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astrangewind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
By all means, I should have really liked this one. It has the things I really enjoy reading about: a unique civilization (which is written here very well); a planet on the edge of the human habitable zone; a bit of survivalism; a strong focus on characterization; and world-building that adds richness without being overly complex. It was simply fine.
The Left Hand of Darkness simply has too many pieces that don't fit together quite right. The primary plot - of Genly Ai attempting to convince Gethen to join the Ekumen - is, frankly, boring. I liked the plotline with Genly and Estraven well enough
It was well-written but the plot was clumsy. The setting seemed to matter not at all; there was no reason this had to have happened on a different planet at all, as opposed to some fantasy setting, or even on Earth in the far north, say Siberia. Parts of it read like Lord of the Rings, for example, except occasionally someone mentions a car or a radio or a spaceship.
Maybe I'm too slow, or not well-read enough on the relevant feminist literature of the 1970s, but The Left Hand of Darkness just didn't really click for me.
Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Torture, and Pregnancy
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Religious bigotry
gilnean's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
bookishperseus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I did keep reading it because there was a small interest as to what would happen, even though this book is following what could be considered a 'usual every day life'.
Towards the end, I found the final 3 or 4 chapters actually quite interesting. Not something I'd read again, but glad I finished it!
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Deportation
Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
amaya_jam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, and Trafficking
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
kmhst25's review against another edition
3.5
I couldn’t put it down, it contains some wisdom and interesting philosophical thought, and it perfectly depicts the conflicts that arise between people with different ideas of politeness and social norms.
The negatives:
In the intro, Le Guin says that sci-fi tells us nothing about the future and a lot about the present. And this book, written in the 60s, is a great example of that. The narrator disdains women, and his notions about men and women are dated and grating. And even knowing that the content is reflective of the time, it is still displeasing to me to read of a future where very few women are mathematicians or abstract thinkers, and a man, when asked if women are mentally deficient, says, “I don’t know.” It’s a blocker for me; it detracts from the experience.
Additionally, the impact of a man trying to understand gender in an ambisexual society is completely undercut by the narrative using “he” pronouns for everyone; your brain reads “he” as “man”, in much the same way that the narrator reads the locals as men, which I’m sure is at least half the point, but completely dulls the effect.
Finally, the second half of the book contains an absurd number of descriptions of snow and ice that don’t really add anything to the experience.
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Sexism and Torture
Minor: Blood, Excrement, and Vomit
blazingquill's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
That being said, it’s a very profound look into the difference between things that are societally decided and things that are innately human, in a way that thoughtfully offers solutions to the world we currently live in rather than just pointing out the bad. (From what I understand, this is often a core tenant of Le Guin’s work, and makes me excited to read more.) At it’s core, despite the way it sometimes reads, it’s a story about friendship and love. The line, “I do not know if we were right,” inflicted psychic damage upon me, and just barely manages to push the heavy queer coding into explicitly queer.
If you have experience reading dense science fiction, and don’t mind it, I would highly recommend.
Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Grief
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Police brutality
Minor: Transphobia, Murder, and War
smolren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As is often the case with hard science fiction, we break into this story feeling like and Alice (in Wonderland). We don't know what half the words mean and we are a little out of our depth, but through the ignorance of the protagonist, we learn our way around by their experiences. Despite having a world with some different names for things, and a slightly different calendar and clock, the new world is fairly easy to understand once you get over the initial shock, and I think that's pretty much the point of it. Our protagonist comes at this new place with curiosity, but with his own preconceptions, some of which slowly grow and change over the course of the book.
The core of this book explores a premise whereby there can be no "battle of the sexes" if there are no distinctly different sexes. This story tells of a people who go through a monthly fertile time, during which they become either male or female depending on the conditions. They have no sexual need outside of that fertile time, and their society is arranged to accommodate it. In coupling either of the partners could be the child-bearer so there is no division of labour as we have in out "bi-sexual" society. I can see how this would be a popular read today, as our society's friction over accepting non-binary gender identities becomes even more prominent.
As an aside, I find it amusing that the people in the new world can't pronounce the protagonist's name properly, and the Audiobook narrator has a tiny lisp. It's barely noticable but, when he has to say a soft "th" sound he uses an "ff" sound.. so death becomes deff, breath becomes breff. Typically this sort of thing annoys me, but I just think it's quite charming in such an alien story. ... aaaanyway.
There is an incisive foreword from the author at the start of the audiobook, where Ursula Le Guin says some valuable things about the roles and lying ways of speculative fiction writers, and how they are not to be trusted, or treated as though they are experts, profits or sages.
Without the relationship building in this story, it might have been quite a dry affair. After helping to introduce the protagonist to those in charge of the land, his main contact is exiled as a traitor, and the two of them are caught in the wheels and machinations of the politics of the place. They undertake a journey to find friends, and need to work together to survive the hostile climate. I was reminded of the film Enemy Mine (1985 w. Louis Gosset Jnr, Dennis Quaid) and I find it hard to imagine that a film like that (based on a 1979 novella by Barry B. Longyear) was made without the influence of this 1969 book.
The story is quite an adventurous tale, one of exploration and survival and understanding. I think the style in which it is written may be an acquired taste, but it's a must-read Classic for any fans of science fiction.
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Deportation
Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Vomit, and Pregnancy
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, and Confinement
idajoh's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Overall, a very good read where you are taken to a vast world in outer space
Graphic: Blood, Excrement, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail