The Left Hand of Darkness

This book was excellent, but not my taste.

Very interesting concepts and fascinating political maneuvering, but written in a largely inaccessible style for a significant part of the book. Le Guin introduces Gethenian concepts and doesn't explain them right away, leaving me very confused a lot of the time.

Cool concept, execution wasn't for me.

Looks like I finally found a LeGuin's book that's not overrated. About time.

I loved the overall narrative, the richness of the culture Genly is discovering and the slight alienness he experiences because while they are human... they are not quite human like him.

The “aliens” have amorphous gender but they are still people, humans left on icy planet and experimented on long time ago - they cycle through being man and woman once a month like a PMS, the rest of the time they are infertile and something in the middle. It is a fascinating idea and I'm glad the book was written in the 60's because today it would have several dozen preachy passages with LGBT metaphors and “THE MESSAGE” (read the word in Critical Drinker's voice for best effect). This way it was ideologically free and LeGuin simply went discovering what a culture like that would look like, which was, in a way, refreshing.

Two thirds of the book are spent in political match between two nations while Genly is trying to get at least one of them to enter Ekumen union of planets. He knows that if one agrees the rest will soon follow. But they don't believe or don't want to believe him for their own political sake. He came alone and while he looks weird to them and the spaceship is being analyzed he's still struggling against political forces that want to keep the power to themselves and fear joining galactic union would undermine their plans.

This part was good but not as good as the last third where Genly is forced to travel through icy plains with a native companion. I was quite surprised that this was the stuff I enjoyed the most. The bonding between them was the best part of the novel. I wouldn't say that LeGuin is in any way good with writing rich and complex characters but this part made me care about both of them.

I've rated only Wizard of Earthsea this high but this book was slightly better and it's not as highly praised as that one. So far Hainish Cycle was improving with (almost) every book and I hope this keeps going. LeGuin will never be among my favorite authors but at least I'm finally starting to understand why she is for many other people.

P.S.: China Miéville wrote introduction to this and it just solidified my opinion that I wouldn't enjoy his work. He doesn't understand Heinlein's ‘The door dilated' metaphor and misunderstands that LeGuin used masculine language for pregnant ‘king' because we have no other way to address a ruler that is most of the time sexless eunuch and turns into one of the sexes only for a day each month.

★★★★⯨

A fascinating exploration of the issue of gender while simultaneously evoking a whole different world in a convincing and believable way. On top of this, a moving and unsentimental love story. Le Guin is a master.

Tales of Earthsea mystified and delighted me when I was in primary school, but I didn't think I'd find The Left Hand of Darkness equally engaging at 31.

The politics, relationship/s, gender commentary, and pacing were all chef's kiss, and the interspersed folk tales/legends were lovely little treats.

I'm giving Le Guin the benefit of the doubt with regards to the narrator's frequent anthropologically-flavoured misogynistic remarks. Genly Ai is a representative of a (our) patriarchal culture; it's precisely these biases that the ambisexual Gethians provide a foil for (in spite of the persistent use of male pronouns).

I want to recommend this book to anyone thinking about masculinity/feminity and gender roles, but I think that person would be disappointed. This is a book that has that conversation as an element, but I found it far more engaging as an exploration of friendship and intimacy. I've still yet to read anything by Le Guin that I haven't been stuck thinking about for days

There are certainly a lot of interesting ideas in this book, however it's of a style that I very much do not connect with. Oftentimes it just feels like textbook excerpts on culture and politics, and I felt myself losing focus and struggling to follow the actual plot or main characters.

Just not for me unfortunately!

As with all the books written long ago that I have read this book was horrible. First of all, it was incredibly boring. I could not finish it. I got halfway through which I think gives me the right to have an opinion. 

The stream-of-consciousness way of writing was horribly boring as well as hard to read. The whole reason I wanted to read this book is because it supposedly was very progressive and totally groundbreaking about gender, which I found to be absurd. How could anyone have ever said that about this book.  It isn't talked about much and never really goes anywhere apart from both sides of the coin talking about how weird and disgusting the other is. If anything the gender roles are even more pronounced in this book than usual. The main character comments on the seeming femininity or feminine characteristics of various people he meets, almost always in a condescending or insulting way.  

The whole political part of this was also terribly boring. In general, I wanted to fall asleep and could not get through this whatsoever. I think I will just stop reading classic for a while because it never ends well for me. 

“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”

Not gonna lie I spent the majority of this book very very very confused. My friends will attest to that. Despite this, it wasn't a bad book, I just don't think I get much out of a book that relies so much on hidden philosophical commentary. Don't get me wrong, it made me think a lot about our societal systems, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I am very mad at the ending :(

This book was dense!

It's so difficult to sum up everything else the story covers. Gender and sexuality is front and center since the Gethenians are a human species that do not have a static sexuality and the author has done an amazing job of building two societies of people that are very different from each other and from us.

On top of gender and sexuality, it also takes place on an ice age planet with a drastically different ecosystem from our own, and the Gethenians have developed some really advanced technologies to cope with their climate, while also ignoring entire fields of study. It gives some really cool alternate history vibes that I really enjoyed reading about.

