A review by astrangewind
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

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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