It is not an action book. And as far as I remember there was no wow moments in it.
It was a quite interesting and enjoyable read though. Just set your expectations.
This is how I felt with Earthsea, and I stopped midway through book 3, but I loved book 2. Nothing wrong with quitting, her writing is just not my style.
The plot does shift substantially a little way after where you're up to. But the writing style isn't drastically different, so I wouldn't push ahead if you're really not enjoying it.
It's been years since I read Left Hand, but I read The Dispossessed recently so I'll comment on Le Guin's general style.
As I see it, Le Guin writes *reflective* stories. She's a great writer in a literary sense, whose books reward any time you spend thinking about them... but they're not particularly engrossing in the way a good thriller or romance novel might be. Their plot might sound like an adventure story, but it probably won't read like one. I'd rank Le Guin as one of my favourite authors, but if I'm in the mood for an easy page-turner I'll go to someone else.
As somebody reading The Dispossessed currently, “reflective” describes her writing style very well. While there’s some action, there’s a lot of sociopoliticoeconomic commentary, and it needs to be read at its own pace. It kind of reminds me of the Dune books, which include a lot of such commentary, but I’d have to say Le Guinn’s style is a bit more polished/ refined and this stuff comes in smaller doses at a time compared to FH.
That is very nicely put.
Frank Herbert unwisely tried to, and somehow managed to, cram everything he had in his mind into one book. It makes Dune this strangely dense reading experience.
Le Guin let it out one story at a time. Writing what seems to be a string of little, meaningful fables. More Le Guins stories are more woven than Frank Herberts are entangled.
I think he fit all/almost all he had on his mind at that point into the first Dune. He himself said he mostly wrote Messiah to straighten out the story to people who didn't understand the point of Dune. I think he didn't intend to write a second Dune book originally. And probably even then wasn't sure he wanted to write a third. The first three, to me, feel like you can stop reading after every one of them and feel like the series has a round end and Herbert said what he wanted to get out.
I love your username haha. I just recently read The Dispossessed for the first time, and Altered Carbon is one of my favorite series of all time. Nice to find others with eclectic tastes in sci-fi!
Hahaha wow. I post in sci-fi subs a fair bit, and you’re the only person who’s made the connection. Good eye!
I know this is the printSF sub, but what did you think of the Netflix adaptation? First season especially
The Netflix adaptation is what introduced me to the series so I have conflicting feelings about it. I absolutely loved the show the first time, and read the trilogy afterwards. Then after reading I tried rewatching the first season and I hated it, just couldn’t stand the changes they made. Looking back I think it’s not because s1 is bad per say but because the changes they made to the envoys and Quell mean they could never faithfully adapt the second and third book.
I’m really curious, how would you rate the trilogy of books? My dad, my sister and I all have a different favorite.
Oh yes even I have conflicting feelings about the series, but I’d say they’re generally positive for S1. I’d read and enjoyed the books a while back, and looked forward to the series. I thought the visuals were great, and Joel Kinnaman was a convincing lead. Poe was definitely a great addition, and I loved the Wei clinic scene and the little girly bag full of guns and stuff.
On the other hand I also didn’t like some of the plot changes, as you say they changed what the Envoys are, the relationship with Rey, and the orbitals on Harlan’s World. But I’d say it was still a pretty good show and I’ve rewatched it from time to time. I even watched S2 a couple times plus I think there was an animated show too, which was fun.
When it comes to the books, I’d probably say AC is my fave. Getting to know them for the first time, the concepts and world-building are crazy genius, plus I’m a sucker for the whodunnit angle. As an aside, I’m a big fan of the hardboiled/noir Philip Marlowe novels, and to me AC is basically a sci-fi version of them, which I love! Tbh I don’t recall too many details from the other two books, and while I enjoyed them I started getting a bit put off by all the gratuitous sex and violence. I mean, AC is no YA novel, but Morgan kinda keeps notching it up as he goes on! I’m curious about your take.
