The left hand of darkness

by Ursula K. Le Guin

286 pages

English language

Published Jan. 12, 1969 by Macdonald & Co.

ISBN:: 978-0-356-02947-4

(5 reviews)

[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969)

> One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 years I've been recommending this book to people who want to try science fiction for the first time, and it still serves very well for that. One of the things I like about it is how clearly it demonstrates that science fiction can have not only the usual virtues and pleasures of the novel, but also the startling and transformative power of the thought experiment.

[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969)

> In this case, the thought experiment is quickly revealed: "The king was pregnant," the book tells us early on, and after that we learn more and more about this planet named Winter, stuck in an ice age, where the humans are most of the time neither male nor female, but with the potential to become either. The man from Earth investigating this situation has a lot to learn, and so do we; and we learn it in the course of a thrilling adventure story, including a great "crossing of the ice". Le Guin's language is clear and clean, and has within it both the anthropological mindset of her father Alfred Kroeber, and the poetry of stories as magical things that her mother Theodora Kroeber found in native American tales. This worldly wisdom applied to the romance of other planets, and to human nature at its deepest, is Le Guin's particular gift to us, and something science fiction will always be proud of. Try it and see – you will never think about people in quite the same way again.

[1]: www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/14/science-fiction-authors-choice

27 editions

Carlos Cámara reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Good ideas, bad story

2 stars

Content warning It contains spoilers

After having enjoyed a lot The Dispossessed, and having read so many great reviews about this book, I cannot stop but feeling disappointed or under the impression that I failed to understand it or it was not the right time for me to read it.

I must recognize the originality of describing a whole hermaphrodite species in a forever frozen world, with their own culture and social organisation (something I enjoyed). But I felt that the story that was promised was weak, full of Deus ex machinas, unnecessary interruptions, and not even as strong and moving as I had imagined. Is the bonding between Therem and Genly as strong as suggested or is it merely survival? Are their beliefs about the other so shaken and deconstructed as suggested or were simply weak prejudices broken by the forced coexistence?

The fact that I found the narrative unconsistent and unnecessarily complex, didn't help at all. Genli's trip is littered with plenty of complex concepts that are not fully developed, (I am still unsure about what the Shifgrethor is -I had to look at Wikipedia and stack exchange), legends, explanations about calendars or chapters written from somedody else's perspective, without a clear criteria or rhythm on when those interludes are added. But probably, what I found most disappointing was the constant mentions to the how different gethenian culture, society and cosmogony are due to their hermaphroditism, but IMHO, it is never not clearly exemplified in anything specific, not to mention the missed opportunity of using they/them pronouns (albeit I'm aware that that might not be that commonplace back in 1969, and probably editors thought that books had to had male characters to be sold).

Nickbwalking@ramblingreaders.org reviewed The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle, #4)

Review of 'The Left Hand of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It's a classic for a reason. It's not an easy read, but it's one of the most thought-provoking pieces of SF I've read. Ideas and scenes that will occupy my mind for a long time.

🌸Raquel de Abril🌸 reviewed La Mano Izquierda de La Oscuridad by Ursula K. Le Guin

Review of 'La Mano Izquierda de La Oscuridad' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

La influencia de la antropología en el estilo de Ursula K. Le Guin salta a la vista en novelas como esta. Su originalidad reside precisamente en el estilo etnográfico de su escritura, que pone el foco sobre las formas de vida social diversas en sus distintas esferas: economía, religión, estructura familiar... Quizá esto sea lo que más me ha llamado la atención del libro, puesto que no me he sentido afectivamente muy vinculada a los protagonistas, a los que no he empezado a entender mejor hasta a partir de la mitad del libro. En todo caso, Le Guin es un clásico de la ciencia-ficción y he encontrado muy interesante esa aplicación de la mirada etnográfica en el mundo de la ci-fi.

Teo reviewed La mano izquierda de la oscuridad by Ursula K. Le Guin

Review of 'La mano izquierda de la oscuridad' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Súper interesante lo que hace Le Guin acá, similar a El mundo de Rocannon. Inicialmente solo planeaba leer esta y Los desposeídos, pero si son todos tan buenos creo que me voy a terminar leyendo todo el Ciclo de Hainish.

Le Guin construye capas sobre capas, una más interesante que la otra. Y cada capa es una excusa y caldo de cultivo para más y más reflexiones y exploraciones antropológicas, filosóficas y emocionales.

Crea un mundo con una geografía peculiar y extrema.

Inventa una especie (una variante humana) con una biología única y cautivadora, y la hace adaptarse a la capa anterior.

Construye una nación con su sociedad, ideas y actitudes alrededor del género, idiosincrasia, sistema de gobierno, tradición oral, etc., y es fascinante cómo muestra la manera en que todo esto es moldeado e influido por geografía y biología.

Construye OTRA nación igual de rica que la anterior, trabajando los mismos aspectos que la anterior, pero también prestando atención a cómo interactúan en distintos niveles ambos países. También hace algunos menciones fascinantes a un par de naciones más en el otro hemisferio que insinúan aún más maneras en las que esa biología puede manifestarse socialmente.

* Pero hay además otro punto de contraste y tensión y ese es el punto de vista del narrador, miembro de otra variante humana (los pacíficos viajeros espaciales que buscan agregar mundos a su unión interplanetaria) con distintas ideas acerca de la sexualidad y el género, distinta biología sexual, distintos prejuicios, distintas experiencias tecnológicas, religiosas, etc.

Un placer.

Maltita

rated it

Feb. 27, 2017