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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-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:
Complicated
This is easily one of the best books I've read in a long time and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. I've saved many quotes from this book because they are just that good and still as razor-sharply relevant today as they were in 1969.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
Le Guin offers a visually stunning look into a highly personal mission of the first Envoy on another planet. Themes of patriotism, gender norms and cultural appreciation flow throughout. Told from several mediums (first person, journal entry, folk tales), the story moves on in a captivating way, allowing the reader to feel the cold of Winter.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ursula K LeGuin's writing makes me wish I was more perceptive as a reader and articulate as a reviewer. I'm appreciative that they continue to include much smarter opinions (including the author's) shared on the book and her work generally.
I think that feeling speaks to her balance in keeping a text deeply layered with beautiful themes and important ideas still accessible through an engaging plot. Any less entertaining and I would label it "literature" and let it sail right over my head. But to call it "entertainment" is to sell her short.
She is an expert at turning a fantastical idea into believable every day movements and conversations, and building those seemingly mundane elements into page turners. I loved this book for so many reasons I can't specify; it's a tangled mess of enjoyment I've only started to organize as I've finished the whole story.
I love that a plot not far off the trade federation negotiations in The Phantom Menace was more than gripping enough to frame this story.
I love that the speculative sci-fi aspects of the story were used to frame the human-driven plot, rather than being the plot. I Robot and The Left Hand of Darkness have completely changed my views on science fiction - on the potential of well-written scf-fi, to be specific.
The hope created by two characters, facing the bleakest of futures, seeking to overcome cultural differences to understand each other, was truly inspiring.
"A man who doesn't detest a bad government is a fool. And if there were such a thing as a good government on Earth, it would be a great joy to serve it."
"'I'm glad I have lived to see this', he said. I felt as he did. It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end."
I think that feeling speaks to her balance in keeping a text deeply layered with beautiful themes and important ideas still accessible through an engaging plot. Any less entertaining and I would label it "literature" and let it sail right over my head. But to call it "entertainment" is to sell her short.
She is an expert at turning a fantastical idea into believable every day movements and conversations, and building those seemingly mundane elements into page turners. I loved this book for so many reasons I can't specify; it's a tangled mess of enjoyment I've only started to organize as I've finished the whole story.
I love that a plot not far off the trade federation negotiations in The Phantom Menace was more than gripping enough to frame this story.
I love that the speculative sci-fi aspects of the story were used to frame the human-driven plot, rather than being the plot. I Robot and The Left Hand of Darkness have completely changed my views on science fiction - on the potential of well-written scf-fi, to be specific.
The hope created by two characters, facing the bleakest of futures, seeking to overcome cultural differences to understand each other, was truly inspiring.
"A man who doesn't detest a bad government is a fool. And if there were such a thing as a good government on Earth, it would be a great joy to serve it."
"'I'm glad I have lived to see this', he said. I felt as he did. It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end."