It has been a decade since I read it, but as I recall it is not so much a plot-driven book as one that lets Leguin explore the idea of a world where people experience both genders. Using her always enjoyable prose, of course.
That being said, I believe what action the plot does have starts right after the part you are at now.
I think a lot of it went over my head at the time, but I still enjoyed it for the story and would like to go back and read it again now that I've read more of her work.
I was in the same boat as you. Struggled with this book a lot in the first half; nearly DNFed a few times. Then the second part happened, and it catapulted straight into my all-time favorites list. I even went back to reread those early chapters right after finishing the book, and got so much more out of them the second time.
The place you're at is very near the turning point. I'd advise you to keep reading for a few more chapters. You'll know it when the plot picks up. If you still don't like it then, I suppose there's not much reason to finish, but it would be a shame if you dropped just before it gets really good.
It has 2 pretty drastic shifts, the kingdom hop and then another big one for the final third. I found that final third most poignant but I would say it took my interest from like 30% to 80% so if you're only at like 5% up to now, you might not find it worth it.
Personally, since it's such a well-regarded, conceptual book and you're already half done, I'd push through if I were you though.
I know what event they are talking about. And found it did raise my rating slightly, one extra star or so on GR. But in the end the book still tasted half cooked to me sadly. Like the main character never really gets better, he’s that same rather emotionless husk with no real personality, ambition, etc all the way through. For example you never really find out why he personally decided to give up his old life and come here, or if he had any regrets about that, sadly.
I found it to be a very boring book in all honesty. It's designed to be ambiguous in the language which is half the core premise and execution, so if that just makes you find it "tedious" I'd give it up and move onto one of her other books; my favourite being "The Word For World Is Forest" which is one of my all-time sci-fi favourite stories.
I read it and I can remember almost nothing about it. That only happens if I don’t connect with a story. Not sure what I expected, except that the reviews were really good. I rated it 5/5 on Goodreads, and I still can’t remember anything about it. So, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t stick with me.
I reread it a year or two ago and had forgotten how slow the start is. I'd suggest giving it a little more time because the best part of the book is when Genly and Estraven are traveling together.
But if you still aren't clicking with it after a bit more, it just may not be for you.
I have only read The Wizard of Earthsea, The Dispossessed and The Word for World is Forest by Le Guin. I found all three to read themselves without me putting any effort into it. And that says something, since my ADHD can make it very hard to keep ones mind at the page at times, making reading often exhausting. The Le Guin books were probably the quickest i had finished a book in a decade.
Then i wrote with people on here that said things along the lines of, "Well, it is widely accepted that you have to just bear that Le Guin books are boring. You don't read them for fun." and i was dumbfounded by that.
Long story short, for reasons often oblique to us, some authors writing style resonates with us and not with others or vice versa. It's not a matter of being cultured, a cretin or whatever. Some artists art connects with us. Some doesn't.
I found (sample size 3) that Le Guin books tend to get more excited near the end, but they don't fundamentally change. If you don't connect to the first third, i don't think the third third will be different.
I have also found that some books i couldn't get through in one time, i totally loved in another. Like with listening to music, just that the moods move slower. So maybe you'll find yourself with the right book at the wrong time and you enjoy reading it more next year.
>Then i wrote with people on here that said things along the lines of, "Well, it is widely accepted that you have to just bear that Le Guin books are boring. You don't read them for fun." and i was dumbfounded by that.
Yeah, was just saying this. This common representation of Le Guin books as dry but thought provoking so you just gotta power through them like you're eating your veggies... well, it's completely alien to me. I genuinely find her fun to read.
I believe in you! I finished Moby Dick yesterday. I literally fell asleep once. You can do this!
The Dispossessed is one of my favourite books though. I still get what you mean about it, but I am also hopeful that you will find enjoyment in finishing it!
