Wonderful

My first experience of le Guin’s sci fi works. Loved it and will be reading more

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A fantastic introduction to Le Guin

This was my first experience of Ursula Le Guin’s writing and it is hard to put into words what a powerful experience it was.

Some reviewers have disparaged the narrator but I felt his reading was in keeping with the subtle understatement of the novel overall, and therefore enjoyed it very much.

The storyline was almost unbearably, certainly compellingly, intriguing; the world building and imagery, incredibly vivid. The relationship between Ai and Estrevan was almost perfectly portrayed by the author. I particularly enjoyed the way the book deconstructed some of the deep questions of humanity- philosophical, ecological and so on, so insightfully, without ever being anything like moralising.

In a way, I experienced the novel as an intellectual journey as well as en emotional and narrative one. Thought-provoking is too feeble a description. Also, it kept defying my expectations- a rare experience for someone who has read so much.

I will now rush to read/listen to the other books in the Hainish cycle.

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Brilliant book, Horrifying Narration

Don't waste your money! The narrator slurs his words and CAN'T READ. He will pause at random stops in a sentence and often he mumbles to the point I had to strain to understand what he was saying. I ended up purchasing a physical copy of the book. Audible was also EXTREMELY DISHONEST because when I listened to the sample they picked the one chapter read by a different, way superior voice. I feel robbed of a credit. It made me want to cancel my subscription altogether.

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3 people found this helpful

Vintage sci-fi with modern relevance

One of those books that's been on the TBR pile for many years, and I'm glad I got around to it. thought provoking themes of friendship, culture, and gender were dealt with in a sympathetic narrative that made me realise Ursula Le Guin's remarkable talent.
narration might not suit everyone; George Guidall is one of the most prolific audiobook narrators, but it took a while to settle with his voice and, at times, breathless delivery.
that said, I'd definitely recommend for those with a taste for classic sci-fi.

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One of the Best

I absolutely need more time, re-reading, reading responses and interpretations, and discussing it before I properly have a real handle on this for a review, but I loved it, found it very difficult, challenging, and that it kept me at arms length for a lot of it...while also being completely invited in, buying in so hard to the personal and emotional dynamic, which shattered me into crying and properly sobbing more than once.

Le Guin is the ultimate. As a Genderqueer trans femme I'm not sure how I feel about all of the everything, but I think it's from a thoughtful place and I really need to chew on it all for a bit.

Something that has finally clicked for me is that my autism and other neurodivergences really make it hard to unpick the POV character's philosophy and thoughts, those of the author, and what is actually being put forward, discussed, and/ or refuted (or not). I very much recognise this a me problem.

Never have I felt so intellectually inferior and confused in a book that I actually loved and genuinely resonated with. This is a whole lotta book!

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Ruined by the narration

I have a hard time judging the quality of the story due to the frustration over the narration. Narrator is monotonous, and somehow manages to speak incredible slow without articulating any words.

I might revisit this book, reading it rather than listening. The premise of a stranger in a strange world allow for exploring our own, and the themes of gender and sexuality poses some interesting questions.

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⭐ 4/5 ⭐

A thought-provoking sci-fi novel. A human envy arrives on a world where cold is prevailing and the sentient inhabitants spend most of their lives between sexes. It explores prejudice, societal differences and what it means to belong.

- The book starts slow and it took a while for me to get into it. However, after some background and once the plot has time to develop I couldn't stop listening. It was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be.

- Considering this was originally published in 1969, it was wonderfully forward thinking. As a genderfluid person, I love how the native inhabitants remained androgynous most of the time and the mechanisms for Chemour, the process during which an individual gains a sex for a time. I would love to explore this theme more.

- The society and world is complex and well thought out. Primarily there are two countries in the story and each has a different societal system and acceptable norms. I also enjoyed the traditional stories and the way the cold and snow were conveyed

For the sci-fi reader who likes to think on their books. I look forward to reading more of the Hainish cycle.

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Something to think about

This book poses the question what happens to how we feel about aliens who sexuality is different from our own how would they see us how would we make relationship with them

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wonderful book, shame about the narration

I love The Left Hand of Darkness and have read it often, but found the narration very difficult in places: the lack of distinction between characters, the indistinct words (not only alien words but English too) sounding half swallowed at times, the hurrying over passages which warranted more care. Disappointed in the narration, but not in the story.

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16 people found this helpful

Fascinating Sci-fi and human nature mix

The book explores a world that has been colonised by humans without any contract with other humans around different planets. It explores not only the sci-fi aspects but what makes humans humans as well as social interactions. Brilliant listen!

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