The Left Hand of Darkness

If there were a canon of classic science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness would be included without debate. Certainly, no science fiction bookshelf may be said to be complete without it. But the real question: is it fun to read? It is science fiction of an earlier time, a time that has not worn particularly well in the genre. The Left Hand of Darkness was a groundbreaking book in 1969, a time when, like the rest of the arts, science fiction was awakening to new dimensions in both society and literature. But the first excursions out of the pulp tradition are sometimes difficult to reread with much enjoyment. Rereading The Left Hand of Darkness, decades after its publication, one feels that those who chose it for the Hugo and Nebula awards were right to do so, for it truly does stand out as one of the great books of that era. It is immensely rich in timeless wisdom and insight.

The Left Hand of Darkness is science fiction for the thinking reader, and should be read attentively in order to properly savor the depth of insight and the subtleties of plot and character. It is one of those pleasures that requires a little investment at the beginning, but pays back tenfold with the joy of raw imagination that resonates through the subsequent 30 years of science fiction storytelling. Not only is the bookshelf incomplete without owning it, so is the reader without having read it. --L. Blunt Jackson

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

I guess I'm a selective SF reader...., 2008-07-30
I recently began to delve into science fiction, and wanted to read some books that were considered "classics" in the genre. Sadly, I couldn't get past page 50. The story had potential to be really exciting, but it had taken a BORING bent. Decades ago, this was probably good stuff, but for THIS CENTURY, I think readers are looking for something more to get their juices flowing. Like I said, I didn't get past page 50, but it didn't seem like there was going to be any mystery, comedy, dueling, suspense, or excitement whatsoever.
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.


1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

This is not sci-fi, 2008-07-02
In short, if you are looking for a sci-fi book, keep looking. This is simply a fictional novel.

Touching superficially on space travel and life on icy worlds does not immediately qualify as science fiction. The bulk of the book occurs in a remote world called Winter where a pre-space-travel civilization deals with the issues of first contact. There is an immediate immersion into the inner workings of that society. If you are interested in exploring topics such as what would happen if men gave birth or if people could change genders, then this book may be for you (and don't get any funny ideas, the only sexual experimentation will be the romantic interludes of portly, middle-aged men). I was greatly bothered by the obvious holes at the heart of the story. The central character is badly tortured by the locals even though he means well and comes from a technologically advanced civilization. This could have been avoided, but he refuses to land his ship and prove his identity to the local authorities. Why? Well, simply because there have been problems with that approach in the past. That's it, you just have to take the author's word for it! I happen to have read Vernon Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" right after this book. Now that's real sci-fi dealing with first contact between races at different stages of development. As sci-fi books, I consider that an 8 out of 10 and Le Guin's a disappointing 2.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

On my list of must-reads . . ., 2008-06-20
I probably first read this book long before many of the posters were born, but not in a vacuum-I also read all of the other Hainish novels I could find. For whatever reason, the Hainish novels have always held my attention in a way that the Earthsea books do not.

I was always struck, not by the gender-role examination, but by what the book had to say about common aspects of humanity and loyalty. Look at it also in terms of how we relate to societal norms that are different from our own.


1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

"The place inside the blizzard...", 2008-04-21
A masterpiece, yes, but of a quieter caliber than most of these reviews would lead one to believe. Although Le Guin herself claimed that the politics were of more importance than the gender issues, what struck me most was the latter; the gender differences call into question the nature of love.

Le Guin manages to masterfully present a love story without romance: Genly Ai and Estraven grow so close by the end of the book that there remains no border between friendship and love. Ai describes his feelings for Estraven as "love," and yet there are no embraces, no shmaltzy "you complete me" lines, and no pretensions of eternal love. What Le Guin does through this unromantic, but close relationship is make the reader question his own preconceptions; can true love exist platonically? Her exceptional handling of such a subtle story makes this an excellent, thought-provoking book.


2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

limp. disappointing for a hugo and nebula winner., 2008-03-03
After reading The Left Hand of Darkness, I feel let down. I was looking forward to reading a philosophically-rich book detailing the struggles, frustrations and (hopefully) triumphs of a envoy dealing with an alien world and its social structures. After finishing this novel, I was reminded of the context of when this novel was written, and the largely stiff male readership that SF had in a wholly different era of the 60's when such concepts as gender equality and racial struggles were still being resolved. I could see how this novel might have been groundbreaking in its own era. For the modern younger generation, though, or any enlightened individual for that matter, there isn't much in this one that will warrant trudging through its 300 pages.

Although I only awarded two stars overall, I will say that I loved the mythological interludes and certain sidebars. This is the first novel I've read of Ms. Le Guin and believe that to be her strong point as an author. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of it to propel me through a main story which severely lacked momentum. She can really lay down some excellent myth, however, in a style that is gentle and poignant, and I really do look forward to reading other works by her. It's possible this wasn't the right book at the right time for me for me to have read.

The gender-bending aspect of the Gethenians, which really should have taken front-and-center, seemed to receive a 'once over' treatment instead of really getting down and dirty with details of a sex-shifting society. Perhaps Ms. Le Guin wanted to take the high road or didn't feel completely comfortable with the territory she had created here, only wanting to scratch the intellectual surface of it. It doesn't really seem her style to write of sex or passionate feelings, she seemed to blush or veer away any time one of the characters went into 'kemmering'. She strikes me as a writer who lives in the mind, and not in the loins. In any case, as a reader I felt somewhat left out in Winter's cold by Genly Ai's detached, over-intellectualized, and remarkably passionless attitude toward the sex-morphing of the Gethenians.

While the author did seem to attempt to create political intrigue and tension, it just wasn't fleshed out enough to carry the action. It seems there was plenty of prima materia to work with: two (or more?) competing nations, an outcast clan of fortune tellers, and so on. So much there to work with, and yet somehow I was left with a feeling of emptiness about what could have been.

I limped through this book. But yet I am encouraged by what I've read and look forward to reading other works by Ursula Le Guin.

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