Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Left Hand of Darkness

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

50 reviews

bridgedeebookish95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Le Guin writes with such clarity. Her worldbuilding is incredible. The world of Gethen felt very much alive. This was my first read of a science fiction book that wasn't written by Octavia Butler, so I was a bit shook. Sometimes I didn't always understand what was being said (like in the first half of the book), but after chapter 12, Genly Ai and Estraven's journey was harrowing and fascinating to follow.

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gfiore11's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just finished reading and feel compelled to immediately leave a review. Mind-blowing work of fiction that leaves me reflecting on both the book and my own understanding of the world. I have already returned back to reread sections to better understand the work as a whole, and will likely have to reread the entire work again to grasp every detail and symbol (this is rare for me). Although sad, the result is a hopeful and nuanced understanding of the nature of human difference, and how to bridge the divide between individuals and societies with love, understanding, and true acceptance at its core.

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astrangewind's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

In my continuing search for Science Fiction That I Like, I was recommended The Left Hand of Darkness - a highly celebrated book written by a highly celebrated science fiction author.

By all means, I should have really liked this one. It has the things I really enjoy reading about: a unique civilization (which is written here very well); a planet on the edge of the human habitable zone; a bit of survivalism; a strong focus on characterization; and world-building that adds richness without being overly complex. It was simply fine.

The Left Hand of Darkness simply has too many pieces that don't fit together quite right. The primary plot - of Genly Ai attempting to convince Gethen to join the Ekumen - is, frankly, boring. I liked the plotline with Genly and Estraven well enough

(but imo they should have kissed)

. The overarching metaphor of the book - the central question of what human society would look like if men and women were on a level playing field - is initially fascinating from a cultural perspective, but it's ruined when Le Guin inserts a meta-chapter explaining the entire metaphor. If you have to explain the metaphor, then maybe it's not a very good one. Additionally, it has cisgender feminism written all over it. From a cis-feminist perspective, sure, it's fine. From a transgender perspective - which I naturally use, given that I am, myself, transgender - it's limiting and quite unimaginative. (And given how much emphasis Ai puts on his differing biology, and how often he's naked in front of any number of Gethenians, it really should've come up more often that he has external genitalia, which makes him weird.)

It was well-written but the plot was clumsy. The setting seemed to matter not at all; there was no reason this had to have happened on a different planet at all, as opposed to some fantasy setting, or even on Earth in the far north, say Siberia. Parts of it read like Lord of the Rings, for example, except occasionally someone mentions a car or a radio or a spaceship.

Maybe I'm too slow, or not well-read enough on the relevant feminist literature of the 1970s, but The Left Hand of Darkness just didn't really click for me.

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ziasquinn's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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olivi_yeah's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bakatan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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gilnean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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emath98's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Started out really slow, almost DNFed but multiple friends told me to persevere. It got a lot more engaging once

they went onto the ice. I kept forgetting the main character is an Earth man, because the narration from his perspective feels so detached and unemotional. Funnily enough I only started to feel connected to his emotional experience once Estraven started narrating about him. Can’t tell Le Guin did that intentionally or not.

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thomasdj's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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angorarabbit's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

TLDR: A bit challenging, it needs a closer reading than many first contact sci-fi novels, but is worth the effort for the ideas and the writing.

Clarketech: Mind speech, near light speed space travel, ftl communications, Chabe stoves, cryosleep or hibernation during space flights.

Context: I loved what had been published in the Earthsea series in the late 1970’s so tried to read this then. Sadly, my head was too full of wizards and dragons for me to appreciate this gem. I am sorry I didn’t rectify my error before now.

I did have difficulty getting into the novel. The book is written first person singular with short hearth-tales, interspersed for the first quarter of the novel. Then a second voice is added. You then go back and forth between povs with the only indication being the context of the chapter..

Ms LeGuin does not hold your hand introducing you to this new world. While my edition did have a few helpful footnotes and a Gethenian Calendar and Clock addendum; there are many words are in the native languages with little to no explanation as to what an earth translation might be. It took me awhile to understand that Estraven was writing in a journal and that the strange words were dates.

I have read that there is some controversy over the use of the pronoun he to describe the inhabitants of Gethen. Ms LeGuin has appologized for this. I would point out that he was used instead of they in the US in the 1960’s The author has also acknowledged and apologised for the presumption that all Gethens were heterosexual . So much of the novel being Genly’s report, I don’t think there is enough information to judge how the Gethens actually felt about orientation. I would agree that Genly does appear to be homophobic or perhaps in denial over his own orientation, especially in the middle chapters.

I also wondered at Genly’s statement that very few women were known as mathematicians, composers, or inventors. He seems to be at a loss when talking about women at all and seems to be uncomfortable with what he sees as feminine characteristics. It seemed that the Ekumen would have an equal division of labour on its ships. In fact the first Ekumen off the ship in the last chapter is identified as female. One would also think that their first contact on a planet would be more comfortable with any gender.

There are many thoughtful and beautiful passages in the book and it is a great starting point to discussing gender and orientation. I did not see any passages that would be problematic for a tween to read. I would like to get the collected Hainish Cycle and read the novels and stories in sequence, plus reread this book.

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