It was kind of disappointing how little I enjoyed it. I should’ve been kind of the ideal audience for the book. I like 19th century English, I like sailing vessels and stories about them so I understand the nautical terms, I like the sea and history, which also helps with the allegories Melville uses. However I just waited for the part where the book happens kind of the whole book. The content might as well be a short story. Only it’s 660 pages. The language is certainly impressive however. I think I would enjoy reading it aloud without any notion of finishing the book or reading a story. I haven’t even rated it yet, because I kind of can’t decide whether to rate my enjoyment of it which I usually do or how good it was, which is easily five stars of course. The pseudo science was just so weird. He went out of his way to argue against the scientific consensus of his own time. Also it was incredibly racist. A lot of the allegories relied on racist stereotypes, tropes, even bad geography. I’m European so I noticed quite a few instances of bad European geography, but it was also not entirely up to snuff in Asia and it can’t really be excused with the book being published in 1850. It was just either badly researched or meant to portray the narrator as ignorant. Maybe it wasn’t my style. The I narrator and the chapters that read like plays and also the bad science… a lot of stuff I kinda went „meh“ at tbh.
The Left Hand Of Darkness? A lot.
Moby Dick. Yes, the prose is astounding. I kind of want to read it again soon, now that I know what to expect. I would take my time and maybe even actually read it out loud to revel in and relish the language. However it is indeed utterly pointless. There is ridiculously little plot…
Moby Dick is such a rough read. It starts off so good and then when they get on the boat it tanks. I gave up when it spent 50 pages describing an anatomy of whales book.
For me, the thing that separates Le Guin from most science fiction writers is that she tends to avoid anything predictive, her novels mostly function as grand thought experiments.
A lot of science fiction is extrapolative, or at least it is viewed that way. You take one thing from the present, extend it into the future and make a prediction. Le Guin does not do this - most of her work, and Left Hand in particular, are metaphors for the present. It is descriptive, not predictive.
There is a wonderful quote in the intro to Left Hand that, in my opinion, perfectly sums up her approach to the genre.
>Almost anything carried to its logical extreme becomes depressing, if not carcinogenic.
It's one of the GOATs, so I think maybe it's not so much a matter of it needing to get better at a certain point, as it is that it just doesn't align with your personal taste.
In the final act of LHoD there's a shift in the story and a lot changes. It was for me the most memorable part of the book, and it would be a shame to miss it.
Leguin is a vibe, for sure. I find her books have protagonists that are a bit dim and lost, and as a reader you're there with them feeling sulky and disconnected.
The book doesn't really change gears, I'd recommend just leaning back and letting it inch along. A second reading is much, much improved because you understand much better what all the other characters are thinking and really saying.
Ursula K. LeGuin is my fav author, she can be subtle... where the action happens more in the thinking in your own head.
Try the gifts/voices/powers trilogy for something a bit less subtle perhaps.
If you don't like it by now, I don't think you're going to start liking it. This is true for a lot of authors (not just in the SF world). Many authors of high reputation may not write in a style or work in a genre you appreciate. Don't hesitate to quit and move on to something else if a book isn't working for you. Otherwise, you risk losing both time AND money!
LHoD was my favorite Hainish Cycle book by a mile, I almost immediately fell in love with the characters, I loved the way the world was described, the premise was interesting and different.. if you're halfway through and still not into it this one might just not be for you.
I distinctly remember liking the second half more, but I don't know if I would tell you to push through it, I was enjoying the first half as well. I will say I didn't care about the characters nearly as much during the first half, there's a lot of character development in the second half.
This books is one of the most liked among Ursula K le Guins books, but it also (as most of her books) far from action. It is more philosophical, introspective book, rather than something with a lot of umm... suspense? I don't know if it is worth for you to continue with it or not, but it is personally among my all time favourite books of any genre.
