhat slow start, Le Guin's story and prose builds to a crescendo that includes what must be among the most beautiful portrayals of platonic love in literature.

Thought-provoking and unpredictable from start to finish, The Left Hand of Darkness seems as fresh and relevant today as it did when it was published. The only aspect that seems dated at all is Le Guin's periodic descriptions of masculine and feminine behaviours, pigeonholing that would've gone unremarked in the 70s but which jars today.

Review of 'Left Hand Darkness' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

An absolute delight! As a thought experiment about different ways gender might work, this is already an excellent, compelling book, but its genius is that it's also a compelling story, a great exploration of how people react to the unfamiliar, and an exposition of Le Guin's daoism, and a critique of nationalism. Somehow she managed to cram all of those things into one not especially long book and make it work well as all of them together.

I'm very late to discovering how great Le Guin was--this is the first non-YA novel I've read by her--and wishing I'd started much earlier.