
The Left Hand of Darkness
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Narrated by:
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George Guidall
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Written by:
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Ursula K. Le Guin
About this listen
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can change their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
©1969 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2016 Recorded BooksYou may also enjoy...
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Overall
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Performance
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What listeners say about The Left Hand of Darkness
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- chris
- 2020-02-05
wrong narrator.
George Guidal is an amazing narrator but this wasn't the best book for hom considering the premise. I left the story and he is a good narrator just could have been someone with a larger range.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Vera
- 2019-12-17
Easy to listen to
This writer is talented and the words are easy to listen to. I'm left feeling like there was little point to the story. It is distant in tone. Emotion is stripped and detail strung out far longer than necessary. Is it cautionary or does it reflect biblical stories or both?
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- Jamie @ Books and Ladders
- 2022-10-02
A Classic!
I'm really glad I took the time to read this - a classic, feminist SciFi novel! It took me a bit of time to get into it, and it has that distinct 1960s/1970s writing vibe to it. But I thought it was an interesting perspective on gender norms, the ways in which we view ourselves and others, and the way power influences us.
If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it!
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- Patrick
- 2018-07-03
A good story with the wrong voice actor.
George Guidall, who narrates, is apparently a big deal in the audiobook world, but I think his deep voice was wrong for this book. The Left Hand of Darkness is set on a planet where individuals are both male and female becoming more feminine or masculine from month to month. Guidall has a super deep voice and not a lot of range. This is my gripe about most audiobooks generally; 80 per cent of narrators are dudes with deep voices who can't bring a whole cast of characters to life. Many are not as good as Guidall, but he sticks out more than usual here because of the story. I preferred reading the book to listening.
The story itself is beautiful and, in Guidall's defence, almost purposefully undramatic. Its charm is in its subtlety; there isn't the same huge symbolism as in the Earthsea series; no dragons or evil wizards. Just a hyper-political winter planet where it's difficult to figure out what is right and who is good. Betrayal is a cool matters of business. A prison system that resembles a concentration camp is described with helpless sorrow instead of moral outrage. And yet the struggle of two main characters, Genly and Estrehaven, to come to terms with each other in a political whirlwind is beautifully written. Worth a read, and perhaps a listen.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Dustin Johansen
- 2024-10-22
I am in love with the differences of her worlds
Ursula has done excellence time and time again! I highly recommend!!! please read! I love the hainish!
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- Nathan F.
- 2020-08-18
apt interpretation for a really good scifi story
The performance is quite good, but another actor, reading the part of Estraven would have brought even more depth and ambiguity to this duo of characters. The story was wonderfully imaginative and thought provoking for its time, and it retains most of its evocative power today. 2020's use of gender neutral pronouns makes the use of He/him in this book quite dated, but it shouldn't prevent one from enjoying and engaging with the writer's treatment of a genderless society
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- Chukle
- 2024-05-30
meandering story
likeable characters, story is meh. if you're looking for hard sci Fi, this definitely isn't it.
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- DALEE. Planette
- 2023-07-29
mini sagas are the best part
A long long audiobook. Although the narration was terrific, I had to play it at 90% speed because there was so much detail (omg the detail) and tiny specifics to learn and pay attention to, I just couldn't keep up otherwise. Nearly abandoned several times.
That said, I can appreciate that it's a classic, catching so many references to works written subsequently. The short sagas (legends? homilies?) that were interjected throughout were easily my favourite parts and caught myself waiting for those chapters! As well, the journey across the ice was pretty gripping and captivating.
However, despite the intriguing treatment of gender and sexuality (so ahead of its time!) and that our narrator kept getting referred to as a pervert (poignant as hell, I must say), the story itself isn't very interesting or novel -pardon the pun.
I'm not saying it was a waste of time, and I'm mostly glad to have read/listened to it, but I won't seek out others by this author.
Interesting note that her parents were renowned anthropologists. thanks for reading my review.
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- Alicia Roy
- 2024-11-18
The Left Hand of Darkness
You can tell Ursula K Le Guin was raised by an anthropologist by her descriptions of the Gethen.
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- Jackie Law
- 2019-02-10
Envoy to a new world
Overall I liked the book, it's different and worth reading. I especially liked the legend, backstory, and informative bits about the planet and society, though the hardships were well written and compelling. When the main character speaks of things being womanly or masculine, it's usually accompanied by his confessions of that being his own impressions due to his social conditioning, so I didn't find those parts dated or grating. Got attached to the characters by the end too.
The narrator's voice is deep and older, slightly breathy. It mostly only falls short of the aggressive, actiony parts.
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2 people found this helpful