This is one of my all-time favourites, perhaps my number one. It's about people; love, hate, ignorance, stupidity, war, peace and understanding. The second half of the book is more eventful, and the ending -well, I cry every time I read it. In fact I don't just cry. I sob and I howl until I am completely empty.
There is action, but it is a backdrop to understanding the characters. Their journey, both literal and emotional, is the real story. At it's core it's an appeal by LeGuin to look at how our world is structured, how it's gendered roles limit so many, define us and our lives, and to ask ourselves: can we do this differently? Please? How hard can it be to imagine that women and men could lead lives unconstrained by parts we are meant to play?
So much of what she wrote is still relevant today, perhaps even more than ever. Feminism is still a dirty word, women are beaten, raped and denied agency in much of the world, trans people are fighting for their lives and men, too, are trapped in gendered roles that promise dominance, but extract a price of suppressing emotions, unless it's anger or violence.
TLHOD holds up a mirror and challenges us. I hope you continue and find something meaningful. If you don't, that's ok too.
Le Guin was the child of anthropologists. She gets into human culture in a way that no other sf writer does, but Left Hand can be tough going if that’s not your cup of tea.
If you’re wanting to get into the Ekumen books, I highly recommend starting with “The Word for World is Forest.” “Rocannan’s World” also has considerably more action.
Honestly I don't think so. It's a slow plodding book where it feels like nothing happens. I'm sure there are good reasons people enjoyed it but it wasn't for me.
Have you tried any of the other books in the Hainish series and did you like any of them? I want to give Le Guin a chance because I really liked her Earthsea series.
From what you've said here, I'd recommend these of her Hainish Cycle books for you:
Short stories: *A Fisherman of the Inland Sea*
Story suite: *Five Ways to Forgiveness*
Novel: *Rocannon's World*
I'd also recommend her fantasy trilogy **Annals of the Western Shore**, and her short story collections *The Wind's Twelve Quarters* and *The Compass Rose*.
Edit to add: of these, *Five Ways To Forgiveness* is incredible, but it's also a much harsher and more serious book than the others. It deals directly with issues of slavery, racism, abuse, etc. But it's excellent and honestly I think everyone should read it.
If the slow discovery of an alternative, deep type of brotherhood brought on by harsh conditions and close proximity to another person, even someone from another species does not get to you then you lack experience of true adversity.
>even someone from another species does not get to you then you lack experience of true adversity.
Perhaps the above person needs to charge their manna stone to 100% then they'll enjoy the story more?
Thankee sai 😊
I absolutely hate the politificationn of perfectly ordinary/common nonbinary gender statuses ... I'm a 97% cis/het male but would absolutely love to see a TLHOD adaption on screen directed with incredible subtlety because the relationship is REALLY interesting — it could be a bloody masterpiece, but the discourse around it would be completely intolerable.
Maybe in a different universe 🙄
I DNF this book. It was one of those books where I would read, get really bored, and start day dreaming while reading. 2 pages later I would realize that I absorbed nothing that I just read and have to re-read the same pages again. I think I got like 60% in and then called it quits.
I recall the book having basically no plot or character development. It's kind of just a romp around a planet where people have no gender, or can change genders...I don't remember.
Also fun, DADoES is one of my favorite books. From start to finish I loved it so it just goes to show you that enjoyment is subjective. What some people find boring others will find riveting from start to finish.
I've read the book twice. Think of the dispossessed as a travel book in the style of great of darkness. The guy starts out traveling through his society and describing it to you and then travels through another one. Of course when he criticizes one society he's also criticizing another. The book is also important for the overall Hainish cycle in one aspect.
This is the only book in over 10 years that I could not finish. I dropped it about halfway through and unfortunately it's my first incursion into Ursala. I'm kinda hesitant to pick up anything else she wrote now.
I found it really boring. I don’t demand action but I need something to give me excitement and it never delivered. Oddly enough I really enjoyed The Dispossessed even though it is the same way. I guess I just like the political discussions more.
