Scan barcode
A review by morgob
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.