The Left Hand of Darkness

The greatest science fiction stories really aren't about the future at all, but about the present. A lot of readers will disagree with this statement, and they have the right to do so. Good science fiction can be enjoyed by many readers through various interpretations. Good science fiction tells us about ourselves and the world we live in. GREAT science fiction does this and more. After reading just a few pages of 'The Left Hand of Darkness,' I knew I was reading great science fiction...and maybe a little bit more.
Ursula K. Le Guin's novel is the story of Genly Ai, a Terran representative who has been sent to Gethen, a planet where the harshness of winter is nearly constant. The coldness of the planet provides many challenges for Ai, but even more challenging is being the lone human in the midst of a sexless population. The inhabitants of the planet are neither male or female until the time of mating. Even during that time, the participants themselves have no way of knowing whether they will become male or female. After the mating period, they revert to being neutral.
Ai is completely a stranger in a world he can't understand. He's not sure who to trust. The planet's inhabitants certainly aren't sure if they can trust a being who is always the same gender. Even when friendships begin to develop, Ai is not sure who he can trust. Things are never as they appear, which makes his mission more and more dangerous.
'The Left Hand of Darkness' was groundbreaking when it was first published in 1969. The roles of men and women were being questioned just about everywhere in this country and Le Guin addressed those issues brilliantly. This was an incredibly important for its time. Many readers have stated that the novel lacks impact today because of the progress that has been made in dealing with gender issues. Perhaps, but the issues that Le Guin targets are in some ways still with us. This is not a book to refer to and say, "Yeah, this book came out when we were searching for our male and female identities." The book is much more than just an allegorical look at gender issues in the 1960's. Le Guin's writing style keeps it from being remembered for that reason only.
I once heard a major science fiction writer say that Ursula Le Guin walks on water. Her writing certainly does. Le Guin masterfully creates a word in which everyone is comfortable with the status quo except for Ai...and the reader. In the reader's mind, Gethen becomes a real place. I read the book in July and felt like I was constantly trying to warm myself on the icy planet. Not only is her setting well done, the characters tell us all we need to know, just enough so that the ending really means something to the reader. It's far more than simply the feeling of a satisfying ending. It's the feeling that you've read something that was important when published and continues to be important.

Some science fiction works are optional. "The Left Hand of Darkness" is not. It is one of the most important novels in the development of modern SF, and it also includes some of the best writing in the history of the genre.
The story is set entirely on a planet called Gethen, where people have no specific gender. This detail is not included just as a gimmick. Le Guin looks in depth at the implications of such an idea. The society that she imagines is one that has no warfare and no well-defined concepts of a family. She includes lots of interesting and sometimes humorous snapshots of what a genderless culture means, such as a character whose behavior appears 'female', but who has actually been the father of four children. By describing this alien society, Le Guin makes some hard-hitting points about the way that gender and sex have shaped our world. And by tackling issues that most earlier science fiction authors had ignored, she helped open the door to a new generation of literary SF works.
In case the above paragraph makes "The Left Hand of Darkness" seem boring or preachy, let me just emphasize that it also has a suspenseful, fast-moving plot. An ambassador from another planet is trying to convince the leaders of Gethen to join an organization that allows for trade and communication between worlds. Despite his good intentions, he ends up caught in a web of political deception; some people would prefer that Gethen remain isolated. Throughout the book, the characters' reactions to the events around them is entirely believable, helping to create a vivid portrait of a society as it faces a tremendous change. The last hundred pages take a radically different turn from the earlier parts of the book. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that Le Guin decides to focus the reader's attention on the two main characters and the way that the differences between their bodies and minds affects their relationship.
Let me add one more important fact: the writing in this book is outstanding. It's clear that Le Guin put a great deal of effort into developing each chapter. The dialogue is well-written and meaningful, and the descriptions of setting on the planet of Gethen are unforgettable. The author can find the beauty in everything, even in a hostile landscape of rock and ice. Touches like that make "The Left Hand of Darkness" one of my favorite novels of all time.

In The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin creates characters that provide great insight into human nature; even as those characters are decidedly unique. While reading, it is easy to forget that the native Gethenians do not have a set gender. In the current age, with LGBT issues being discussed so much, immersing yourself in a world where gender takes such a different role is very refreshing. This book gives you the complete experience - Karhide and Orgoreyn come alive with the depth of detail Le Guin provides. Some of the concepts, such as shifgrethor, can be a bit confusing at times, but in the end they are what make the setting so believable. The ideas are foreign to the reader, but perfectly normal to every Karhider, giving us the sense that they have been around forever.

The characters shine throughout the novel, and it is wonderful to see them opening up, and ultimately forming unlikely friendships. My only problem is that I found the ending to be rather sudden. Compared to the great detail with which the rest of the story was written, it seemed a little out of place. However, the increased speed did help to build up excitement as the book neared its end. All in all this is a wonderful story, and one I'll be sure to read again.

"The Left Hand of Darkness" turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise for me. I do not read science fiction often and had to abandon my last attempt ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy") for its utter stupidity, but this book was a sci-fi of a completely different sort. It wasn't just another novel about green aliens or space travel, it was an extremely clever and deep exploration of gender.

Genly Ai is an emissary of the Ekumen (a union of human worlds) to planet Gethen, or Winter (called so for its extremely cold climate). His mission is to convince inhabitants of the world to join the rest of humanity in exchange of ideas and technology. However Genly is met with some reserve as the decision to join is hindered by alien to him intricacies of Gethenian politics and culture. What makes Gethen so unique and thus so hard for Ai to understand is that it is inhibited by the race of ambisexual (hermaphroditic) beings. All Gethenians have an ability to be both male and female. Most of the time their sexualities lay dormant and awaken only a few days a month during a period called kemmer (mating period). At the time of kemmer each Gethenian can become either male or female. The choice of gender is always incidental. Between the kemmers Gethenians are asexual. This sexual peculiarity makes Gethen quite a subdued race - its inhabitants are not assigned any gender roles, they are not sexually driven or sexually frustrated, they are less violent and ambitious. As the story progresses, Genly learns to understand this strange world a little better and even finds love.

I was extremely impressed by Le Guin's imagination. The world of Gethen was thoroughly detailed and very well realized. Everything about Gethen - the direct effects of Winter's climate and Gethenians' ambisexuality on the social and political order, science, philosophy and even folklore - were developed in the most remarkable way. I was also amazed at how skillfully Le Guin presented romance in the story, because as you can imagine a love story between a man and an ambisexual being (or between two ambisexuals) can go horribly wrong in less talented hands.

My only reservation about the book was the language. It took a few chapters to get used to a huge amount of Gethenian words, names and concepts. At times I had to reread some passages to understand them, because they seemed a little too densely written (my recent obsession with YA literature might be blamed for the softness of my brain too I suppose). But this wasn't so overwhelming as to spoil the reading experience for me.

Highly recommended to those who enjoys quality science fiction.

I have been wanting to read this sci-fi classic for a while so I finally brought it on the plane with me. This is a very good book. I can't say it was the most enjoyable read, but it is an exquisite read...kind of like a work of fine art. In general it was hard to decide if this was a 4 or 5 star book. It wasn't personally my favorite book, but it was a very well put together book and a book that asks a lot of very deep questions.

Genly Ai is an ambassador to the planet Winter. Winter is a planet that has the unique distinction of being the only planet where the humans are both genders at once or have no gender at all depending on the moon cycle. Genly's goal is to bring Winter in contact and into trade agreements with the rest of galactic civilization. He starts his quest in the somewhat uncivilized nation of Karhide; where he is eventually driven to the countryside. Next he seeks to win over the more civilized and lawful nation of Orgoreyn. But which nation is really the more civilized of the two? Estraven, who starts the story as the chief adviser to the King of Karhide, ends up being Genly's companion for much of his journey...and at points the story is told from Estraven's viewpoint.

The story starts out a little slow and it has a lot of throwing around of terms that are unknown to the reader (as many sci-fi books do). Maybe a third of the way through the book the story really picks up and starts to get interesting. This is not the easiest book to read. The detail is meticulous and the reader must concentrate and really pay attention to what they are reading. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn't pick this book up for a fun/quick read.

The plot is well-woven and the worlds Le Guin build's are amazing. She has extensively developed language, culture, policy, and structure of the societies on Winter. The detail she took with this world building is just fantastic. The other amazing thing is that in this well woven story she manages to touch on a multitude of issues humanity faces now and will always face. Much of the issues she delves into are of a political nature, but many of them are also of a personal nature. Probably the most interesting issue she deals with throughout the book is how society would be changed if everyone was both genders or did not have a gender.

All in all it is an interesting read and the book is well done. Given how long ago the book was written it has aged pretty well. Some of the writing style is a little archaic, and as I had mentioned it is definitely not an easy or particularly fun read. Still, it is a good book for everyone to read because the ideas presented in it are intriguing and it is just such a classic work of sci-fi. Did this book make me want to run out and read everything by Le Guin? Not really, but if I am in the mood for a heavier sci-fi read I might consider it.

A Masterpiece of "social science" fiction

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, most notably in the fantasy and science fiction genres, and it is as writer of the last of these that she is best known. She was first published in the 1960s, and her works have explored eastern spirituality and ecology as well as anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, psychological and sociological themes. She has received several Hugo and Nebula awards, and was awarded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award in 2003. Le Guin was raised in Berkeley, California, the daughter of the anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber (her father was granted the first Ph.D. in Anthropology in the United States in 1901 by Columbia University) and the writer Theodora Kroeber.

Much of Le Guin's science fiction places a strong emphasis on the social sciences, including sociology and anthropology, thus placing it in the subcategory known as soft, or "social science" fiction. Her writing often makes use of unusual alien cultures to convey a message about Earthly culture. Perhaps the best example is her exploration of gender identity through the hermaphroditic race in "The Left Hand of Darkness," which forms an important part of the canon of what has come to be called feminist science fiction.

"The Left Hand of Darkness" ("LHOD") is the account of the efforts of an Earth human named Genly Ai, a representative from a galactic federation of worlds (the Ekumen), who seeks to bring the world of Gethen (also known as 'Winter' for its globe-spanning frigid climate) into that federation. The inhabitants of Gethen/Winter are androgynes, biologically hermaphroditic humans. For twenty-four days of each twenty-six day lunar cycle they are biologically neuter, and for the remaining two days are either male or female, as determined by the presence of a prospective partner. Thus the mother of several children may be the father of several more (families on Winter are large) and humanity is not categorized into protecting ("male") and protected ("female") halves. This is a situation that makes Genly, an Earth male, more than a trace uncomfortable and his proneness to ascribe all of the negative, supposedly "feminine" traits of obliqueness, inconstancy and untrustworthiness to his multigendered hosts is painfully evident.

The story opens in the feudal kingdom of Karhide, one of Gethen/Winter's many nation-states where the two primary characters, Genly of the Ekumen and Estraven, the prime minister of Karhide, are introduced. Karhide is a barely governable feudal monarchy ("a bloody family quarrel rather than a nation"), ruled by a highly eccentric and ineffectual king whose chief interest is in preserving his royal prerogatives against rivals for the throne. Genly, dissatisfied with his rebuffed attempts at enrolling reactionary Karhide into the Ekumen, leaves the capital city hoping to explore the older mythology of the country-folk and to learn more of the ancient Karhidish religion, its priesthood and its highly accurate practice of prophecy ("foretelling").

Satisfied that he has seen enough of impoverished Karhide, which he believes is too backward, anarchic and irrational to understand much less accept Ekumen membership, he leaves for Orgoreyn.

In the second part of the book, the account unfolds in the centralized, efficient and totalitarian state of Orgoreyn, where Genly is accepted as a means to an end by an Orgota political faction. When Genly first arrives in Orgoreyn, he is pleased with the state of the country, believing it more progressive and less hidebound in tradition than Karhide, and more ready to accept the Ekumen. Gradually as Genly sojourns in Orgoreyn, he begins to feel as if he is not seeing everything, as if what he is seeing is an officially approved but profoundly dishonest misrepresentation of Orgota life.