It's also one of the best examples (that I can think of) of a story where you can read it twice and have two different experiences. Gethenian politics and rhetoric is all about subtly and many of the early conversations will read completely differently after gaining a better understanding of shifgrethor (their honor system).

It's probably not for everyone... it's a slower read and I think very character driven, but if you can get through the earlier parts and get comfortable with the onslaught of new words and concepts it's very rewarding.

I'm really glad I read this book, and it's going to be an excellent source of conversation at book club!

This book is fascinating. Me Guin tried to tackle many different subjects which are not common in science fiction, and does that tremendously well.

This is my first time ever hearing an audio book, which may diminshed my enjoyment. I may return to it again later in life to fix that.

The story is amazing. Originally I rated it with three stars. But since five year later I do still think about it, it cannot have been that bland.

Read this as part of a college class with Bloodchild by Octavia Butler. Both of these stories are quite remarkable. This one in particular really challenges and makes you consider real world society in comparison to what we see in the story.

I long expected one of the Earthsea books to be my first Le Guin read (they've been on my want to read list for a long time), but I am glad this one was it in the end.

I really didn't like this book much. Perhaps it was because I listened to it on audio and I did not like the narrator. I could not tell who was who.

Whilte I still prefer the dispossed by far, this is without a doubt thought provoking as well, perhaps not as political as the other one though

A science-fiction novel worth its weight. I don't know how else to describe this book so succinctly. Le Guin knows how to do it all: world building, examining ideas and concepts at a large and small level, knowing when to get into the nitty gritty and when to stay broad. It's such an amazing science fiction novel, despite not being so flashy with the more exciting fare like super futuristic technology. The fact of the matter is that she focuses more concepts like sexuality, government, culture, race and as a result, the book is so much more rich in detail.

As others mention, including Le Guin herself, science fiction is a thought experiment. Most well-known titles of science fiction (Dune, Foundation) tend to explore the “what if” on the macro scale but in The Left Hand of Darkness, the micro is our sole focus. From this focus we get an idea of this world, not different from ours except bone-chilling temperatures, that makes you stop to think about how it relates to current day.

However, it does have some flaws. The most clear example is the misogyny of the main character, as pointed out in the afterword by Charlie Jane Anders in my edition of the book. It's certainly an interesting choice to make, but it does contribute to the story, especially considering it's an exploration of sexuality.

I will be reading the others in this series.

A fascinating examination of gender, duality, and treason. The premise is that a far futured human, Genly Ai, is an “envoy”, a person sent to a planet to make first contact and recruit them into the “Ekumen” - a kind of federation of planets, mostly involved with trading ideas and information. Gethen, or “Winter” as it was named by the humans, is a cold planet - even in the summer, and covered with ice. Into this seemingly inhospitable landscape, Genly works with leaders and influencers to convince them to join the Ekumen. This is a feudalistic world that has not developed flight, or the concept of “war”, but they have other modern advances.

LeGuin uses an interesting language to tell the tale. Most of it is first person accounts, either from the main protagonist or his companion, Estraven. Alien terminology and wording is often employed, so the reader must learn some of this along the way to fully understand the story. This helps to enrich the already hauntingly convincing and wonderfully woven, subtle story.

Highly recommended reading for lovers of science fiction, and beyond.

I can understand why this book is considered a classic. The world-building and the innovative concepts introduced are certainly ahead of their time, making it a groundbreaking read when it was first published. In the story, an envoy is dispatched to an alien planet to assess their interest in joining the interplanetary cooperation he represents. What's truly fascinating is that this planet is inhabited by non-binary/ambisexual humanoids who adopt male or female appearances only during specific times of the month. Their lives exist beyond the confines of gender expression, and it's a unique and captivating aspect to explore. However, the absence of gender-neutral terminology made it somewhat challenging for me to fully immerse myself in this world.

On one hand, I relished the opportunity to accompany the envoy on his journey as he delved into the intricacies of Winter's society. On the other hand, the writing style felt rather dry, akin to an unsalted wholewheat cracker, leaving me with mixed feelings about the book.

Je dois d'abord le reconnaître : c'est l'annonce récente du décès d'Ursula K. Le Guin qui m'a poussé à lire ce roman qui trainait dans ma liste de livres à lire depuis un long moment. On va dire que c'était la “bonne” occasion pour le faire.

J'ai bien aimé ce roman de science-fiction, malgré quelques longueurs dans le récit. L'idée de départ, une planète dont les habitants sont asexués la plupart du temps, hormis quelques jours par mois où une phase de poussée hormonale leur assigne de façon aléatoire le sexe masculin ou féminin, m'a beaucoup plu. Le prétexte pour la découverte de cette civilisation unisexe est l'arrivée sur la planète d'un éclaireur-ambassadeur venu proposer aux habitants de rejoindre la fédération galactique à laquelle il appartient. Nous découvrons ainsi les particularités de ce monde et de ses habitants à travers le regard d'un terrien du futur, finalement assez proche de nous.