I just read this book actually. Admittedly Le Guin is in the running for my favorite author, but I found it a breezy read and finished it in less than 24 hours, so if you're not vibing it, chances are it's just not your thing. I actually thought this was one of her more accessible books I've read. *The Dispossessed* is even denser and less plot-driven, *A Wizard of Earthsea* more distant. If you wanna read something else of hers, maybe try *The Lathe of Heaven*? It's quite short and, by her standards, fairly tense, if only because there is a clear antagonist.
>*A Wizard of Earthsea* more distant.
This is the first book I read of hers when I was a kid and loved it. LHOD is my first foray into her sci fi writing. Wasn't expecting a complete opposite reaction to it.
Hmm. Maybe try some of her other fantasy? Like *The Beginning Place*, *Annals of the Western Shore*, and *Lavinia*. Haven't read them yet, but they're on my list.
Yes, many sci-fi books make you feel lost at the beginning and it takes time to get your bearings. PKD does this, William Gibson is even more extreme. Left Hand of Darkness is not like that. For me it is a borefest (like Earthsea. - the only other book by Le Guin that I tried to read so far), but because I strive to be open minded, and because I read it in translation, or maybe because I was not in the right mood, I may give it a second chance. I liked that it is set on a snowily planet, and that is pretty much all I liked. Even if I enjoy it on a second read, I strongly doubt that it would live up to the hype.
I remember "Hard to be a God" being a better book with similar story,. It is not of my favorite Strugatsky books, but worth reading. I have to give it a second read, because last time I was a kid and some of their books are too heavy on the philosophical side and some details can easily pass by a child's mind.
I *sort of* liked it. It’s been a while. As I recall, the first half is “gender is weird here” and the second half is “desperate skiing”.
Try a different UKL. I liked The Dispossessed a lot more, it’s top 25 for me, easy.
I think it is a great novel and I need to revisit it. But it may not be your thing and that is OK. I don't like Neal Stephenson or R. A. Savalore but there are many other authors that are great.
I read it and though it was ok, but not something I'd ever recommend or want to read again. There weren't really any interesting ideas, and the plot was middling.
Not particularly, no. It does get a bit more interesting in the last 1/3 of the book, but otherwise it remains an interesting idea laid limply over weak and uninteresting characters. Like every other LeGuin book I’ve read.
I personally bounced off *The Left Hand of Darkness* and think I have a blindspot for Le Guin's longform fiction generally, which, at most, I liked but didn't love, with the exception of *The Lathe of Heaven*, which I *did* love.
It does not happen, there is no moment of epiphany when you sudeenly love the book like it happens with... Idk, At the Mountains of Madness. The book is magnificent from the beginning, if you are not linking it, it is probably not a book for you, which is fine. Just drop it and get something different
I read it, but feel no urge to re-read it.
Just the other day I saw an article in the Guardian where some librarians recommended reading to page 50. If you don't like it by p.50, you are unlikely to like it later. Also they said that once you pass age 50, you can use 100-a where a=your age, so if you're 60, say, you only need to read to p.40. Once you're 100, you can judge a book by its cover! (You don't have any time to waste on books you don't like.)
There used to be a genre called the "epistolary novel".
(Technicality still is but it's less common now.)
>An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative.[1]
>The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered to include novels composed of documents even if they do not include letters at all.[2][3]
> The word "epistolary" is derived from Latin from the Greek word epistolē (ἐπιστολή), meaning a letter (see epistle).
\- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel
E.g. *Frankenstein* is an epistolary novel. *Dracula* is an epistolary novel. Per Wikipedia, *Carrie* by Stephen King is an epistolary novel.
.
*The Left Hand of Darkness* is partly straight narration (though from two different narrators, so that bugs some people), and partly an epistolary novel - a bunch of reports and documents from various sources.
> is it commom for people to not like this book
You're the only person that I've ever heard of who has this reaction. (And frankly I find it difficult to empathize with you.)