The differences between these two states, roughly paralleling those between contemporary superpowers on Earth, and the reactions of Genly, Estraven, and other characters in the book provide insights into the motivations of Genly and the inhabitants of Winter.

During the third part of the book, Estraven, whom Genly has misjudged as a traitor, saves the envoy from imprisonment and death, and they travel together across the glaciers and ice deserts forming the borders of Orgoreyn and Karhide, creating an intense friendship between the envoy and deposed prime minister that transcends gender and culture.

Le Guin creates believable worlds populated by strongly sympathetic characters, making these worlds credible by the attention she pays to the ordinary transactions of everyday life ("a common eating utensil on Gethen's tables is an ice-pick with which one chips away the ice that forms on one's mug of ale"). Her interactions between characters are sympathetic to human expression from the myriad of "un-Earthly" perspectives she creates, and she adroitly explores a wide array of political, ethical and cultural themes. This story is a testament to the universality and the indomitability of the human spirit regardless of the nature of the environment, the outlandishness of the society or the cruelty of the political system: people are people no matter how odd the culture or how "alien" the appearance.

While LeGuin is one of my favorite authors and "LHOD" one of my favorite and most re-read books, I find the first several chapters to be quite tedious. It does take some intestinal fortitude to force oneself through a dry, slow and frankly uninteresting beginning, however the character development and plot quickens, and the reader's perseverence is rewarded: the book is more than well worth the effort. I'd suggest "LHOD" for the more patient reader and for readers with a relatively mature mindset about issues relating to gender. In summary, a masterpiece, but perhaps not for everyone.

Genly Ai is a human, sent as an ambassador to an alien world called Winter, so called because it exists in an extended ice age. The inhabitants of Winter are also human, but they are neuter hermaphrodites, living in neither gender for most of the time, and assuming either gender when in estrus. Genly Ai must bridge the gap of culture and gender in order to bring Winter and its inhabitants into the growing galactic civilization. Writing with thoughtful detail about her characters, life on Winter, and issues of culture shock, politics, and gender, Le Guin's text is skillful, thought-provoking, and readable despite the various and difficult contents. This is a science fiction classic, and while I don't consider it a personal favorite, I do recommend it.

The strength of this text is Le Guin's skillful grasp of the realism and detail of her fictional alien planet and species. The inhabitants of Winter may be human, but there are significant details between the humans that the readers are familiar with, embodied in the character of Genly, and the alien residents. The primary difference is the issue of gender, which is a large focus of the book--so much so that this focus feels blatant at times. The narrator's sexism is also somewhat dated, making the focus on gender all the more clunky and exaggerated. On the whole, however, the issue of gender and how it defines both the individual and human interactions, is relevant, dynamic, and addressed from many angles, including that of the realistically biased narrator and the sensitive author.

The habitant and life on Winter also makes up a significant section of the text, and Le Guin approaches this in incredible, realistic detail--enough to tell a gritty extended story but, thankfully, never enough to bore the reader. This is a thin line to tread on, and Le Guin does so with skill and grace. While not the most alien of alien cultures, Winter and its inhabitants are skillfully rendered and open up a new, wide world to the reader.

All this lauding aside, I didn't find this to be an exceptional or memorable text. I suspect that this may simply be a matter of personal preference: I enjoyed reading this book and appreciate the author's skill in writing it, but I can't imagine rereading it, nor did I find it memorable. I just wasn't particularly taken with plot, character, or story. (I rated the book four stars based on this personal preference.) However, I do recommend it. Your taste may not be mine, so you may find this text more interesting than I did; even if you don't, the book remains skillful and important, and is a science fiction staple. I recommend it.

As I work through joint Hugo/Nebula winning books (this is also in the `100 Best SF' collection), this was another worthwhile discovery.

Le Guin's winter world feels rich and authentic, as do her alien societies. Estravan is noble, tragic and heroic, as is his namesake in the strikingly effective parallel inserted historical vignette. There is surprisingly little action within the context of conflict and international (and intergalactic) tension, although the occasional thriller scenes are handled capably, and the gruelling escape over the ice is epic. I really appreciate the way she builds Genli and Estravan's relationship through their shared ordeals, rather than just assuming it. Le Guin admirably avoids a formula plot, particularly with the ugly diversion into Pulefen `Farm'.

It's an original `first contact' idea, but one that I suspect influenced later (good) books such as Cherryh's `Cuckoo's Egg', Banks' Culture series, and Orson Scott Card's Ender series (where he also just grabs her `ansible' concept, name and all). Rather than blithely blasting in and out of relatively primitive societies on their way to more important business (no hyperspace bypasses here), the Ekumen does covert research, then sends in a lone envoy. Curiously they aren't protected, culture-like, by hidden technology: rather there's something, dare I say, Christlike in the way Genli Ai has put aside his transcendent advantages to live (and suffer) with all the restrictions and vulnerability of the natives. I wasn't totally convinced by the rationale: at times it seems it would have suited everyone's purposes if the Ekumen arrived (as they eventually do anyway) with a fanfare, but perhaps there was some advantage in the subtle preparation of having an initial unthreatening visitor. Whether there was or not, Genli's experience is compelling.

Oddly I felt the androgyny, something I suspect was central for Le Guin, was expendable. The sexuality angle was a cool idea neatly stated, but in practise the characters' actions and dialogue could overwhelmingly have been spoken by `standard' humans and have made equal sense.

Le Guin has managed a rare gravity and dignity, particularly in 1969, where intergalactic contact was more often a Star Trek style place to go and pash a green chick. I suspect part of the reason she made the top 100 cut was that `The Left Hand' raised the bar and, apart from being a potent read on its own, led to some better books in its footsteps.

4.5 of 5 stars –
This was an engaging, impressive tale of a different world, considering issues ahead of its time, which made it all the more enjoyable.

First and foremost, Le Guin tackles issues of gender, and in doing so certainly takes in the more recent, occasionally added letters to glbt – the qia for queer, intersex and asexual. Indeed, the only thing missing in her transcendent philosophical discourse on gender neutrality is a coining of the modern-day terms “ze” and “zer” for the Gethenians. Considering that this came out in 1969 (yes, 45 years ago), that’s impressive.

The two MCs were well developed, and in the telling of their story, I liked having the myths interspersed in with the alternating chapters of POVs of Ai and Estraven. The plot was straightforward and predictable, but that was fine with me. Yes, I admit, it did go along for a while, but (as the book even mentions) I enjoyed the journey along the way – the tale was still quite involved, with intersexual beings, spurring a different social, political and economic systems, and thus a new language. And that’s the beauty of Le Guin’s world building for those who love this type of sci-fi.

I liked that it tapped into a classic tradition of what I call “hi-sci-fi” or “soft science” fiction. It indeed has the science of science fiction, but instead of the techie/hard science rightly popular today, it’s more the soft science of sociology and social psychology as well as philosophy. In that regard I enjoyed what Le Guin did in her world-building – it make me think, exploring the differences in the yin and yang of many things: gender and nongender practices and norms (sexual, social, love, relationships), pride and honor, loyalty/patriotism and treason, community and communism, family and child rearing, anarchy/chaos and order, religion and nonreligion, mysticism and meditation, bigotry and acceptance, lying and machinations, the passive- cautious- uncurious society, political institutions of parliamentary monarchy and totalitarian state, war and lack of, even the rationale behind sending only one individual instead of more as an envoy into an alien world.

I have to humorously reprint from a rejection letter Le Guin received to this book in 1968, calling the novel “unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material."

The subsequent awards and recognition attest to it being otherwise, and I have to add my own kudos as well.

One of the most compelling science fiction books I've ever read, The Left Hand of Darkness is a complex novel containing several layers. Its main plot is relatively straightforward, the protagonist, Genly Ai, on a mission to bring a remote planet into the Federation of Planets. Beneath this main story line, there is a yet another even richer and more intriguing tale earthling Ai confronting a race of people with a psychological and physiological make-up entirely different from his own.
The book opens in the main street of Erhenrang, a large city in the nation of Karhide on the planet Gethen or Winter. As the name implies, the planet puts the reader in mind of a Scandinavian landscape and climate of snow and ice. Genly Ai is the representative of the Stabiles of the Ekumen, the Federation of Planets including Earth. He is seeking to bring Gethen into their Federation. There on the street, he describes a parade in progress.
The Left Hand of Darkness won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best science fiction novel of the year. After you have read it there will be little doubt as to why it was chosen. For the reader accustomed to well defined roles for men and women, this story will confound your sense of sexual orientation and leave you asking why we are the way were are, which, after all is what a great piece of fiction should do.

I had no idea how to review this book, so I wrote Ms. Le Guin a letter. I thought I would include part of it as my review. She responded to me, and it was a real thrill. See the letter below:
Ms. Le Guin,
I am a 33 year old school teacher in Edinburg, IL. I teach English to middle school students. I occasionally teach college composition classes as an adjunct faculty member. I am also an avid reader and a struggling writer. I have always believed that in order to write good fiction one has to read a lot of good fiction and a lot of bad fiction. I have done both. I began a quest to read all of the Hugo Award winners to give myself an impression of what many consider to be good writing. That is when I discovered your novel THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. It was sitting quietly in a used bookstore with a tattered cover and a well-read spine.
As I began to read it, I have to admit that at first I wasn't particularly impressed. It seemed an odd world, and I was having a hard time getting into the story. This did not last long. The greatness of the book began to emerge. I began to read at a quicker pace. I became so enthralled with the culture you had created that I could think of little else. You took me to the places that you had fashioned and made me live as one of your characters. I remember your descriptions of the snow and ice. I actually felt cold most of the time I read your novel. Perhaps this degree of identification is unusual, but your work moved me so much that I can only describe it as awe-inspiring. I truly felt that I was in the presence of a true master. I cannot say for certain why the book is so wondrous. I have tried to analyze it many times in my mind. I am a huge fan of writing reviews but have put off writing one for this novel because I honestly do not know what to say. Long after the last page was read, I kept thinking about it. I am still thinking about it today. It is everything I want to accomplish in a book of my own one day. It has a timeless quality, and a sort of class that sets it apart from many other works. The magic of it is that I cannot put my finger on why I like it so much. I have wasted many hours reading bad books, and I have spent many hours reading books that can only be described as wonders. Yours is among the wondrous. Yours is beyond them. The experience of the novel touched my life, and it truly taught me what good character development is. It taught me what good setting is. It taught me that no matter what we write about it comes down to humanity. The problems we all face each day are paramount in our minds. The solutions, though sometimes out of reach, are what we all strive for.
I am sure you have received many letters about your works over the course of your career, but I humbly submit mine. I felt that I could never put to rest the feelings that THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS evoked from me unless I wrote to thank you personally. I am glad for the opportunity. I hope that it does you good to know that you have encouraged a humble teacher to continue to strive to create a story as great and wondrous as yours. Perhaps one day you will read something of mine and be able to know that you had a hand in my inspiration. Thank you so very much.

At some fairly advanced point in this book I was sure that the first person narrator had switched character! Going back to the beginning I found the lines - `The story is not all mine, nor told by me alone. Indeed I am not sure whose story it is; you can judge better.`
I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the alien landscape and the descriptions of the volcanic glacial terrain. Lonely Planet!
Along with this there are fine depictions of an environment of extreme cold and how our characters manage to survive travelling through it.
I liked the fact that the visiting mankind had good intentions and the interaction between the races was interesting. The author uses a lot of invented vocabulary which makes things confusing at times. Much of this vocabulary has a Nordic flavour which reminded me a little of Tolkien.

