I see a lot of posts on this sub related to science fiction, and I don’t think this book gets enough credit. The intricacy of the plot, the depth of the characters, and the all-encompassing portrait of the foreign planet “Gethen”, complete with its own societal constructs, religion, and different nations, make this work a true MASTERPIECE of science fiction. I don’t want to take anything away from other great science fiction works like Dune or Ender’s Game or The Lord of the Rings, etc, etc, but TLHOD is not has a great plot, but it has great allegory; it really makes you think about how your life is shaped by things like societal norms, weather, “truth”, relationships, religion, and most importantly gender. The writing is so intentional with every sentence, and it only gets more complex with every re-read. Le Guin deserves every word of the praise that she gets, but the praise that she gets isn’t even half of what she deserves.
by leftwinder
30 Comments
The good news is that *The Left Hand of Darkness* is, at this point, considered the gold standard of Sci-Fi as much if not more than *Dune* and *Ender’s Game*. It’s even appreciated in snooty literature circles. Harold Bloom, the poster boy of the snobby ivory-tower literary establishment, included *The Left Hand of Darkness* in his Western Canon (the most classic and influential books of western civilization), writing “Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time.”
I totally agree. Love Le Guin. One of the greatest writers of fiction ever to live.
Honestly thought it was…
I don’t hear enough about Octavia Butler either, she is among the best imo.
Excellent book, but a bit forgettable. I can’t remember the names of any of the characters two years after reading it
Everything by LeGuin is a treasure. I also especially enjoyed The Dispossessed, and The Lathe of Heaven. If you haven’t read those yet, you are missing out.
Hu, i beg your pardon, but The Lord of the Rings is not scifi. It’s fantasy. Is your book scifi or fantasy ?
I remember seeing it in the top 100 sci-fi books of all time with multiple awards next to it’s name. How much more acclaim do you need? It’s also the first book people recommend on this sub with you ask about the author which shows how much love it’s got.
Personally I got more invested into wizards of earthsea but maybe that’s because I’m on a fantasy binge at the moment.
One of the enduring things about this book is the “ansible”–her word for an FTL communication device. She actually coined this word in a previous book but this is the book that gave it notice. It has been subsequently adopted by many great authors. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansible
“should be the gold standard”
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And isn’t it?
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“Disposessed” is also that good IMHO.
Big shout out to “Lathe of Heaven” too!
I thought it was one if the most critically acclaimed science fiction book in existence? There have been a ton of academic work written on that novel alone. Every time there is a popular “soft” science fiction book it is compared to Left Hand and Le Guin in general.
I am not complaning, one if my favorite authors, but I would absolutely say she is already regarded as the gold standard.
As a long time fan of hers, I don’t think we need to proclaim that this book or that is the gold standard. People like different things for different reasons.
For me, LeGuin never wrote anything that seriously compares to Heinlein or Niven at their best, though Left Hand comes close.
Can this be read by itself or would it be recommended to read the preceding novels in the Hainish Cycle first?
Check out “A Long Way to A Small Angry Planet” and its sequels if this is the sci fi you like. It’s probably not quite a masterpiece but pretty damn good I thought.
I’ve added the book to my ever growing list of things to read.
Have to say though, you placing LotR in the Science Fiction category is bothering me more than it should.
Although it’s not explicitly science fiction, I found her shorty story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” to be fantastic as well
On goodreads it says this is the 4th book in the series (hainish cycle). Do I have to read three other books to get to this one or is the story independent of the others?
Hmm the book was never really able to hold my attention. The ideas were great, but I can only remember being bored through. The characters were especially forgettable, though I remember most of the story.
Great concept, but not that great execution IMO. I do want to read other books by her, as maybe it was just this one that didn’t hold my attention.
If anyone have suggestions for other books by her, I’d be grateful!
I’ve never read anything else in this genre that captured my imagination like Le Guin. Oh, how I wish I could find more sci-fi books of this caliber. There just aren’t any. I’m not much into the Earthsea stuff, but I’ve read every word of her science fiction output (most of it “Hainish”). Her books are peerless.
I see a lot of praise for the work but never could finish it myself. TLHoD was just so slowly paced and no interesting characters were really introduced, just a lot of world building with a zaney mish mash of ideas that didn’t really come to anything because no good characters were there to immerse you.
I agree, but can I ask your age?
Trying to explain my question. I read LHOD as a teenager ( I was probably 12) and felt I lacked an informed worldview to truly appreciate it. Then I read Earthsea and liked it, but when I read the later stories as a married adult with kids I **totally loved** the style, the approach, the theme.
I feel like Le Guin might be enjoyed better by grown ups than by teenagers
I like ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ and think it’s an amazing work of both imagination and intellect. But I truly enjoyed ‘The Dispossessed’ and have read it 3 times. About two neighboring planets trying to figure out if they are enemies or friends. I read it in the ‘70’s and interpreted it as an allegory of our relationship with the Soviet Union. Her poetic use of science fiction always reminded me of Ray Bradbury a bit.
Ok. Maybe I need to try reading it a third time. I just could not get into Left Hand of Darkness. My first of her books I read of Wizard of Earthseas which I adored. And then I read The Lathe of Heaven which had me fascinated and hooked from page 1.
The Left Hand of Darkness was the third book of hers I tried to read and i found it disjointed and hard to follow and largely very uninteresting. A complete 180 from the first of her two books I’ve read.
Please, what am I missing? So many people recommend this and I just don’t get why it’s so great.
“And I wondered, not for the first time, what patriotism is, what the love of country truly consists of, how that yearning loyalty that had shaken my friend’s voice arises, and how so real a love can become, too often, so foolish and vile a bigotry. Where does it go wrong?”
Le Guin is always, amazingly, relevant.
Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed are two of my most loved novels.
I feel this exact way about Iain M Banks and his culture series, which I’ve read twice. Definitely going to give this one a go
The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas from her is good too! 💕💕💕
The Dispossessed is my favorite by her. The beauty of her prose is that it’s superlative fiction. IMO transcending other genre pigeon holes. Just like Earthsea.
Strange coincidence that I just finished this book this morning. Have to say, did not care for it. Huge sci-fi and fantasy reader but none of her books ever really grabbed me. Something about her writing style really puts me off. Curious if anyone else has difficulty digging into her work?
> from other great science fiction works like Dune or Ender’s Game or The Lord of the Rings
> *science fiction*
> *The Lord of the Rings*
Wait a second…