Ce roman permet de réfléchir sur l'importance du sexe dans notre mode de vie, sur la question du genre, et sur la place respective des hommes et des femmes dans notre société. Au-delà de ces questions déjà passionnantes, il interroge sur la nation de patrie, sur la différence et sur la rencontre de “l'Autre”. C'est finalement cela, l'essence même de la science-fiction.

Ignorant man-thing
the Pervert from outer space
shivering year round.

I put off reading Ursula K. LeGuin's pioneering sci-fi classic for a very long time as I'm really not a fan of the genre, but when I finally did pick up this wee novella it blew me away, and I was left kicking myself for not reading it sooner.

Set in the far future on the ice planet of Gethen, against a backdrop of the intricacies of interplanetary diplomatic relations, Le Guin explores what a society might look like in which gender is no longer a defining characteristic, and writes with remarkable prescience considering this novel is fifty-four years old this year.

“Because of our lifelong social conditioning, it is hard for us to see clearly what, besides purely physiological form and function, truly differentiates men and women. I eliminated gender, to find out what was left. Whatever was left would be, presumably, simply human. It would define the area that is shared by men and women alike.” —UKLG

The novel unfolds into further complex, layered narratives reflecting on the importance of community and collaboration, the dangers of xenophobia, and our deeply rooted and enduring need for connection in both the microcosm and the macrocosm, as well as treating us to snippets of the folklore of Gethen, all in Le Guin's engaging, beautiful prose. Genly Ai and Estraven's journey across the hinterland of the Gobrin Ice will stay with me until the end of my days. Can't recommend highly enough.

Worth reading, for sure, if only because of the sly way LeGuin writes about power and gender. That said, I find myself wanting more from LeGuin–more character depth, more story. I wish she had taken the last 50 pages, where the two main characters journey across the ice, and created a whole book out of that. Once I had those characters more fleshed-out for me, it was infinitely more interesting, but until then, it was a bit of a chore.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to but this one in the same category as all of Philip K. Dick and most of Octavia Butler: Full of fascinating ideas–and therefore worth reading–but lacking in execution.

Still awesome work, somehow more interesting with age, rather than becoming outmoded. Almost too obvious to recommend but a great book for someone who wants to dip their toe into the deeper pools of speculative fiction.

Short Review: This is a fantastic book that, using beautiful language, encourages you to think deeply about gender roles, political systems, spirituality, love, language and the environment. It is deeply moving.

Longer Review: Wow. I've read this several times now at different times of my life and each time something different jumps out at me.

* Age 10ish: So this is about a man who visits a world where once a month people can switch into a girl or boy. Oh and the man is put into prison and escapes over the north pole on a sled.....Pretty cool.

(Note: I was reading Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High and getting made fun of because they were “Girl Books”. I thought in this world I could read Girl Books and get away with it!)

Moral of Story: Girls and Boys are just as good as each other, and frostbite really hurts.

*Age 20ish: This is a really deep story about our preconceived notions about our place in society. This book is best known for encouraging people to question traditional gender roles, by imagining a society where there are no genders (once per month an individual will assume one sex purely for reproductive purposes). This is a very good thought experiment because it make us realise just how deeply ingrained these preconceptions are, but this is only one aspect of the book, it raises issues of economic systems, the destruction of the environment, how governments should be run, preconceptions of courtesy, the nature of God, the nature of the self and other...the list just goes on.

* Now: This book is deeply moving and disturbingly relevant. All of what I've already said is true (even the frostbite bit), but what really jumped out at me this time was the political side. Genly Ai, the protagonist, is an emissary sent to invite the world of Gethen to join a loose union of worlds. He lands in a rather laissez faire kingdom called Karhide, but his arrival sparks the development of nationalisim, the misuse of the concept of patriotism and the slow development of the tools of a totalitarian state. It is during this development, while broadcasts stoke fear of the neighboring country, that we read this passage:

“I don't mean love, when I say patriotism. I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression. It grows in us, that fear. It grows in us year by year. We've followed our road too far.”

“He wanted his hearers to be frightened and angry. His themes were not pride and love at all, though he used the words perpetually; as he used them they meant self-praise and hate. He talked a great deal about Truth also, for he was, he said, “cutting down beneath the veneer of civilization”. It is a durable, ubiquitous, specious metaphor, that one about veneer (or paint, or pliofilm, or whatever) hiding the nobler reality beneath. It can conceal a dozen fallacies at once. One of the most dangerous is the implication that civilization, being artificial, is unnatural: that it is the opposite of primitiveness... Of course there is no veneer, the process is one of growth, and primitiveness and civilization are degrees of the same thing. If civilization has an opposite, it is war. Of those two things, you have either one, or the other.”

“To oppose vulgarity is inevitably to be vulgar. You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk a different road.”

“How does one hate a country, or love one?... I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is the love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing.”

Light is the left hand of darknessand darkness the right hand of light.Two are one, life and death, lyingtogether like lovers in kemmer,like hands joined together,like the end and the way.

Short Update:

A generous 4. Great ideas, but a largely uninvolving story.