- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Orbit (5 Nov 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841496065
- ISBN-13: 978-1841496061
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 140,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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'A beguiling read ... Le Guin's sometimes mischievous narrative tone is crisp and fresh' www.sf.com 'A jewel of a story' Frank Herbert 'As profuse and original in invention as The Lord of the Rings' Michael Moorcock 'Delicate yet daring, narrated with immense gravitas...Ursula Le Guin's masterpiece' Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels
Book Description
A stunning re-issue of one of the most outstanding and enduring classics of science fiction.
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First Sentence
I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"The Left Hand of Darkness" tells about the mission of Genly Ai, an ambassador of the Ekumen to Winter. The Ekumen is a union of most of the known planets, and Winter is a faraway planet still in its glacier period where all people are of the same gender. Genly Ai goes to Karhide and Orgoreyn, the main countrylike territories on Winter to try to convince them to join the Ekumen. Le Guin describes an inspiring world, very different from what we know, where there are no "men" or "women", but only PEOPLE, and where pride is a completely different concept. Being both an alien and a man, Genly Ai has to go through various experiences to learn different meanings of country, friendship, pride and love, and together with him we are indulged in reflecting more about these things and the world that we (don't) know. I would recomment this book not only to science fiction friends, but also to everyone who likes to think while they read.
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ever since my dad gave me this book as a teenager, it has had a permanent place on my all-time Top Ten Book List, even though my reading tastes have drifted away from Sci-Fi over time. As other reviewers have commented, it's not only arguably the greatest science fiction novel of the century, but one of the best novels in general. It just has so many different aspects - and it's one of these books that leaves the reader with a real sense of loss on finishing it not because it's a particularly sad tale, but just because it's come to an end.
The setting on the world of Gethen, where the inhabitants are the hermaphrodite products of an ancient genetic engineering project and can both father and bear children, allows Le Guin to make some fascinating comments on gender; but this alone would not have allowed the book to stand the test of time (after books like Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex" and Jackie Kay's "Trumpet", readers are probably much more used to seeing gender as a fluid thing than in the late 1960s when Le Guin's book was published). The two things which make the book so special for me are firstly Estraven and Genly Ai's epic journey across the ice cap - which is a unique blend of thrilling adventure, unconsummated love story and philosophical musing on duality (light and darkness; male and female; good and evil); and secondly the way in which Le Guin makes the planet of Gethen and its culture so thrillingly real - she constructs folk tales, poetry and suchlike which add extraordinary resonance to the narrative. While immersed in the book, Karhide and Orgoreyn are utterly real places for the reader - since my teenage years, I still feel disappointed that I can't actually go there...
A twentieth-century classic in all senses; and this Virago Modern Classics edition is beautifully packaged as always, with subtle but effective cover art.
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Rereading this brilliant book 20 years later I was this time struck by a little noticed aspect, its treatment of religion. It contains two perfectly coherant alien religions, both wonderfully thought-through and convincing. I cannot think of any other SF work that contains one, let alone two, convincing stabs at what the religious ideas of an alien civilisation might be like.
Ursula le Guin`s family background was in social anthropology -the real science that forms the basis of her books is social enthropology not Physics or Biology.
An inexhaustable book.
Ursula le Guin`s family background was in social anthropology -the real science that forms the basis of her books is social enthropology not Physics or Biology.
An inexhaustable book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
This book is tedious
I apologise but my true feeling to this book is tedious and boring. I tried to keep up with what the gibberish the author is telling, but I CAN'T continue anymore. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dhamphir
A superb classic of science fiction
Thousands of years from now, the myriad colony worlds of Hain (including Earth) are being reunited under a new interstellar government, the Ekumen. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Whitehead
The Left Hand of Darkness
This is such a fantastic read; a perfect example of the sci-fi genre at it's very best.
The book incorporates a 'journey' (both literal and metaphorically) of Genly Ai,... Read more
The book incorporates a 'journey' (both literal and metaphorically) of Genly Ai,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Angela
Deserved classic
This book is often cited as one of Le Guin's best works, and it didn't disappoint. The book has so many themes and layers all crammed into a relatively short page count it should... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Schrodinger's cat
Thoroughly enjoyable, but I would not call it a masterpiece
I've been meaning to read this book for donkey's years, ever since a mate of mine said what a good book it was.
I agree with him - it is a fine novel. Read more
I agree with him - it is a fine novel. Read more
Published 19 months ago by W. Robinson
A slow read but rewarding
The world Ursula builds does take a bit of getting into - its complicated and believable world she describes - but she adds so much detail including languages, names, titles,... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Arthur Dent
Missing Something Important
[[ISBN-10: 1841496065 The Left Hand of Darkness (Hardcover)]]
The Left Hand of Darkness is one of LeGuin's most significant novels, but so too is the original... Read more
The Left Hand of Darkness is one of LeGuin's most significant novels, but so too is the original... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2009 by L. Milligan
classic
As many readers will undoubtably know, Le Guinn is perhaps the premiere female author of the genre who did for female authors what Arthur C Clarke did for the male writers out... Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
wonderful
I've been dying to get this book for ages and it didn't disappoint. The whole idea of kemmering is fascinating. Read more
Published on 21 July 2009 by Ms. Grainne Ketelaar
A beautiful, melancholic story
I loved the Earthsea trilogy which I read when I was young, but this book had sat on my bookshelf unread for many years. Read more
Published on 7 April 2009 by Glaucon
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