Before I get to the main part of my review, I'd just like to point out that the reviewer who claimed that LeGuin is not an SF writer is dead wrong on many, many levels. Beginning with what he thinks "sci-fi" is. It's not all weird aliens and space battles. In fact, most good SF (not 'sci-fi', an important distinction) is about ideas and explorations and What-if questions.
In this way, Le Guin is one of the greatest SF writers of all time. And she's shelved with the SF writers because she's published by an SF publisher and has, on many, many occasions, said that she is indeed an SF writer. She also writes fantasy. If you asked her, she would tell you she does write SF and to think otherwise is to misunderstand her work and the genre of Science Fiction as a whole.
Now, on to my review:
This is the first book of Ursula K. Le Guin's that I have read. I decided to start with the classics and work my way up to her newer stuff. Now I understand why this is a classic work of science fiction. It is truly wonderful.
In the beginning, I wasn't really drawn in. I felt a little out of place, untethered, for the first chapter or so. I knew what the book was about, vaguely, and so had a little outside grounding. The second chapter, which is a folk tale (or oral history, however you want to look at it) from the world of Gethen, or Winter, piqued my interest more than the first chapter.
It wasn't until chapter three, when one of the main characters, Mr. Ai, has his audience with the King, that I felt the pull of the story on me. After that, I was hooked. I had sunk down into the world Le Guin created and it took much to pull me out again.
Mr. Ai I found to be a maddening character, and as we are seeing things from his point of view for most of the beginning, I really felt that I was getting to know him. The characterization is excellent, obviously, because I found Ai maddening, but only in the way that characters who feel very real can be. His misunderstanding with the book's other main character, Estraven, is interesting because it is Ai's failure to understand people differently gendered from him (be it women in his own culture, or the fluid-gendered people on Gethen) is one of the central themes in the book. I want to beat him over the head for it.
I enjoyed being in Estraven's POV much more, and I like how his voice is so different from Ai's. It was a real jolt to come to the chapter where he finally shows us his version of the events that have transpired. But a lovely jolt, because it came at just the right time for me.
On the surface of it, Left Hand, like Dune, seems to be skirting the edge of creating a world where these is only one ecology -- that of a perpetual winter. Also like Dune, this is not the case. Le Guin gives us a very plausible world in the midst of an ice age. Still habitable, but human life limited by the environment. The world of Gethen is just as much a character as Ai and Estraven, and just as intriguing.
This book has all of the elements of great fiction: Story, Idea, Characters, excellent Prose.
My edition also came with an essay by the author that talks about how science fiction isn't necessarily about predicting the future. This book certainly is not, according to the author. It was very much a comment on the present, and still is. One would hope that in the future there would not still be men like Mr. Ai. Or, at least, that they would not be chosen as people to make first contact with alien societies. Ai strikes me as the kind of men found in abundance in late 1960's America, and still found in some corners of 21st century America. It works extremely well in this setting and exemplifies one of the things SF does best.

"My landlady, a voluble man." "The king was pregnant." These are just some of the shocking and brilliant sentences in Ursula K. Le Guin's masterpiece. This book will always be considered her masterpiece, not only for its innovativeness (it changed the genre forever), but for its musical and otherworldly prose, and for the deeper meanings that it holds. She takes the genre to a whole new level, seeing what would happen if certain things were different, twisting and shaping things to see what would be the outcome, if, for example, there were no such things as gender. Always, Le Guin's work is influenced by her father, Alfred Kroeber, who was and still is a highly regarded anthropologist. The character of Genly Ai fills the role of anthropologist in a strange society he's not used to. Genly Ai is from a different world, and for him to come to Gethen and become involved with the non-gender people there is an experiment in science, culture, questions of gender,and aggression/domination. The society of Gethen has never had a war...there are no dominant halves, submissive halves according to gender. Everyone is supposedly equal. Le Guin is not afraid to shock the reader, and to show a third side of the coin that we've never seen before. This book will challenge you culturally, and challenge all your norms and concepts. This is an all-around brilliant novel, one that is worthy to take its place forever among the most honored books.

I read this novel after it was recommended as a novel involving a matriarchal society. While the Gethenians aren't matriarchal, (that would pre-supposed they had one main gender which they do not) they are hermaphroditic, it was still an excellent recommendation. This novel was written in the 60's and was cutting edge for the time, exploring the perception and bias of gender, the ecology of a world where gender is not set and where temperatures are often below zero, and the fact that much of humanity's struggles are driven by gender and perceived differences.

The main character is a nebulous man by the name of Genry. I say nebulous, because it takes a while before you even know Genry's gender. It is narrated in the first person, and switches between Genry and the Gethenian chamberlain Estraven, who is a likeable man that Genry believes has betrayed him.

I really liked the character of Estraven, the former chamberlain, and the Gethenian who risks everything to help Genry. The understated attraction between Estraven and Genry was both poignant and at times frustrating as the author fails to explore the intense feelings between these two beyond, simple attraction. Still he remains a loyal friend to Genry, who constantly misjudges him and assumes the worst about him until midpoint in the book.

One weakness of the story was that I felt Le Guin failed to describe her main characters in any way so that I could get an idea of what they looked like. The main character is stocky and brown-skinned, and young seeming, but I have no clue about Estraven other than at times he is described as dark, and sometimes plump, other times thin. I never really got a feel for how the Gethenian looked (aside from their absence of gender).

I felt the ending was a tad weak, and the tragic elements a bit senseless. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable book.

I have read hundreds of science fiction books, but out of all of them there are only three fictional planets described in such delicious detail that I find myself wanting to go there. One is Dune, a second is Majipoor, and the third is Winter.
Winter is a strange place-- the natives are genderless most of the time. Now and then each one becomes either male or female for a while, then reverts to neuter. A 'normal' human, male or female *all* the time, is both obscene and fascinating.
I don't think it's giving away too much to say that the primary plot line revolves around this question: What happens if you fall in love with your enemy? That's a vast oversimplification, but it captures the mystery.
The emotions are subtle but raw. The detail is breathtaking. The ending is heartbreaking. The underlying philosophy, as always with LeGuin, is the heart of the story. It's an unforgettable book, and one of my 'top six science fiction works of all time' picks.

Le Guin certainly made a masterpiece of The Left Hand of Darkness. I could never have thought that a novel with the premise of a single-sex society could intrigue me as well as educate me. The story has a great plot and pace, and yet it also has so much information to give that helps us humans learn what makes us tick.

For the most part, the novel kept my interest in its entirety. There were a few points at which I was, for lack of better term, bored, but it is hard to attend to everyones attention-span. Another little problem I had with the novel it that it is really hard to picture a race of people that all look different from eachother, yet they don't have distinct male or female traits. While I was reading I changed the appearance of the characters tons of times to try and piece it together, but I could never really picture the Gethenians.

The good news is that the book is a blast to read. The plot twists in directions that you wouldn't see coming. The books title and message have an incredible meaning that I won't quite give away, but I'll say that it teaches us humans balance. The structure is very unique, because its mostly written by two characters, which gives us a nice rest from mind to mind.

I reccomend this novel to anyone who doesn't need to be entertained by punches and explosions. If you wish to really open your mind for imagination, read Le Guin's masterpiece. It may be a rather hard concept to conceive, but the story relates to our society more than you might notice at first glance. The Left Hand of Darkness is a great sci-fi/fantasy and also a great piece of great literature for anyone who wishes to open their mind to nature of us human beings.

I eagerly anticipated this book having heard that it was a science-fiction classic along the lines of Dune. However, in my opinion The Left Hand of Darkness has not maintained its appeal the way Dune has over 40+ years. I can understand why the book won the Hugo and Nebula awards, as the themes explored are indeed fascinating, and groundbreaking at the time. The idea of a civilization not engaged in a struggle of opposites, of 'this vs. that', is intriguing. However, the style of writing is detached, the characters are barely developed and the story drags until about two-thirds of the way through, when a journey across a huge ice cap provides some much-needed atmosphere and sense of adventure. If you have an interest in Eastern philosophy, which heavily influenced this book's thematic content, and are willing to be patient, then I would recommend reading it at least once.

With Left Hand of Darkness we get a great picture of a possible first encounter with a new race of humans on a distant planet. Add to that a political struggle between the various factions and the story begins to take life unto itself. But all is not sugars and plums as the story is slow going and you can easily lose interest.

The plot follows two points of view: Genly Ai, an envoy of the Ekumen (Federation of Worlds), and Estraven, the Prime Minister of Karhide (one of several nations on the planet Gethen). Genly is the lone envoy and isolated so as not to instill fear. Estraven is the on again off again believer of Genly and friend. The two points of view establish a well rounded picture of what life on Gethen is like, but more importantly it shows the reader the conflicting views of how and why the Gethen(ians?) believe and disbelieve what the envoy tells them. I liked the intrigue and power struggles of Karhide, and just as interesting is the intrigue and power struggles of Orgoreyn. Genly, at times, is nothing more than a pawn for what he represents.

The plot was slow moving and at times had me wanting to put the book down and read something else. I was not drawn in to the story, emotions weren't evoked, and I really didn't care what happened. It was an interesting dichotomy. Intriguing supposition of what first contact with a new world would be like, even more interesting political struggles of an alien culture, and the description of an alien human race, contrasted with the slow and boring storyline.

I can understand why LeGuin won the Hugo and Nebula Awards because of the content of the story and how it unfolded, but I certainly don't think that plot was given enough attention to draw in the reader. A recommend for a quick read of a sound science fiction but lacking real meat to the characters and emotions involved.

3.5 stars.

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is generally considered by most to be an SF classic, and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel in 1970. I enjoyed it overall, but I also found it lacking in certain areas.

The most impressive aspect of THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is the depth of its ideas. This is essentially a story of first contact between two very different alien civilizations. Author LeGuin is a first-class worldbuilder, and both of the cultures she creates are quite fascinating. The clash of the two cultures also allow LeGuin to explore issues that relate to religion, politics, and most notably gender. This is a very rich, multi-layered novel, the kind that actively engages the reader's intellect. It is the type of novel you probably need to read more than once to fully appreciate.

Still, THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS left me wanting in several ways. While LeGuin's prose is superb, her writing style is rather distant. Most of the characters talk like intellectuals instead of real people. Most of the supporting characters are barely fleshed out. The plot lags in places, and I would not describe this book as a compelling pageturner.

In many ways, this novel reminds me of the 19th century novels I was required to read in high school -- well crafted but not particularly engaging at the emotional level. I suspect more than a few readers will find this novel rather tedious and unsatsifying.

In short, THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is a great work at the intellectual and philsophical level. But as someone who enjoys good storytelling, I found it a somewhat sterile reading experience.

I know quoting a book isn't really a review, but here are two passages that really moved me and I think give a strong sense of the story's themes.

=====================================
"Good night, Ai." said the alien, and the other alien said, "Good night, Harth." A friend. What is a friend, in a world where any friend may be a lover at a new phase of the moon?
=====================================
"How does one hate a country, or love one? Tibe talks about it; I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession... Insofar as I love life, I love the hills of the Domain of Estre, but that sort of love does not have a boundary-line of hate. And beyond that, I am ignorant, I hope."

Ignorant, in the Handdara sense: to ignore the abstraction, to hold fast to the thing. There was in this attitude something feminine, a refusal of the abstract, the ideal, a submissiveness to the given, which rather displeased me.

Yet he added, scrupulous, "A man who doesn't detest a bad government is a fool. And if there were such a thing as a good government on earth, it would be a great joy to serve it."
=====================================

What's with all the awards? I expected a truly outstanding book. Instead I got a lot of boredom and useless ridiculous names for places and seasons etc. making the story more difficult to follow, for no reason at all except maybe to be cute. Very famous author and fantastic awards only shows that you can't choose a book to read by the awards it has been given.

