The Left Hand of Darkness

Paperback, 366 pages

English language

Published Sept. 16, 2010 by Ace Books.

ISBN:
978-0-441-47812-5
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
53345521
ASIN:
B00YBA7PGW
Goodreads:
118028

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4 stars (21 reviews)

On the planet Winter, there is no gender. The Gethenians can become male or female during each mating cycle, and this is something that humans find incomprehensible.

The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent an ethnologist to study the Gethenians on their forbidding, ice-bound world. At first he finds his subjects difficult and off-putting, with their elaborate social systems and alien minds. But in the course of a long journey across the ice, he reaches an understanding with one of the Gethenians — it might even be a kind of love

43 editions

I get why it's held in high esteem, but not a top favorite for me

4 stars

It's well-written, contains interesting ideas, and takes place in an interesting setting, but the story itself just didn't grab me. It was still pretty easy to keep reading though, in part because the writing was so enjoyable, and in part because there were some bits of lore sprinkled in that I actually found more engrossing than the main plot. They don't feel clunky enough for me to call them infodumps, though I suppose that's kind of what they are. Whatever you want to call those, I think they were my favorite parts.

Ultimately, I would say this is one of those books I admire more than I like, but don't take that overly harshly. I would say this is purely a matter of taste, not quality.

Complex feelings on this one

4 stars

On the one hand, I didn't enjoy the main story that much. I wouldn't say it's boring, it just didn't grab me I guess. On the other hand, the writing/prose is quite good, and there were parts I did quite enjoy. I did like the core idea, and the setting is interesting and well-constructed. There are a couple of "lore dumps" in particular that were my favorite parts of the book.

I remember hearing someone say about some other book something along the lines of "I admire it more than I enjoyed it," and I think that somewhat fits my feelings here. I wouldn't go so far as to say I didn't like it, but I wouldn't call it a favorite either. That said, I find it hard to give it just an average rating, as it was so well-written.

Sòlida ciència ficció que no deixa fred (badumtss)

No rating

El títol és una conya perquè la novel·la transcorre en el planeta Hivern, que té temperatures significativament més baixes que les de la Terra.

I Le Guin posa força llenya a l'estufa (prometo parar!): no només hi ha la construcció de com seria la vida en un món així de fred amb una biosfera particular, i on la humanitat va arribar fa milers d'anys des de l'espai en condicions gens clares. El nivell tecnològic seria com és ara l’actual, adaptat al planeta.

Un altre gran tema és que lis habitants d’aquest planeta passen la major part del temps en un estat andrògin, des del que poden manifestar qualsevol dels dos sexes biològics quan entren en zel. Al principi em preocupava trobar-me amb essencialismes de gènere, però en tot cas són el punt de vista incomplert d’un dels protagonistes, que anirà canviant. I com afecta la particularitat biològica de la població …

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

4 stars

Here it is... this infamous volume of feminist sci-fi that I have found my younger contemporaries have never heard about. Which I find shocking, as this book is trumpeted as an infamous volume of feminist sci-fi literateur. Does it deserve this reputation? Does it deserve the Nebula and Hugo award that it concurrently? Is that even an indication of quality since garbage like Ender's Game seems able to.... but I digress.

The Left Hand of Darkness follows (mostly) Genly Ai, an Envoy originally from Terra (code for our world!) sent to the creatively named planet of Winter to try and convince them to join a planetary union known as the Ekumen. On Winter, Ai must find a way to navigate the strange, alien politics to achieve his goal without being killed in the process.

And what's so strange about this society that the politics would be hard to navigate? Well, …

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