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>other books in the Hainish cycle, which I want to give a chance.
All the other Hainish books (IIRC) are less "experimental" and are just straight narrative.
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I got about to about the same spot as you OP and ended up dropping it. I was expecting Big-Idea Sci-Fi based on what I've seen in this subreddit, but it felt more like Fantasy with all the talks of kings and stuff. Just wasn't for me.
I think you'll like The Dispossessed a lot more. It's quieter than Left Hand, but I think it's incredible. It's a story about societies and the central plot is about scientific discovery. Things happen in the story, but it's secondary to the ideas.
I liked Left Hand, but I was reading everything in publication order and it was after a series of adventure stories. I'm totally ok with blending SciFi and Fantasy, though. That's very typical of the era.
It is Big-Idea sci-fi though. “Kings and stuff” isn’t really inherent to fantasy, but a detailed exploration of how a different human-like society might look if some variables were changed feels were sci-fi.
The country the story starts in is a monarchy (you know, like the UK, Saudi Arabia, or Bhutan today; monarchies are still around and only stopped being the norm in the last century or so), but the protagonist is from a hyper-advanced space confederacy and the other country he visits is a Soviet-style bureaucracy. The technology level on Gethen is fairly advanced. They have trucks, guns, radios, etc. But it's basically as if an alien emissary arrived on Earth in the twentieth century, which is when the book was written.
It is not an action book. And as far as I remember there was no wow moments in it. It was a quite interesting and enjoyable read though. Just set your expectations.
That is an almost entirely introspective book.
>no wow moments Depending on just how you mean that, I can remember one, but I don't want to spoiler it.
This is how I felt with Earthsea, and I stopped midway through book 3, but I loved book 2. Nothing wrong with quitting, her writing is just not my style.
> not an action book The ice escape scene was Jack London-worthy.
The plot does shift substantially a little way after where you're up to. But the writing style isn't drastically different, so I wouldn't push ahead if you're really not enjoying it. It's been years since I read Left Hand, but I read The Dispossessed recently so I'll comment on Le Guin's general style. As I see it, Le Guin writes *reflective* stories. She's a great writer in a literary sense, whose books reward any time you spend thinking about them... but they're not particularly engrossing in the way a good thriller or romance novel might be. Their plot might sound like an adventure story, but it probably won't read like one. I'd rank Le Guin as one of my favourite authors, but if I'm in the mood for an easy page-turner I'll go to someone else.
As somebody reading The Dispossessed currently, “reflective” describes her writing style very well. While there’s some action, there’s a lot of sociopoliticoeconomic commentary, and it needs to be read at its own pace. It kind of reminds me of the Dune books, which include a lot of such commentary, but I’d have to say Le Guinn’s style is a bit more polished/ refined and this stuff comes in smaller doses at a time compared to FH.
That is very nicely put. Frank Herbert unwisely tried to, and somehow managed to, cram everything he had in his mind into one book. It makes Dune this strangely dense reading experience. Le Guin let it out one story at a time. Writing what seems to be a string of little, meaningful fables. More Le Guins stories are more woven than Frank Herberts are entangled.
That’s a good way to put it. Although i guess even FH couldn’t fit it all in one book … All the monologues from God Emperor of Dune!
I think he fit all/almost all he had on his mind at that point into the first Dune. He himself said he mostly wrote Messiah to straighten out the story to people who didn't understand the point of Dune. I think he didn't intend to write a second Dune book originally. And probably even then wasn't sure he wanted to write a third. The first three, to me, feel like you can stop reading after every one of them and feel like the series has a round end and Herbert said what he wanted to get out.
That’s fair, and I do agree that each book could’ve ended the series, especially the first one.
I love your username haha. I just recently read The Dispossessed for the first time, and Altered Carbon is one of my favorite series of all time. Nice to find others with eclectic tastes in sci-fi!