Ursula Le Guin has established herself as one of the most beloved genre writers for a reason: She has penned a veritable library of classic SF works considered by many to be among the genre's best. Finding a dud in her catalog is difficult indeed.
Of the handful of works hailed as her greatest, "The Left Hand Of Darkness," "The Dispossessed" and the Earthsea books are among the best known and most respected.
In "The Left Hand Of Darkness," we follow an envoy from a federation of worlds who has come to a planet steeped in an eternal winter with a task: To bring the planet and its people into the federation. It is a tale of culture clashes, of seeing through the eyes of others, and of adapting to those different than yourself.
Most frequently cited as central to the book's theme are the overt gender differences on the planet (all people are of no gender, or both, and reproduce freely among one another).
"The Left Hand Of Darkness" has less to do with its alleged subject matter (non-gender sexuality) than is often suggested, though when it does get into the subject, delves into it with grace and subtlety. The reader never feels beaten over the head. Yet the meeting and understanding of cultures has less to do with the sexuality involved than with simply UNDERSTANDING and accepting.
While this is considered a genre work, the book has very little in the way of alien technology; do not expect "hard" SF. Yes, it takes place on another planet. Yes, other worlds are mentioned. Yes, most of the characters are essentially "aliens." But the story does not rely on technology. This could have been a story of culture clash set right here on Earth and it would have been just as effective.
At its core this is a wonderful story exploring the idea of how people relate to one another on an intimate level. And there's some intriguing political stuff going on behind the scenes, too.
LeGuin deserves every bit of praise she gets. A true master and one of the best genre writers of the last 40 years, her works transcend fantasy and science fiction like few others.

In her introduction, the author makes some compelling statements about the nature of science fiction as descriptive and not predictive. Her work addresses the real world using the metaphor of the future, of science, of alternative biologies and cultures. What are the elements of her story metaphors for? "If I could have said it non-metaphorically, I would not have written all these words, this novel."
Right now I am trying to decide which of the two viewpoint characters serves as the best metaphor for the novel as a whole. On the one hand, we have Genly Ai, the envoy from an interstellar community of worlds that has just decided to invite the desolate planet Winter to join, after years of secret observation. Genly arrives alone and unarmed, bearing only words and ideas: the possibility of flight, travel between the stars, other shards of humanity living on distant worlds. Likewise, this book comes in peace, bringing you not action and adventure but an invitation to participate in a thought experiment, possibly expand your horizons.
On the other hand is Estraven, a member of this alien race of humans considering Genly's message. As Genly's main point of interaction with the inhabitants of Winter, he brings to life the alienness of all his kind. In the same way, a novel brings to life ideas that perhaps can only be expressed in story. Estraven is still recognizably human, but his people's sexual androgyny renders him somehow fundamentally estranged from the familiar. Echoing Estraven's interactions with Genly, this novel does not offer any straight answers, but time spent getting to know it yields a measure of understanding and even affection.
I'm afraid I can draw no conclusion from my perhaps pointless exercise, except that you'll have to read this deservingly classic science fiction novel and judge for yourself.

This novel stands as a monument to what a future-history novel can be, as opposed to what they usually are--which is to say, pretty silly. (And I say that as a life-long fan of speculative fiction in all its guises.)

LeGuin grew up in a household of anthropologists, and her science fiction novels all reflect a mind fascinated with the most essential questions of what it is that defines us as human, and what it is that defines our cultures. Each one of the great Hainish future-history series, a very loosely collected string of novels set in a galactic diaspora a long time from now in a galaxy very much at hand, explores a single aspect of human relations; as a science-fiction writer, LeGuin is able to create a world that serves as a custom-built laboratory for the examination of that trait. In The Disposessed, she explores the relationship of ownership to power. In Four Ways to Forgiveness, she explores... well, you know.

Here, the topic is simple: gender and sex. LeGuin posits a world, Winter/Gehenna (a Hebrew word for hell), in which the local variant of the human gene stock live in an androgenous state except while in kemmer, when they are briefly metamorphosed into either female or male form--the transformation is determined by environmental forces, rather than personal predilection, so the individual may kemmer as a female in one cycle and a male in another. Now think about how profoundly that would alter everything about human culture. Even in our modern world, where we like to pretend that individuals are not defined by their gender, we can't get past the simple biological facts that define the differences between the genders, not even to mention the social mores that enforce sexual roles.

What makes her work particularly amazing is that, in exploring huge issues, she tells stories of enormous specificity with compelling characters. In this novel we follow two, in particular--a native of Gahenna named Estraven and an off-worlder, a male observer for the Ekumen (the 'federation' of star-faring civilizations) named Genly Ai. He and Estraven struggle with both his own preconceptions of gender and love, and Estraven's. The story takes them on an amazing journey of mutual self-discovery that is both touching and eye-opening.

Read this book and you will never think about questions of sex and gender the same way again.

I agree with other readers that the book is a bit slow in the beginning, but it's well worth reading on. You can tell a lot of thought and care went into the writing, and it got me to think about our own world from a different perspective. Amazing world-building! Even though it was difficult to imagine exactly how certain things would be at times, the world as a whole always felt old and real.

Left Hand of Darkness is one of those books that draws you in and makes you forget it is only a story, a work of the author's imagination. But, as the Gethens say, Truth is a Matter of the Imagination, and in fact, Le Guin's imagination reveals a lot of truths about us.
Le Guin declares this book to be a thought-experiment, meaning that it is an exploration of an issue conducted by setting it in a story and letting it run: in this case, to find out what effect sexuality has on our social relations. On one level this experiment fails, because Le Guin herself points out another, more plausible, reason for their social organization and lack of war: the climate. As Genly Ai tells us, the marginal people, the ones struggling to survive, cannot afford to mobilize for war. In fact, this same situation occurs on Earth amongst those that Ai calls "the marginal peoples." In their interpersonal relations, their emotions and their expression, however, Le Guin makes a convincing case for the influence of sexual roles.
But it's also fun to read. This is a fascinating book to read, and the tale is sensually and subtly crafted. The characters are real and complex, and besides the other-worldly setting, there is nothing to disrupt the reader's suspension of disbelief. The ultimate test for a novel, however, is whether, after reading it, we look at our world in a different light. Left Hand of Darkness passes with flying colors.

One of the first science fiction books I ever read. Upon second reading, and now having read the beginning of the series, I found that I understood it better. Science fiction as a genre involves an entirely different set of reading "muscles" than stories set in our own world. I found it easier to get into this time, and found that the thought experiment of a world without gender division was more clearly elucidated. I wasn't as lost in the story, as I knew roughly what happened, and was able to spend more time thinking about the binary and dualist lifestyles of our own world in contrast with that of Gethen.
The other thing that struck me while reading is that I was very glad I was reading it in Florida, rather than back home in Minnesota. The world of Gethen, also called Winter, is in the midst of an ice age, and a large part of the book's action takes place on a long trek across a glacier. I think if I'd been reading it with a blizzard swirling outside my own window, it would have been less enjoyable. I'm rather affected by the setting of the book I'm reading and that wintry setting would have served to intensify my own physical chilliness.
I still rate this book highly, both because of the successfulness of the thought experience, its place as a fascinating book in a compelling series, and that despite quite a lot of world-building, LeGuin still manages to present well-drawn and dynamic characters.

Ursula K. LeGuin is just a science fiction/fantasy writer in much the same way that Moby-Dick is just a story about a whale. Her work transcends genre. In her novels and stories, she bends time and space and other elements of reality to suit her purposes -- in The Left Hand of Darkness bending gender to explore common elements of humanity. Any fan of great storytelling and lucid, beguilingly simple prose will love her books. The Left Hand of Darkness is her best. She brings an alien world to life -- populated by hermaphrodites -- to ask and only partly answer big questions regarding what is best in humanity. LeGuin does so with a story of two people thrown together for an epic adventure in a hostile setting. The novel is a great read, a must-read.

This particular edition is an excellent reissue of the novel. The print is of good size and readable, unlike prior paperback editions of this book. If you read this novel years ago, re-read it. It is a standard that should be re-read every decade or so. Just as someone once said you never paddle down the same river twice, the passage of time and gaining of maturity made this novel all the more satisfying the last time I re-read it.

A double award-winner (Nebula and Hugo, and Mrs. LeGuin will receive the Grandmaster Award this year), this 1960s novel stands as one of the most respected SF tales ever because the depth of its alien society; so human in so many ways (the residents of the planet Gethen are actually termed `humans'), yet so far away in their sexuality. The people of Gethen are androgynous most of the year, with a monthly period where they can change into either males or females for mating. LeGuin crafts a fascinating view of how this one change in physiology creates a unique society. The depth of the culture rivals that of that in _Dune_.
The plot follows an envoy from an alliance of human planets trying to convince Gethen to join the union, who then runs afoul of Gethen's cultural differences and twisty politics. The story moves slowly, allowing a close examination of the alien culture, and reaches its height with the growing friendship between envoy Genly Ai and exiled politician Estraven. In an interesting departure from the customary use of point-of-view, LeGuin switches between two different first person narrators. It's a daring device, but LeGuin makes it work after its first confusing appearance.
If you have any intereset in science fiction, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. It's one of the basic texts of the genre.

Thousands of years from now, the myriad colony worlds of Hain (including Earth) are being reunited under a new interstellar government, the Ekumen. Genly Ai is the First Envoy, who sets foot alone onto the surface of the frigid planet of Winter (Gethen to its inhabitants) to bring offers of trade, peace and alliance to the people of the planet. However, the genderless inhabitants (who only have sexual urges and genders for a brief period once a month) are sceptical of Ai's claims, and he soon finds himself a pawn of political factions in two neighbouring countries eager to use or discard him as they see fit.

The Left Hand of Darkness was originally published in 1969. It is set in a shared future history which Le Guin has used for several other novels and short stories, though foreknowledge of these other works is completely unnecessary to read this book. The novel also has a formidable reputation as one of the most critically-acclaimed science fiction novels in the history of the genre, noted for its complex themes and its use of metaphors to tackle a wide variety of literary ideas.

The novel spends a fair amount of time talking about the genderless inhabitants of Gethen, who have no sexual urges at all apart from a brief period called kemmer, when they are able to mate and reproduce. Le Guin has put a lot of thought into how not only this works biologically but also the impact it has on society and on the world. Her notions that a lack of sex drive for most of the month reduces the aggressiveness of humans (Gethen has never had a major war) seem obvious, but these ideas are constantly examined and re-examined during the course of the book and she steers away from trite answers.

Whilst the gender theme is notable and the most oft-discussed aspect of the novel, much is also made of the planet's cold climate and the challenges the people face in living in a world mostly covered by glaciers and icecaps where the warm seasons are perishingly short. The politics and divisions between the neighbouring countries of Karhide and Orgoreyn are also described in some detail. As a result Gethen, also called Winter, is as vivid and memorable as any of the human characters in the novel.

Amongst the individual characters, the dominant ones are Ai himself and Estraven, the Prime Minister of Karhide whose interest in Ai sees him suffer a fall from grace and having to travel a long road to try to redeem himself. The book is told from the first-person POV of both characters, moving between them with interludes taking in myths and legends from Gethen's past and also on matters such as the Gethenese calendar and sexual biology (there's also an appendix which handily collates this information into an easy-to-find collection). The two characters are compelling protagonists, with Ai's bafflement at his status as a man from another planet being considered incidental at best to the trivial politics of two nations leading him into difficulties, whilst Estraven's characterisation is subtle and compelling, with the reader constantly having to review his or her opinion of him based on new information as it comes to light.

The themes that the novel tackles extend far beyond the obvious ones of gender and climate. Duality (expressed in Ai's discussion of Taoism with Estraven), faith, the difficulties of communication even when language is shared and politics are also discussed and examined. But where The Left Hand of Darkness impresses is that these thematic discussions are woven into the narrative in a manner that is seamless and stands alongside a compelling plot. The book's climax, where the two main characters have to traverse a 700-mile-wide icecap with limited supplies, is a fantastic adventure narrative in its own right.

Complaints are few. Written in the 1960s, Le Guin presents a few outdated ideas on gender roles and sexuality that were common at the time, but these are minor issues at best.

Overall, The Left Hand of Darkness (*****) is a smart and intelligent read that has a lot to say and does so in a manner that is page-turning, compelling, relentlessly entertaining and refreshingly concise (the novel clocks in at a slim 250 pages in paperback). One of the all-time classics of the genre and a book that more than deserves its reputation. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.

