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songboats's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
glazerdonut's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It took me over a year to read the first hundred pages, and a day to finish the next two hundred. But as slow as the beginning is, I can’t take off even a quarter of a star. This book is just too impactful and too profound to be anything less than a 5. Read it and let yourself be changed.
morgob's review against another edition
4.0
There is so much to unpack from this book. I have no idea where to start. It was not at all what I was expecting. I honestly thought it would be a hard to read, difficult to swallow, boring novel with much symbolism, metaphors and philosophies, and boring old comments on society. And it was some of that, but not all. Mike, my mentor teacher, was reading it, and when I was walking the stacks one day I spotted it and decided to give it a whirl. It was not boring, first of all. I was hooked from page one. Ursula Le Guin is not the writer I expected her to be. In a sense, it's a lot about gender or the lack thereof, and it's a lot about how that one detail can change a society. But it's not all about gender, which I liked. There were many other differences between this alien race and ours. It reminded me a bit of Embassytown by China Miéville. Not just because of the alien races interacting and trying to understand one another, but also with language and the difference of language in societies and how important it can be, especially societal cues and just the actual lexicon itself. So fascinating!
There were a lot of quotes I wanted to remember but did not. There was one amazing passage from page 75 that I saved; it was when Genly was talking with Faxe about questions to ask and the unknown. It was a bit philosophical. At times, the way it was written reminded me of The Alchemist, and that is one of my favorite books ever. It was just written in a matter-of-fact tone that I enjoyed. I will say I was slightly disappointed by the ending. I think it hung off and didn't need to, but, then again, I can't imagine an ending for this book. It just seemed like it would never end--in a good way-- and it just seemed continuous. It didn't have a clear end in sight, so I guess that one will do. Estraven was my favorite character. He was just so interesting. I had a lot to say about this book, but it's all kind of dissipated. I did love it, though. I really enjoy her writing style, and I will definitely partake in some of her other books in the future. I'd like to thank Mike and The Jane Austen Book Club for making me want to read Ursula Le Guin.
There were a lot of quotes I wanted to remember but did not. There was one amazing passage from page 75 that I saved; it was when Genly was talking with Faxe about questions to ask and the unknown. It was a bit philosophical. At times, the way it was written reminded me of The Alchemist, and that is one of my favorite books ever. It was just written in a matter-of-fact tone that I enjoyed. I will say I was slightly disappointed by the ending. I think it hung off and didn't need to, but, then again, I can't imagine an ending for this book. It just seemed like it would never end--in a good way-- and it just seemed continuous. It didn't have a clear end in sight, so I guess that one will do. Estraven was my favorite character. He was just so interesting. I had a lot to say about this book, but it's all kind of dissipated. I did love it, though. I really enjoy her writing style, and I will definitely partake in some of her other books in the future. I'd like to thank Mike and The Jane Austen Book Club for making me want to read Ursula Le Guin.
logangarrick's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nicole_schmid's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
[read in the German translation by Karen Nölle]
I very much enjoyed this book. I found it a bit disappointing that the main character's view on gender roles was so very fixed and stereotypical, but this gets challenged constantly. I also found this book very progressive for its time - or even for today, unfortunately. It was a bit of a pity that many terms were only explained in a glossary at the very ending (which I missed, I have to confess) and that some words like Kemmer were brought up, but only explained much later while others had footnotes. I really liked the myths and fairytales that were added in-between the chapters; that really makes this book seem like the sorts of notes an anthropologist. What left me wanting was the focus on world-building over characterisation or relationships. Not that there is anything wrong with that, some authors put more focus on that and some readers prefer it, but I'm the opposite, enjoying deep relationships over intricately thought out worlds, so this book was a bit hard to read in that aspect. It is also a very slow book, which also hampered my enjoyment.
A few words about the translation:
Ich denke, dass die Übersetzung gut gelungen ist. Das einzig, was mich gestört hat, war, dass die Maßeinheiten wie Fahrenheit und Yards nicht in üblichere Maßeinheiten übertragen worden sind.
I very much enjoyed this book. I found it a bit disappointing that the main character's view on gender roles was so very fixed and stereotypical, but this gets challenged constantly. I also found this book very progressive for its time - or even for today, unfortunately. It was a bit of a pity that many terms were only explained in a glossary at the very ending (which I missed, I have to confess) and that some words like Kemmer were brought up, but only explained much later while others had footnotes. I really liked the myths and fairytales that were added in-between the chapters; that really makes this book seem like the sorts of notes an anthropologist. What left me wanting was the focus on world-building over characterisation or relationships. Not that there is anything wrong with that, some authors put more focus on that and some readers prefer it, but I'm the opposite, enjoying deep relationships over intricately thought out worlds, so this book was a bit hard to read in that aspect. It is also a very slow book, which also hampered my enjoyment.
A few words about the translation:
Ich denke, dass die Übersetzung gut gelungen ist. Das einzig, was mich gestört hat, war, dass die Maßeinheiten wie Fahrenheit und Yards nicht in üblichere Maßeinheiten übertragen worden sind.
littledev's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0