Reviews

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

vahine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

“Para os karhideanos, segundo nossos padrões, o crime de Judas não está na sua traição a Cristo, mas naquele gesto que, selando o desespero, nega a chance de perdão, mudança, vida - seu suicídio.”

nancyboy's review against another edition

5.0

i really relate so much to the ambisexual aliens in this book. the older i get the more i feel i am just becoming more like them. i know i'm forever the weird kid. ive embraced that.

fate_amenable_to_change's review

inspiring reflective medium-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

4.75

nancyboy56's review against another edition

5.0

i really relate so much to the ambisexual aliens in this book. the older i get the more i feel i am just becoming more like them. i know i'm forever the weird kid. ive embraced that.

rachstae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

I can see why it's a classic of American speculative fiction. Le Guin never disappoints.

nehanimm's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

shimmery's review against another edition

Not really appropriate to give a rating to this as it’s not really my kind of book. That said, I think I might enjoy it more if I read it a second time.

I found it difficult to get in to the world but the second half of the book, where it was more just a consecutive story involving two people and their relationship, I enjoyed. Le Guin has said herself she should have done more with the ‘thought experiment’ of a world without sex and gender, and I agree that would have been interesting. As it is, it sort of just feels like all the characters are men.

There were some beautiful philosophical passages — I liked the way it looked at how two people can be connected. And I liked the fortune tellers insights; ‘the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question’.

‘what is known? what is sure, predictable, inevitable — the one certain thing you know concerning your future, and mine?’
‘That we shall die.’
‘Yes. There’s really only one question that can be answered, Genry, and we already know the answer... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.’

sugar_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.25

matildelive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

4.5

waitwhatkris's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0