This is one of those books that is more a thought experiment than an actual reading experience. I can't say I'm sad to have read it—especially now, so soon after Le Guin's death—but I'll say I'm glad to have read it, to be done reading it. As interesting as it was, I was bored for almost all of it. The world was breathtakingly described and, again, the moral and social implications of the Emissary's circumstances were interesting, but the whole thing was soooo slow and indirect. Plus, while I understand the book was published in 1969 and therefore a product of it's time, I was uncomfortable with the way women were positioned and described. All in all, I think of this much like I do Moby Dick. I'm glad to tick it off my list off books I've meant to read, but didn't enjoy it all that much, though I can appreciate it's worth. 

This novel treads into terrain that few writers choose to enter, and is a perfect example of what science fiction could do it it spent less time with light sabers and space battles. That is to say, it looks at one of our most basic assumptions about the universe and then turns that assumption on its head. What is gender? What are male and female, and what do they mean? Our own society assumes that they are fixed, and with good reason, since very few people actually get to be both, to experience both the masculine and the feminine in a fully physical way. And none of us can be both father and mother.

In The Left Hand of Darkness, however, LeGuin takes us to a world where the norm is quite the opposite of our own: people change sex regularly. They are both fully male and fully female, alternating between the two. The narrative, the story, revolves around this fact and expresses the collision of a man from our own world into this new one. Told from his point of view, it begins, therefore, by anchoring us in what for us is normal. This is a good idea, since the Gethenians are quite alien at this most fundamental level. The insertion of other "normal" human reports on their world and unique sexual physiology is well handled, and gives us essential background that would not otherwise be available in a first-person narrative.

What is also fascinating about The Left Hand of Darkness is that we find, as the story progresses, that the Gethenians aren't so alien after all, and this is a valuable lesson from this book: there is no doubt but that male and female are different, but in focusing on those differences we often overlook the larger areas where the two genders overlap, where it doesn't matter if you are male or female, because you are human.

Ursula K. Le Guin is best known for her Wizard of Earthsea series, but this is her best, most imaginative work, one of my favorite books of all time, and winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1969, the year it was published. Its vividly imagined culture and exploration of gender and identity is still astonishing 50 years later.

The Left Hand of Darkness is set on a planet called Winter, where there is no summer, no gender and no war. Genly Ai, an envoy from Terran (a stand-in for Earth) visits in an attempt to persuade Winter and its natives (called Gethens) to join the League of All Worlds. In the process, he falls afoul of Winter's complex diplomatic customs and political intrigue. In danger of his life, he must make a perilous journey across the wilderness of ice with a Winter native, Estraven, an ally that he neither understands nor entirely trusts.

Just a quick warning -- the book's exposition is a slow, but once you get past the first few chapters, the pace picks up. The investment of world-building at the beginning does pay off.

The book's title is from a Gethen poem, which begins

"Light is the Left Hand of Darkness..."

I first read this book when I was in my early teens, and I've come back to it now over four decades, always finding something new to appreciate. It's a meditation on gender and sexuality, an anthropological fantasy complete with a coherent mythology, a political novel, the tale of a great, dangerous journey, and a story of friendship and love. The worldbuilding is seamless, rich, and deep. The characters are complex. The story is riveting and beautifully told. Buy two copies, because you will want to give one away and you won't want to lend yours.

Having been a Sci-Fi fan for many years now, it is with some shame that it has taken me this long to get around to reading anything by Ursula Le Guin. It will not be the last.
This is good old fashioned Sci-Fi, not necessarily the finest of narrative styles that I have encountered, but a fascinating idea upon which to hang and explore a story. At its heart a first contact story, but instead of between mankind and aliens between to long seperated sub-groups of the human family. The visitor is a single resentative/ diplomat, recognisably human who has been sent to extend an invite to join the Ekumenical, a loose confederacy of human worlds dedicated to the exchange of knowledge and experience. The world to which he is sent to make contact is Winter, populated by a race of Humans who are hemaphroditic, the result of a genetic experiment by a previous civilisation.
What results is a fascinating exploration of the biases and misconceptions that both sides hold, and ultimately how despite both parties inherent differences, how they still share a common humanity.

My American Literature teacher, a brilliant and well-read man named W. Rutledge, recommended this novel to our class because of its fascinating topic of ambisexuality. I finally got around to reading it, and was not disappointed. It is very thought-provoking to imagine other races or civilizations whose basic functions (can you get more basic than procreation?) are vastly different than our own. It exercises one's ability to imagine what else we take for granted as universal, but in truth is only peculiar to our own race.

The pace of the novel was very fluid and quickly moved from one episode to another. As has been claimed before, this is more of an intellectual enterprise than typical space opera; in this respect, one finds the true value of LeGuin's vision.

The Weaver (Foreteller) Faxe lays down for posterity one of the main themes of the novel on page 70, and it is worth quoting completely:

"'The unknown, the unforetold, the unproven, that is what life is based on. Ignorance is the ground of thought. Unproof is the ground of action. If it were proven that there were no God there would be no religion ... But also if it were proven that there is a God, there would be no religion ... Tell me, Genry, what is known? What is sure, predictable, inevitable -- the one certain thing you know concerning your future, and mine?'"

"'That we shall die.'"

"'Yes. There's really only one question that can be answered, Genry, and we already know the answer ... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.'"

A very profound and serious philosophical statement contained within a science fiction novel, indeed! I recommend this novel highly, if for no other reason than for its originality of purpose.

I don't think it's necessary to resort to hyperbole when describing this book. In a word, it's beautiful. The language is intricate and delicate, as is the structure of the novel, the careful building of a mythology and culture from the ground up. The fact that it's a relatively short book is a reflection on Ursula Le Guin's formidable power as a writer: what she accomplishes in a short space is rarely seen in a much larger and weightier novel.

Perhaps the most striking thing about it is the apparent ease with which legend is woven into the fabric of the story, so that the world and its people reveal themselves slowly and naturally to the reader. This many-threaded structure allows the reader to draw conclusions from mere hints, relating the obscure myths to the concrete story at hand. Much is implied without being stated outright, but this never obscures the story; if anything, it makes it stronger, clearer, and deeper.

Every book has the odd quirk, and "The Left Hand of Darkness" isn't without its own. Although thoroughly modern in sensibilty, it was written in 1969, and in one minor way, that does show. To the modern reader, the amount of attention afforded the "unisexual" society described here feels a little bit out of proportion. Obviously our comfort with gender ambivalence and androgyny has increased over the last three or four decades; at any rate, I found no difficulty in thinking of the characters as simultaneously male and female -- it's especially easy to do when the writing is so compelling.

As with many of Ursula Le Guin's other novels, the characters are a bit abstract. This is a result of the author's focus, rather than insufficient characterisation: Ursula Le Guin is definitely an ideas writer, and a language writer, rather than a character wrtiter. It's not that Genly Ai, Estraven and others are not believable; they are. It's just that Le Guin's characters are almost always created and harnessed to serve the story's ideas, rather than the other way around. The focus isn't on the life and times of an individual human being, but on the big ideas involved, and on their implications for mankind as a whole. There are virtually no attempts to dissect and examine any individual; as with the story itself, much remains hidden, hinted at, unknown.

This is not an entire world, it is a single tale, woven from fragments of myth and narrative, but only the relevant ones. You come away satisfied with a beautifully crafted, intelligent, thought-provoking story -- but also, with a sense of having visited a place that keeps its secrets, with people who will keep theirs.

This book won the 1969 Nebula Award and the 1970 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year. I recall first reading this book when it first appeared and being stunned at the originality and the beauty. I have read every Hugo and Nebula winner (and most of the nominees) and this is still near the top. In this classic novel, all of the action takes place on the planet known as Gethen or Winter, a frozen world set in Le Guin's Hainish universe. All of the humanoid inhabitants of Winter are exactly the same as the humans of Earth except in the means of reproduction. They are all of a single sex and can assume either sex when in "heat." If one person of a couple becomes female, the other automatically becomes male. The culture and society of this world is shaped not only by the harsh environment but by this sexual structure. A main portion of the novel is concerned with the trek of a human ambassador and ethnologist, Genly Ai, across Winter's surface with a Getthenian. The man from Earth and the manwoman from Winter grow to know and understand each other. The novel not only raises issues about our perceptions of sex but the problems associated with cultural chauvinism. It is a book that all serious students of science fiction literature should read. For those earlier reviewers who awarded this book a low rating because it wasn't "classic" science fiction, you have to recall that psychology, sociology, and anthropology are all sciences (remember that the author's father, T. Kroeber, was the first Chairman of the Anthropology Department at U.C. Berkeley), just like physics, chemistry, or, in my case, biochemistry. And to the reviewer from Washington, D.C., (of March 3, 1999) who complained that Genly Ai was too uninteresting as the main character. Perhaps that was the point. Have you forgotten your Heisenberg?

Ursula LeGuin's writing is almost always intricate, dense and verbal. Yet in spite of all the words, the sense of place never comes across as cleanly as other writers. If you want a description of trekking across ice that you will feel in your gut, read Jack London. As I was reading, I didn't know if I was supposed to be following the social issues, the gender issues, the political machinations, the human issues, or the climate. When I was done, I still didn't know. This book has often Been described as the masterpiece that changed how we viewed the feminist movement, but I'm sorry, I don't get it. How does a women writing about a man with stiff views of a woman's role, who encounters a hermaphroditic society, help advance the cause of women's equality?

Okay so I had to read this for my science fiction Literature class. Didn't think I'd enjoy it. I did, and I was surprised that she lives in my home state of Oregon. Cool Beans!! Fun book, if a bit "controversial" to some at times(if you're a religious zealot), though it is Science fiction (Duh). She dives head on into the sexuality of mankind (via the creatures that have come to earth) and asks questions you never thought to ask. Now the author is an artist. Not sure if she still writes but after you read this book you'll hope so, or not. Oh and she was the first to win both Hugo and Nebula awards ( that's big in the sci-fi writing world). I hope to meet her someday! Enjoy!

If you know me, you know that I love this book. God Bless my English Professor Preston L. Allen (Author of Hoochie) for recommending it to me when I was going through my science fiction phase. The whole idea is pretty cool, with the bi-sex creatures, the cold planet, and the two cultures on it that might be symbolic of the two super powers of our world who were at the time in the middle of a "cold" war. I am not going to go over the aspects of the book that so many other reviewers have already covered--I agree with them all, it is a great book. What I want to do is point out something I caught the last time a read the book: the hero is black, is he not? Did I read the book right? Doesn't he say, somewhere near the end, that on his home planet (earth) he would be considered "dark"? Ursula K. LeGuin is so cool.

I have never read a better book than this one. Such wonderful description, such deep and emotional characters, such vast scope and yet told so simply.... This is one of the true masterworks of science fiction.
LeGuin, among other things, is the best writer of male characters since George Elliot. Imagine a female author, writing as a male character (Genly Ai), trying to explain to an androgyne what women are like! Yet, she pulls it off, and beautifully too.
I admit that this book is a bit hard to get into, and I had difficulty my first time, but if you're just patient and see it through, you won't be disappointed. LeGuin has created a wonderful world and an incredibly real-seeming race of people.
This book does so well what only a few do: it uses the future to comment on us, now. The two nations, Karhide and Orgoreyn, and so easily comparable to the two super powers of the 1970's and 80's and are relatively interchangeable, both wanting the power but unable to believe in Genly Ai's incredible story, or have the faith or the vision to believe in him and his offer to them to join a League of Worlds, or to keep the information as anything but a state secret. Yet at the same time, they are two sides of the same coin, just as each Gethenian is both sexes, and cannot exist without the other.
There simply isn't enough room here to tell you all the good things about this book. Just read it! It'll be the best thing you read all year.

