Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rereading this classic nearly 50 years after the first time I experienced it, I was impressedby two things:

First, this is a wonderful book, a powerful book on love, friendship, sexuality and gender, politics and betrayal, and light and darkness.

Second, when I first read it, I found it to be in some ways revolutionary in dealing with gender and sex roles, Time has passed. The world and I have changed. Now I see the masculine-oriented viewpoint of LeGuin, the condescension towards the female in many places that can't be explained entirely by the point-of-view of the main character. LeGuin herself said that the criticism she received over the years was justified, that while she was a child of her times, that was no excuse, and that she would write in differently. For instance, she would not use the pronoun "he" for an androgynous people who are both male and female.

But I still love the book despite its flaws and recommend it highly. The journey of the main characters and the journey of the book over time are both revelatory.

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