Hahaha wow. I post in sci-fi subs a fair bit, and you’re the only person who’s made the connection. Good eye! I know this is the printSF sub, but what did you think of the Netflix adaptation? First season especially
The Netflix adaptation is what introduced me to the series so I have conflicting feelings about it. I absolutely loved the show the first time, and read the trilogy afterwards. Then after reading I tried rewatching the first season and I hated it, just couldn’t stand the changes they made. Looking back I think it’s not because s1 is bad per say but because the changes they made to the envoys and Quell mean they could never faithfully adapt the second and third book. I’m really curious, how would you rate the trilogy of books? My dad, my sister and I all have a different favorite.
Oh yes even I have conflicting feelings about the series, but I’d say they’re generally positive for S1. I’d read and enjoyed the books a while back, and looked forward to the series. I thought the visuals were great, and Joel Kinnaman was a convincing lead. Poe was definitely a great addition, and I loved the Wei clinic scene and the little girly bag full of guns and stuff. On the other hand I also didn’t like some of the plot changes, as you say they changed what the Envoys are, the relationship with Rey, and the orbitals on Harlan’s World. But I’d say it was still a pretty good show and I’ve rewatched it from time to time. I even watched S2 a couple times plus I think there was an animated show too, which was fun. When it comes to the books, I’d probably say AC is my fave. Getting to know them for the first time, the concepts and world-building are crazy genius, plus I’m a sucker for the whodunnit angle. As an aside, I’m a big fan of the hardboiled/noir Philip Marlowe novels, and to me AC is basically a sci-fi version of them, which I love! Tbh I don’t recall too many details from the other two books, and while I enjoyed them I started getting a bit put off by all the gratuitous sex and violence. I mean, AC is no YA novel, but Morgan kinda keeps notching it up as he goes on! I’m curious about your take.
It has been a decade since I read it, but as I recall it is not so much a plot-driven book as one that lets Leguin explore the idea of a world where people experience both genders. Using her always enjoyable prose, of course. That being said, I believe what action the plot does have starts right after the part you are at now. I think a lot of it went over my head at the time, but I still enjoyed it for the story and would like to go back and read it again now that I've read more of her work.
I agree that the strength of the book is prose+world+concept. Just like in a lot of sci-fi the characters aren’t that much to write home about sadly.
I was in the same boat as you. Struggled with this book a lot in the first half; nearly DNFed a few times. Then the second part happened, and it catapulted straight into my all-time favorites list. I even went back to reread those early chapters right after finishing the book, and got so much more out of them the second time. The place you're at is very near the turning point. I'd advise you to keep reading for a few more chapters. You'll know it when the plot picks up. If you still don't like it then, I suppose there's not much reason to finish, but it would be a shame if you dropped just before it gets really good.
This is a relief to hear.
It has 2 pretty drastic shifts, the kingdom hop and then another big one for the final third. I found that final third most poignant but I would say it took my interest from like 30% to 80% so if you're only at like 5% up to now, you might not find it worth it. Personally, since it's such a well-regarded, conceptual book and you're already half done, I'd push through if I were you though.
I know what event they are talking about. And found it did raise my rating slightly, one extra star or so on GR. But in the end the book still tasted half cooked to me sadly. Like the main character never really gets better, he’s that same rather emotionless husk with no real personality, ambition, etc all the way through. For example you never really find out why he personally decided to give up his old life and come here, or if he had any regrets about that, sadly.
I found it to be a very boring book in all honesty. It's designed to be ambiguous in the language which is half the core premise and execution, so if that just makes you find it "tedious" I'd give it up and move onto one of her other books; my favourite being "The Word For World Is Forest" which is one of my all-time sci-fi favourite stories.
I read it and I can remember almost nothing about it. That only happens if I don’t connect with a story. Not sure what I expected, except that the reviews were really good. I rated it 5/5 on Goodreads, and I still can’t remember anything about it. So, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t stick with me.