Ursula Le Guin's classic novel exploring the boundaries of gender centers on an Earthling visiting as an ambassador a planet where the inhabits are genderless, except for once a month during 'kemmering' where each individual becomes either female or male, without her/his own choice. In league with Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time", Monique Wittig's "Les Guerilleres", and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", Le Guin's book cloaks an intelligent analysis of gender and sexual roles in a beguiling story set on another world, which is reminiscent of aspects of our own. Not only is the book captivating, but it's highly thought-provoking, which can't always be said for much science fiction.

This extraordinary novel details the adventures of a young man, Genly Ai, sent as an envoy to try to convince the people of Winter (Gethen) to join the great concord of peoples and planets known as the Ekumen. Genly is sent alone because that is the custom--one Envoy at a time sent into a strange world to question, be questioned and perhaps killed. Then another Envoy goes out, infinitely, until the planet gives up its fears and welcomes contact.

Genly first takes up his mission in the nation of Karhide, ruled by a mad king. He does not quite trust the king's minister and eventually takes his ambassadorship to the neighboring nation which is run on socialist lines. But he discovers that all news of his coming is censored in this second nation and eventually he is imprisoned.

This is also the story of the king's minister, Estraven. Estraven, like all his people, is neither a man nor a woman but hermaphrodite, sexless until a season of "kemmering" calls forth courtship in a couple. Estraven, for reasons of the heart, is willing to sacrifice his honored position for this young man beyond the stars.

LeGuin has created an astonishing world, full of complex politics and unusual philosophy. Sexuality shimmers beneath the reality of this gripping adventure. What if being man or woman is not a given but something that can change in a season? Everything we think of as human mutates. This is a classic of science fiction. Highly recommended.

The Left Hand of Darkness is the Hugo and Nebula Winning novel by Ursula K. LeGuin, and is widely considered to be her finest work. It is a novel of first contact on the surface, but its deeper purpose was in exploring gender roles in society. It tells the story of Genly Ai, a human representative of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Genly is tasked with extending an invitation to the world of Gethen to join the Ekumen. His ally in this is the Prime Minister of Karhide, Lord Estraven.

In a political shift, Estraven is ousted and must flee to the neighboring nation of Orgoreyn. Genly is rebuffed in his mission by the King of Karhide, so he then decides to take his offer to the government of Orgoreyn. Orgoreyn , however is esentially a communist oligarchy, and Genly is caught in between opposed factions here as well.

The plot struck me as rather mediocre. The characters outside of Estraven and Ai were rather dull as well. World building is the strength of this novel. The novel is considered a major work of feminist science fiction. I'm not sure I agree with that. The key element of the story is the nature of the Gethenian people themselves. They are androgynes, a people possessing the potential to manifest either sex, but normally they are nueters. For 2 days every month they go into a state called kemmer, in which they take on sexual characteristics of one of the genders, and more or less go into heat. The result is Gethenians can both sire and bear children. Because of this traditional gender roles such as developed on Earth are not present on Gethen. Its a very interesting concept, but not one that I really look for in my SF reading. LeGuin also inserts several short chapters in which the mythology of Gethen is explored.

This book wasn't to my liking. I found it very hard to get interested in. Not until the last third of the book did I find myself enjoying it. Combine that with an uninspiring plot, a mostly bland cast of characters, and the fact that the only truely groundbreaking element of the story was a commentary on gender roles, I was underwhelmed. I certainly see why people hold the book in high regard, but personally, it didn't do much for me. I will stick with the Earthsea trilogy as the signature LeGuin work.

6.5 out of 10

IT is so sad that everyone I know thinks of Ursula Le Guin as just an SF writer, if they have heard of her at all. Especially when she is probably one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
A literary classic is, by definition, a work that has pushed the boundries and created a new demension in literary understanding. LeGuin more than suceeds here by daring to lay before us themes that are alluded to in the sixties(but not excepted as open topics of conversation until much later), and weaving them into a convincing and powerful story.
I once heard that this book was one of the top five bestsellers of all time on college campuses. I doesn't surprise me in the slightest, but I haven't met an English Lit Prof who admitted to reading it yet!

This is great literature. You might think it moves a little slow at first, but it draws you in, and you come to a quiet yet emotionally breathtaking climax. Along the way, you explore what it means to be human. How dependent are we on gender in defining who we are? Can a person who feels no permanent gender affiliation be truly human? Or is that person the integral, self-contained, individual human being that gendered humanity can only imitate? What does it mean to truly love someone? Is there love without gender? LeGuin discusses all of this and more, and her insights are genuinely meaningful because she understands human social structure, since she is the daughter of anthropologists. A truly moving book.

The writing is somewhat dry in service of big and interesting ideas and world-building. I've found that is typical of some "older" sci-fi. The second half moves better than the first. A good classic novel.

Ursula LeGuin is without any doubts the greatest author in the world, but I was not into raptures about her book, for which she made a name for herself. Although my soul did not fly to the realms, where books like "The Word for World is Forest" and "The Dispossesed" are, I will tell you that I liked this book. I recommend it to those who like profund, philosophical science fiction, not to those who like action and excitement, since the story is over-uneventful and slow, but the planet Vinter, or according to the natives, Gethen is lovely described and the white, icy vast expanses and the imaginative feature of the androgynous people of Gethen should be enough for patient readers.

A voracious reader of s&sf, particularly enjoying fun and extremely well-written, stories with reference to mythology, wonderful female characters, and alternative social structures, this book is the book I will always refer to as the SF classic. I just re-read it, and wanted to make sure that I'm ALWAYS notified of anything remotely similar in print - so here is my review.
I realize that the most interesting thing about this book, when I read it first back in the 70's, was that it was the first real discussion of gender roles. I'm amused to read some of the reviews of this book - I think that perhaps some younger readers my not understand how pivotal was Left Hand of Darkness. Virtually a banned book for years in my midwestern hometown, it was a simple first and second word on gender, sexuality, and difference. Elegantly simple. The haunting tone of the book survived its plot, in my mind, and though on re-reading it, it does not have the contextual detail I enjoy in the wealth of the post-1990 "genre" (is this still a genre?), I still find it haunting. The anatomy of a relationship, the uneven odd emotions provoked by difference in biology and culture including mild paranoia, the realistic political confusion, the tragedy - this is a complex novel, and ranks as literature. Nothing is oversimplified. Read it!

Some of the best novels in any genre, but particularly in SF, conjure emotions and thought out of stories that may not in themselves appear remarkable. These books don't do it for everyone. You have to make a commitment, and let go any prejudices about what stories 'should' do, and what SF 'should be. You have to be patient.
This is one of those books. It is about mood, culture and even climate more than it is about plot or action. It seeps into you slowly. It infects you and warps your perception of the world around you. Those of you who want things straight, simple and clear cut will probably hate this book. People who see the grey areas, the bits in between, will probably learn to love it.

What I mean by "pearl" in the title is that it's seamless, beautiful, and a little mysterious. It's hard to necessarily put all the pieces together with this intense exploration of gender roles, but it's a puzzle, nonetheless, that will stick with the reader for a long time to come. Ultimately, this book (as explained in the seminal introduction to this novel Le Guin provides) isn't about some far off planet in time and space. It's about US, and how we perceive and act on gender roles we've inherited. Of course, those theories wouldn't mean much if the prose wasn't sparse and vivid, the characters weren't engaging (even when extremely strange), and the planet this takes place on wasn't realistic. Thankfully, LeGuin supercedes these criterea for an excellent novel--groundbreaking when it was published, as essential as ever today.

The Left Hand of Darkness is rich with themes on cultures, trust, the nature of truth, the roles of the sexes, and much more. The book is not dry at all - LeGuin incorporates beauty into language like no other author can accomplish. And instead of strong declarations of what's right, the book merely asks questions and states the ideas, leaving the reader free to believe what they choose.
I enjoyed the gentle pace with beautiful prose, moist philosophy, and watching the well-developed characters. If you expect a great adventure story, you will be disappointed. This is a window into the world of Winter/Gethen, the lives and works of Genly Ai and Estraven, and the insight it offers for our own world.
The last part of the novel was slightly inferior to the rest, but I wasn't disappointed. I read this 300 page book in two school days, and it's the best thing I've read since Anna Karenina.

This book is a difficult read initially due to the alien names and terminology, particuarly since the author sets off almost immediately with the protragonist right in the middle of a political fight on this planet. However, do not let that detract you from reading this beautifully-written book. By the end of the book, I felt strongly interested in Ai and Estraven.

The biological science suggested by the author is compelling, but while reading the book I wondered if the hermaphroditic nature of the aliens was really anything more than a superficial plot device. The vague sexual tension between Ai and Estraven was indeed palpable, but would the story have been just as interesting without any of it? By the end, I decided the story was equally strong either way.

Highly recommended.

There are many different ways one could look at this book; in this review I'll look at it as contrasted to Frank Herbert's Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1).

--The first major difference, is that Dune was authored by a male author and The Left Hand of Darkness (TLHOD) by a female author.

--Dune took place on the desert planet Arrakis. TLHOD took place on the cold planet of Winter.

--Dune focused more on ecology, politics and some action/war. TLHOD focused on "neither male nor female" sexuality, legends and traditions of the locals, reasons for the inhabitants of Winter being "anti-war" and also a few political themes.

--In Dune, control of the planet was achieved by militaristic means. In TLHOD, Genry Ai, the main character, was trying to integrate the planet into the rest of the Universe by purely diplomatic means.

Such significant differences as these helped make TLHOD a very enjoyable read and not just another "planet-building" novel. The story reads as part-travelogue, part-folk tale, part-essay, part-adventure. My favorite parts being the chapters where the two characters are out on the northern ice.
There are also many great quotes in this book, one being (from page 215):

"In the city, rain is an inconvenience; to a traveler it is a catastrophe."

This edition of the book does have a small appendix at the end, explaining the unique time-and-date system used on Winter. Unfortunately there is no map of the planet (would have been most helpful in visualizing where cities/countries are in relation to each other) and there is also no glossary, although most of the alien terms can be figured out with a little thought along the way.

Just as light is the left hand of darkness, so is The Left Hand of Darkness the antithesis of Dune.

I understand this book was written nearly half a century ago, but still, I just don't find it exciting in any way.

Of imagination there is little, except the biology/sexuality of the inhabitants of the planet Winter. There is no imagination of technological advances of any kind. The plot is rather implausible, that an advanced civilization (or rather a federation of civilizations) would send it envoy with no monitoring and let him be subject to torture or possibly death. On top of that, the plot is a slow slog and boring. I would try another book by the author but this one didn't do anything for me.

The very best example that SF can always give some EXTRA, in comparison to the mainstream literature. This is deeply profound, human and phylosophical fiction. Rarely good fiction. It makes you, in very smooth and aesthetic way - to think about the issues which only seem far away from our nature or place of living. The problems of human's divided enthity are given in a very deeply pre-cognited manner, with such sharpen sense for human nature, that is simply astonishing. And, Le Guin's style is, like always, superb and suttile. It brings you "in" quietly, but after that, you just can't get out of it. Great matters to engage your mind with... Just excellent!

I will not review the general plot or story, that has been done elsewhere.
If you like good books, read it. It's a human story about people, prejudice, xenophobia, politics, etc. You know, like real life, almost. Never mind that it's classified as "science fiction". Don't let that label put you off.
For the "True Fans" dissing this book and pointing you off to other True Science Fiction like Ender's Game (manipulative, boring, and an ending you can figure out halfway through the book), the works of Anne Mcaffrey ("Hey, wanna play Dungeons and Dragons? Bring over some pop and chips, too!" What are ya, twelve?), Dune (actually, yeah, it's a good book, too, but for different reasons), and perhaps most laughably, Battlefield Earth: get rid of that favourite plaid shirt, move out of your parents' basement, and go pick up a hobby that forces you to get outside and perhaps interact with other people.
Yeah, you heard me. Spaceships and intergalactic wars and other such mind-numbing, escapist sci-fi dreck are fine once in a while, but Left Hand Of Darkness is not one of those books, and can not be compared to the likes of any of the myriad glorified biffy accessories churned out by L. Ron Hubbard Industries Inc. or the latest formula Orson Scott Card blather.
Yeah, go read it. Take your time, it does move a bit slow at the beginning. In fact, I put it down the first time I tried to read it. But then again I was only twelve years old at the time, and I think something shiny might have distracted me. Once you get into it and realize that it's an adult novel with grown-up themes, the author draws you in with her take on an really different-seeming society that turns out to be not much different than our own (apart from the gender thing), what with the warring factions etc. As for characterization, the two main characters are well-drawn and fully fleshed out, and long after finishing the novel you begin to appreciate their bravery and dedication, especially Estraven's.
Just go read it and ignore the whiny sci-fi fans (oh how we hate that term -- boo, hiss!)

