Pros: fascinating, unusual story; likable characters; descriptive; unpredictable Cons: slow start; alternating chapters can be confusing or offputting
The Envoy of the Ekumenical Council: I’ll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld (Earth) that Truth is a matter of the imagination…The story is not all mine, nor told by me alone. Indeed I am not sure whose ...
Pros: depth of characterizations; detailed culture; unique examination of gender roles Cons: may be a bit slow to start
Superficially, this novel is the story of Genly Ai, first ambassador ("Mobile") of Hain, to the people of the kingdom of Karhide on the planet they call Winter, and what happens to him there when he becomes entangled in an accusation of...
Pros: Good "new world exploration"-style science fiction, full of fresh thinking Cons: slightly dated by its social commentary
...What an interesting book! The response of the public to this book is in fact almost as famous as the book itself. Sociologists and feminists have quoted this book frequently. But, alas, mine is not the role of a social commentator, and ...
Pros: Beautiful writing, involved plot, resonant themes and characters Cons: Sometimes slow and a little vague
The Left Hand of Darkness well deserves all these positive reviews. It was a daring, milestone work in its time--one for which LeGuin received both the Hugo and Nebula awards--and remains a unique, provocative book.
Pros: Beautiful narration; thorough and fully captivating creation of an alien world Cons: Issue of gender not explored well enough
The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of Genly Ai, an Envoy from a futuristic league of worlds called the Ekumen to Gethen/Winter, a planet in the middle of an ice age. The inhabitants of Gethen are androgynes for all but a few days a month,...
Pros: treatment of xenophobia and patriotism; solid writing; compelling story most of the time Cons: not as much about gender as its reputation suggests
I have long anticipated reading The Left Hand of Darkness because as a feminist scholar, I am very interested in fictional accounts of alternative gender orders. Le Guin is often cited, in fact, as a feminist science fiction writer. But having ...
Pros: interesting conceptions of our own society, gender roles Cons: more sci-fi than philosophical
Ursula LeGuin's late 1960s/early 1970s novel The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel that takes place on the planet of Winter (also known as Gethen), in which the "savage" earthlings are of ambiguous sexuality and live in two different...
Pros: Great style. The book captures you from the page 1! Cons: Nothing
Who says girls don't belong to SF? Ursula is, by my opinion the best SF author, surpassing even my other favorites: Stanislaw Lem and Philip K. Dick.
"The Left Hand of Darkness" is by any criteria a great book. Often people frown on SF,...
After I exhausted my 3rd paperback of this novel I finally gave in and actually bought a hardback. The language used by the author is wonderfully 'other-worldly' and creates real people with concerns that cover religion, culture, politics and food! ...
This book is definitely not for everyone. With this said is important to remember that you could probably say that about any novel. This stands out above the majority of science fiction titles and I like it more than a majority of the classic fiction...
Paperback, The Farthest Shore Fantasy - General Fiction - A young prince joins forces with a master wizard on a journey to discover a cause and remedy for the loss of magic in Eart...
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