This is one of my favorite books. I admit that when I first read it, I had stopped very early in out of boredom. I later picked it back up when I had nothing to read. I should also point out, I do not like any of her other books.

This is not action, or adventure, or anything like that. It's a very character driven story about a man who visits a genderless planet of Human offshoots to convince them to join an alliance of interstellar life.

He suffers various problems such as getting them to believe he is an alien, or that life exists elsewhere, or just getting past the fear of the idea itself.

The book does well at creating many minor characters, developing them, and developing character interaction as well as creating minor mystery. It's not a book you can just read through, it's one of those books that requires thinking and makes you think more about it as you go.

It's also impressive in investigating gender differences, and inequalities not only far beyond the time it was written in, but really more than is done currently in literature.

Be warned though, the pacing is slow. This is not an action adventure book, there is no lets go do fun missions that many ready scifi for.

I recommend this book to thoughtful readers who don't normally browse the science fiction rack at bookstores. It is an engrossing work of literature that just happens to fall under the sci-fi umbrella. I liked Le Guin's technique of occasionally inserting chapters in the form of anthropological monographs, and I feel it worked well, especially when they quoted mythological tales collected from the peoples in the story. These tales [of course invented by Le Guin] really packed the sort of Jungian wallop that our own myths often have. But these digressions are brief, unlike the lengthy chapters on cetology and whatnot in Melville's MOBY DICK, and serve to enrich the story rather than distract from it.

This is the first science fiction book I've ever read, and I never would have picked it up had it not been a requirement for a literature course.

The book takes place on the world of Gethen, and the action describes one man's (an envoy named Genly Ai) experiences on this world as he tries to convince the Gethenians to join a multi-world league called the Ekumen. He encounters many new things in Gethen, but by far the most interesing is that the Gethenians are ambisexual. This concept, difficult enough in itself, is complicated when Genly Ai realizes the implications that ambisexuality has on gender: the social constructions that exisit on earth are completely different on Gethen.

The first part of the book was very confusing for me, and it just didn't pull me in...I had no idea what was going on and all the action just seemed...random.... By about the half-way point, though, things started to get interesting and I began to really understand what the book is about: humanity and what it means to be human, and the question of whether gender is inherent in humanity or a perversion of it. One of the most interesting scenes is when Estarven asks what a women is like on Ai's planet. Genly Ai is confronted with the fact that this is not as simple a question as he originally thought.

This is a good book and I enjoyed reading it, but it's a little hard to get into, especially if sci-fi is not a genre you typically enjoy. I recommend this book, it brings up some really interesting issues to think about. Also it is relatively short, only 215 pages, so it's not a big commitment.

This is one of the most important books ever written, and it's only S.F. Go figure.

Leguin once said that a novel is a way to say something that can't be said in words. She does that in each of her works. In this one she defines what it is to be human. Not man, or woman - but person.

Look; you'll be entertained by this book. That's how she get's us to read her stuff. But the real lasting gift of The Left Hand Of Darkness is what you learn, personally, inside your own thoughts, in the process of reading it.

That's a neat trick. How'd she do that? - d. belillo

The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the true classics of science fiction of all time and with good reason. It should not be passed up. A man is sent alone to make contact on a distant planet with individuals who, at different times, can be man or woman. He becomes embroiled in conflicts between individuals and conflicts between nations. This takes place in a "slower than light-speed travel" technology . This, plus the cold climate of the planet "Winter" plus the profound physiologic differences between him and Winters population serve to enhance the picture of his being alone and on his own.

I encourage everyone not to miss the opportunity to read this fine story!

Complex and intriguing. Le Guin is a master storyteller. I found parts of this book either a tad slow or seemingly unnecessary (the telepathy bit didn't add all that much for me) but a fantastic book.

The LHOD is not just a novel. That's "a blessing and a curse" or "a blessing or a curse" depending on you. Every review here seems accurate and spreading truth as known to its author. Delve into LHOD if you are tantalized by humanity, gender, sexuality, culture, etc. and enjoy pausing during a story to challenge your knowledge, views, and prejudices on those topics. If that's a go for you, then the negatives noted in reviews here won't matter. On the other hand, if you require perfection in story writing and have limited time, maybe you should look elsewhere. For me, this is one of my favorite books and I'm a much better person for having read it.

I've always been a great fan of science fiction and fantasy and Ursula Le Guin was one of the first authors I learned to love (after, of course, R. A. Salvatore) as a pre-teen, so I will admit my biases.

I heard about this book, not from other fans of the genre, but in a college classroom. I was a freshmen and taking a Gender Studies course and I wrote a paper on a gender-bending speculative fiction piece. My prof suggested that, if I like that sort of thing, I should read The Left Hand of Darkness, the novel that pioneered the concept. The next summer, I picked up the book. I am so happy that I did! Le Guin does her best and she creates a world and characters that are incredibly real.

Of course, there are some parts of the book that drag a bit - discussions of culture and custom that carried on when I wanted to see the characters doing and interacting. However, those same discussions became important later in the book, when I needed to know the cultural significance of certain actions that were integral to the plot. Everything, it seems, was put in the book for a reason. It is utterly brilliant.

The Left Hand of Darkness started with a provocative question: what would a society look like in which there is no sexual difference--more specifically, what would that society look like to a man from our own gender-conscious world? However, the book took a long, meandering path from there.

The main plot line is frequently interrupted by subplots and factoids that didn't fully integrate into the story (even though it seemed to be the author's intention to do so). Moreover, too many techno-babble and jargon weighed down the prose, forcing it in the painful position between fiction and pseudo technical writing. Eventually, the main plot emerged from the mist and peaked in a beautiful emotional moment, but the reader's interest was already tried by then.

For a 10th grade reading assignment, a partner and I had to read Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and it was by far one of the most original and thought provocative science fiction novels I have ever read. The story narrates the experiences of Ai, a human male, who was cast upon a genderless planet of Gethen (Winter), to unite their plants with a galactic alliance called the "League of Planets". The things that I loved most about this book were the marvelous character, and the hidden themes and traits behind them. For example, the protagonist Ai name discloses his three roles in the narrative: as I, the narrator who sees all from his own restricted point of view; as Eye, the witness who learns to see into people and events; and as Ai, a cry of pain. The progress of the character is his expedition from I to Eye and at last to Ai, his concluding cr y of pain as he comes full circle to the discovery of self and depth of soul. This is one of the many brilliant themes Le Guin uses in the book. In all, the story was incredibly smart and really makes you think about things socially different, especially on the idea of gender classification. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the idea of sexual identity and classification, or anyone really who is interested in science fiction.

Loved this book. I've read it several times over the years, and recently had to repurchase as I had loaned out my copy a few years ago.
Ms. Le Guin's perspective on Sci-Fi (and in my opinion a true perspective) does not focus on big laser fights, shiny spaceships, or bursting cyber-corsets. Not that there isn't romance, adventure, etc.
She uses the frame of an alternate reality, removed by space, time, and history, to explore the alien worlds lying beneath the surface of humanity. A socio-cosmic micro-(or tele)scope.
Also check out the collection of short stories, "Worlds of Exile and Illusion" which are also set in the same "universe" as Left Hand of Darkness.

Ursula Leguin's writing style is great. Many readers will not appreciate the author's imagined aliens though. There have been more imaginative aliens. And the imagined planet, called Winter, is not really far different from some places on our planet. Mainly, the aliens differ sexually and that crops up frequently in the book. Then there is the envoy from our planet trying to open trade with Winter. It seems that all known humanity in the universe except those on Winter are male or female like on earth. A natural inhabitant of Winter can be either male or female during special times in their lives though they are not permanently one or the other. OK, it isn't to everyone's liking, but I think it deserves a better than average ranking mainly for the rich, descriptive language.

A wonderful book, and I can't believe it has taken me this long to get around to reading it! Thought provoking. Intelligent. Much to say about society, politics, friendship, and gender roles. None of it said "in your face", but instead through the weaving of a wonderful tale on an intriguing planet. At only one point in the book did I think "yes it was written in 1969 and things were a bit different back then". There is a quote something like: "women just don't turn out to be mathematicians or abstract thinkers". I got that creepy feeling up the back of my spine at that point... But it went away again. I will probably reread this book again in the future and revel in the turn of a phrase, think deeply about the concepts, and not wonder so much about what was going to happen next! Loved it!

This novel presents a richly detailed alien world and culture, and gives you a regular human as your ambassador as well as a powerfully rendered native in Estraven. The plot is a mix of intrigue, communication, and learning, but also of survival when political and environmental forces are pitted against the main characters. So far, it has all the things that make a good book: great setting and characters, plus intrigue and conflict. But Ms. Le Guin takes it up a notch with a very intriguing exploration of how gender, as well as climate, can shape a world. For me, this heightened an already engrossing character study.

Left Hand of Darkness was fun to read over 20 years ago and to re-read just this week. For the fan of good and intelligent SF, this is a must. It is well written, it can be read quick, it is philosphical, it makes you think about your own life and that of mankind.
I enjoyed it very much. When it would be written and published just recently instead of a stunning 30 years ago, I am sure it would receive Hugo and Nebula Awards again (I would certainly like to vote in favor).
It is a nice touch that LeGuin writes from the perspective of a proud black man, trying to understand creatures that don't care which gender they are. It makes you think about the intelligence of all those macho man in our society, who over and over have to prove their masculinity. So, male people, please read this book and start thinking! :-)
I am sure she investigated the snow stories of the eskimos, who have lots of words about snow, water and wind.
This book is also a small lesson in diplomacy, courage, sacrifice and honesty. It is not just an SF story about space ships, space battles, fierce fights, high-tech gizmo's or grand theories. It is psychological, philosophical, political, ethical, emotional, and it is all SF, weird as SF can be.
I am re-reading City of Illusions now, also by LeGuin. I like it! After that, I will read (for the first time) Rocannon's World and Planet of Exile. I am sure I will like them too.

A small, yet ponderous book. I'm near the end and I find the long trek to Estraven's homeland torturous reading. I'm impressed by the world and the culture the author has designed. What she has done intrigues me more than the story itself. I keep picturing the black Vulcan from the latest Star Trek series as Ai, except Ai as written is prone to be impulsive now and then. Can't say I'd read any more of her books. My reading through this one is slow-going. I can't speed through the writing because it is somewhat stilted and unpredictable. I do, however, recognize it as a classic.

I have been reading SF since I was about 10 years old and somehow missed this one. My mother tried for years to convince me to read it and for some reason I resisted. When I finally started it, I couldn't stop. I read it in one single sitting, then reread it a few days later. And I still haven't given it back!

I think that Le Guin has written most convincingly about a world of true hermaphrodites and the culture that would spring up from their differences. This book is justly considered a science fiction classic and should be considered an overall classic.

This is a splendid novel that transcends the sci-fi genre. Le Guin takes you into a different world -- in which, among other others things, sexual identity is far from stable -- and almost imperceptibly has you thinking about gender differences and the role of sex (and the "Other") in our lives and culture. At the same time, the story and characters are fully involving, with the book's themes enriching rather than dulling the reader's experience. The book well deserves the acclaim it has received.

Although my first reading was while in college many years ago, this work has remained a favorite; I found that it and Dr. Deborah Tannen's _He Said/She Said_ introduced me to and led me to respect the differences in gender communication styles that shape our relationships and interactions. Ultimately, this work has had a profound impact on my life because it made me think about subtexts and cognitive maps for the first time.

This is a wonderful, deliberate book that works on many levels, as a fascinating intellectual/philosophical look at various concepts, particularly gender (obviously, since the inhabitants of Genthen are androgynous, but there's really no grounds for calling this a "gay/lesbian" work) and dualism. Although it's relatively short, and other books take hundreds of pages to relate their created worlds, Le Guin manages to give a solid sense of the planet Genthen by using several devices, including some in-between chapters that consist of different myths folk stories or scientific reports. These serve to heighten and highlight the themes of the novel and to ellucidate them as well. Readers who complain about this, or the shifting point-of-view narration are simply missing the point. However, ideas, no matter how compelling, do not give a book heart, and so the most affecting aspect of the story is the bond that develops between Earth-man Genly Ai and the Genthen Estraven. From original misunderstanding and distrust, they learn to trust and understand each other, despite their cultural differences. This friendship is truly poignant and well-wrought. While it is not an action-adventure book, and thus will disappoint anyone looking for extended action sequences (not Le Guin's forte), it's a deliberate, evocative book, and would be so judged by the standards of any genre.

Extremely well-written. One of the rare books I've read that made me actively desire a sequel before I was even finished. The characters, the storytelling, the politics: all of it was masterfully done. Highly recommended.

There was something powerfully disturbing about this imagined, arctic dystopia of sorts -- a world without gender because everyone changes form on a monthly cycle called kemmer.

Ai is an envoy from the Ekumen of Worlds and is sent to explore whether Gethen would join the Ekumen and engage in intellectual exchange of ideas and technology. Ai's journey makes for an intriguing, classic tale that takes science fiction into new philosophical realms, posing questions about the role of gender here on own planet earth. I highly recommend this book, it's as relevant today as when first written.

(The Left Hand of Darkness is already highly awarded and doesn't really *need* another review, certainly not from an amateur, but I'm writing one anyway.) This book explores several deeply human themes, in the author's beautifully tragic way-- among them, the themes of sacrifice and dualism (or perhaps more accurately, unity at the heart of dualism.)Le Guin's characters are harsh, fallible, heroic, and at essence, human...and once immersed in the painstaking detail of the book, the people of it became knitted close to my heart. The word "transportation" comes to mind: it is so smooth and believable a transition that in surprise you may find yourself on another planet, amongst aliens in the middle of an Ice Age. She is a miraculous, meticulous architect of worlds and culture; indeed did she create these people, on this world, or did she discover them on a visit with her faster-than-light ship? I'm not sure it's legal to copyright an entire existing world, Ms. Le Guin! For it does exist, although admittedly the rest of humanity may not discover it for another five thousand years or so. Not only do her characters and themes lend depth to the book, but every so often one gets the sensation of a fine undercurrent of musical quality to her words, which may echo in one's head long after finishing the book. I hope many other people read this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

The raging reviews over the billiance of this book and the fact that it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards are what tempted me to buy it at first. I had found the first several chapters to be extremely dull and somewhat trite... It took me a week to drag myself through the beginning. However the character development and plot quickens during the confrontation of the envoy, Genly Ai, and the prime minister, Estraven. After that point the story does get quite interesting and one does become genuinely concerned for the principle characters (I know that I did). Le Guin had made it a point that the characters be as real and as flawed as people are in actuality despite the incredulous setting of their world.
By the end everything makes sense...from the stuffy beginning to even the title of the book itself. This story is a true testament to the universality of human spirit (regardless of the most harsh nature of the environment). Likewise, it reinforces the notion that all people ARE people no matter how odd the culture or how "alien" the appearance. The world she has created feels so REAL even though it is so different!
This book is by no means among my favorites... However, I am glad that I did take the time to read it and that I didn't give-up in the beginning. I'd suggest it for the more patient reader and for people with a relatively mature mindset. This certainly is no action adventure afterall.

What would life be like if the most important facet of your identity just didn't exist? This is one of those books that totally blows your mind! I once heard someone say that the most interesting phrase in this book is: "The King was pregnant." What sounds like a bizarre, impossible statement to us is standard in this strange society that Le Guin has created. Previous reviewers have complained about the lack of story - it's not the plot that's important in this book. It explores issues of gender, of love (can there be romance without gender?), of estrangement, of sociology. Fantastic.

I recently disposed of my old dogeared edition of this outstanding book, intending to replace it with a Kindle edition. I was very surprised to find it isn't available in Kindle. Why? How you can ignore one of the most outstanding science fiction books ever written?

The protagonist is a human envoy sent to a planet of hermaphrodites to invite them to join galactic civilisation. The inhabitants of Gethen are functionally sexless most of the time, but for a few days each month become sexual, and may be either sex during that time.
Le Guin takes this premise and works out a whole social and political system, and then introduces a normal human character to be the outside observer through whose eyes the reader gets to experience this world. The result is a society which is far more alien than many. (I recently described aliens in the poorer grade of SF as "humans in rubber suits.") But the story does not simply depend on that central idea. There is excellent characterisation, and some adventure thrown in for good measure. I found it hard to put down.

The Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand Of Darkness, is rightfully among the all-time science fiction greats. This book does so many things so well, it's hard to find a place to start. Ms. Le Guin has incorporated themes of betrayal, equality, mythology, culture, and acceptance and tightly packed them into a magic school bus of a story. The Left Hand Of Darkness is not your typical science fiction work. Ursula Le Guin utilizes a relatively uneventful, impersonal plot as a vehicle for her astonishing story telling. Ms. Le Guin tells this story using a pattern in which she alternates from the two main characters' point of view as they embark on a journey across a harsh land. The book begins in a somewhat ominous tone and uses several sub-themes to distract from what is really happening. Ms. Le Guin establishes many of the fundamental issues and themes within the first few pages of the book and this helps to take away a little of the confusion in the first chapter. Ms. Le Guin kindly gives us a little background as to where and when the action is taking place, but she then quickly drops us into the story running. The story begins as our central character attends a parade in a large city that is beautifully described and bares a faint resemblance to cities in The Lord Of The Rings. The first 4 chapters alternate between myth and story, but this unique, interesting aspect actually only adds to the complexity of it all. Although the story is somewhat hard to follow throughout the first few chapters, it gets evolves into more simple, heart warming tale of two friends in an unfriendly land. The main character in this story, an Alien Envoy from Ekumen (an earth-like planet in a galaxy far far away), is on a mission to convince Gethen (the planet he's visiting) to join a union of planets. He always seems to know just a little bit more about this strange culture and language than we do. While some might see this as frustrating, it actually just fuels our curiosity, and by the end of the book, Genly Ai (the envoy) and the reader know the same amount of information about this strange culture. The distant planet Mr. Ai is visiting, Gethen (affectionately known as Winter), is an ice cube of a planet that suffers from the present ice age that seems more like perpetual winter. Ms. Le Guin decided that the people of Gethen would be ambisexual in an experiment to see what a utopia where men and women would literally be equal would really be like. This plays a major part in the book along with other issues surrounding a stranger entering a strange culture. This Gem of a book is a must read, even for non-science fiction readers.

First off let me say that I am willing to grant this book two things, regardless of whether or not I enjoyed it: I can tell LeGuin is a great author and I understand why this book won the Hugo and Nebula. The world-building skill illustrated in this book is very impressive. In fact, my favorite parts of the book were the little interspersed "myths". Also, the idea behind the Ekumen was great. The political intrigues on Gethen, while interesting, we kind of hard for me to follow and I just didn't really care. I also didn't come away from this book feeling either way about any of the characters. I realize the narrative in this book introduces itself as Genly's "report" to the Ekumen, but even bearing that in mind while reading it wasn't enough to get me actually enjoying the book. In fact, the only reason I finished it is because I don't like "quitting". Maybe I went into this with inappropriate expectations, but the story and the writing style ultimately just did not draw me in. I will not give up on LeGuin, however. Next I'm going to try some Earthsea books as I hear they're pretty good.

I finally found a used copy of Ursula Le Guin excellent The Left Hand of Darkness and I have to say that I can't remember reading a science fiction book that made me feel so uncomfortable. Le Guin's description of the sexless androgynous Gethen inhabitants of the world Winter is as much a commentary about our society as it is an exploration of another world. In addition, you also see how much Neil Stephenson's Anathem was influenced by this wonderful book. The Left Hand of Darkness is science fiction at its best. And at only 250 pages it's short commitment. I highly recommend.

A friend of mine gave me this book as a gift. I really didn't care much for it at the time (the mid-80's). However, as time went on - and I reread the book (many times) - I grew to love the concept that Ms LeGuin conceived. A society that has no bias of gender - where rape does NOT exist - where anyone - and I do mean ANYONE has the potential to be one's lover. THAT is what I call a facinating concept. As I said, I've grown to really appreciate this novel - and I wish that she'd written more about the people of Gethan.

I really liked this book for the first 2/3rds of it. Great story, did dry up a little towards the end, otherwise I was kept interested until the last 1/3rd of the book. Ursula has a great writing style that's worth mentioning. I guess I was just expecting something much more sinister based on the title of the book. If I had not had this expectation would it have been different? Possibly.

The Left Hand of Darkness, com aspectos de psicologia, sociologia e antropologia, conta a estória de Genly Ai, um humano solitário, enviado a Winter, um mundo alienígena de condições árticas, cujos habitantes são fisicamente iguais aos terráqueos, mas podem mudar de gênero, num ciclo mensal, chamado de kemmer. Se um dos membros de um casal se torna mulher, o outro, automaticamente, se torna homem.
A meta de Genly Ai é facilitar a inclusão de Winter na civilização intergalática, Ekumen of Worlds, e travar uma troca intelectual de idéias e tecnologia.
Para tanto, ele tem de alinhar sua própria cultura e preconceitos com a cultura daqueles membros de uma civilização tão diferente.
Uma das partes mais interessantes do livro é o relacionamento do terráqueo Genly com o homem-mulher de Winter - e seu entendimento. A estória levanta questões sobre nossa percepção associada ao chauvinismo sexual.
Para 1969, a época em que foi escrito The Left Hand of Darkness, o gênero literário de ficção científica estava inciando novas dimensões sociais. Mas o livro é imensamente rico em sabedoria atemporal.
Le Guin é uma mestra na literatura sci-fi, com foco maior na exploração do relacionamento humano, do que na exploração de futuras possibilidades. Ela pode criar novos mundos e novas culturas, insuperáveis por outros autores do gênero.
Este é um clássico que deve ser lido por qualquer um que ama ficção científica, e deve ser relido várias vezes, com muito prazer.

When I read The Left Hand Of Darkness shortly after it was first published, I was delighted and amazed. Even though this is a dark story that ends in tragedy, Le Guin's masterful narrative compelled me to read it through in a single sitting. When I was done, I was left with a sense of loss for having finished. As a trained social scientist, I was fascinated by a whole culture and society shaped by androgeny. As a human being, I was appalled by the prejudice and stupidity that only too clearly mirrored what I saw in the contemporary world around me.

This is a classic, a wonderful study in character and a biting commentary on human society, all told in elegant style. It is not for the fainthearted, but it is well worth reading.

Author of some of the best classic SF/Fantasy stories ever written, no praise is too high for Ursula Kroeber Le Guin. Her beautiful Earthsea books are perhaps her most famous works but The Left Hand of Darkness is equally haunting.
Set in the word of Gethen or 'Winter' and told from the perspective of an envoy from the known worlds whose mission is to recruit Gethen into the confederation.
But Gethen's culture is complex and unknowable and our hero, Genry Ai, cannot see whom to trust, makes mistakes and finds himself facing failure and death in a gulag. His rescue comes from a surprising source and the final quarter of the book concentrates on their flight through the desperately harsh terrain of Winter. And Genry learns to understand the people and culture of Gethen through the actions of one person, his companion and rescuer.
Le Guin writing at the height of her powers is unforgettable.