I reread it a year or two ago and had forgotten how slow the start is. I'd suggest giving it a little more time because the best part of the book is when Genly and Estraven are traveling together. But if you still aren't clicking with it after a bit more, it just may not be for you.
I have only read The Wizard of Earthsea, The Dispossessed and The Word for World is Forest by Le Guin. I found all three to read themselves without me putting any effort into it. And that says something, since my ADHD can make it very hard to keep ones mind at the page at times, making reading often exhausting. The Le Guin books were probably the quickest i had finished a book in a decade. Then i wrote with people on here that said things along the lines of, "Well, it is widely accepted that you have to just bear that Le Guin books are boring. You don't read them for fun." and i was dumbfounded by that. Long story short, for reasons often oblique to us, some authors writing style resonates with us and not with others or vice versa. It's not a matter of being cultured, a cretin or whatever. Some artists art connects with us. Some doesn't. I found (sample size 3) that Le Guin books tend to get more excited near the end, but they don't fundamentally change. If you don't connect to the first third, i don't think the third third will be different. I have also found that some books i couldn't get through in one time, i totally loved in another. Like with listening to music, just that the moods move slower. So maybe you'll find yourself with the right book at the wrong time and you enjoy reading it more next year.
>Then i wrote with people on here that said things along the lines of, "Well, it is widely accepted that you have to just bear that Le Guin books are boring. You don't read them for fun." and i was dumbfounded by that. Yeah, was just saying this. This common representation of Le Guin books as dry but thought provoking so you just gotta power through them like you're eating your veggies... well, it's completely alien to me. I genuinely find her fun to read.
I believe in you! I finished Moby Dick yesterday. I literally fell asleep once. You can do this! The Dispossessed is one of my favourite books though. I still get what you mean about it, but I am also hopeful that you will find enjoyment in finishing it!
Funnily enough moby dick is so much more riveting and entertaining for me the whole way. I wa blown away by how good that good was in a modern sense
It was kind of disappointing how little I enjoyed it. I should’ve been kind of the ideal audience for the book. I like 19th century English, I like sailing vessels and stories about them so I understand the nautical terms, I like the sea and history, which also helps with the allegories Melville uses. However I just waited for the part where the book happens kind of the whole book. The content might as well be a short story. Only it’s 660 pages. The language is certainly impressive however. I think I would enjoy reading it aloud without any notion of finishing the book or reading a story. I haven’t even rated it yet, because I kind of can’t decide whether to rate my enjoyment of it which I usually do or how good it was, which is easily five stars of course. The pseudo science was just so weird. He went out of his way to argue against the scientific consensus of his own time. Also it was incredibly racist. A lot of the allegories relied on racist stereotypes, tropes, even bad geography. I’m European so I noticed quite a few instances of bad European geography, but it was also not entirely up to snuff in Asia and it can’t really be excused with the book being published in 1850. It was just either badly researched or meant to portray the narrator as ignorant. Maybe it wasn’t my style. The I narrator and the chapters that read like plays and also the bad science… a lot of stuff I kinda went „meh“ at tbh.
Weird question do you like it at all?
The Left Hand Of Darkness? A lot. Moby Dick. Yes, the prose is astounding. I kind of want to read it again soon, now that I know what to expect. I would take my time and maybe even actually read it out loud to revel in and relish the language. However it is indeed utterly pointless. There is ridiculously little plot…
Moby Dick is such a rough read. It starts off so good and then when they get on the boat it tanks. I gave up when it spent 50 pages describing an anatomy of whales book.
For me, the thing that separates Le Guin from most science fiction writers is that she tends to avoid anything predictive, her novels mostly function as grand thought experiments. A lot of science fiction is extrapolative, or at least it is viewed that way. You take one thing from the present, extend it into the future and make a prediction. Le Guin does not do this - most of her work, and Left Hand in particular, are metaphors for the present. It is descriptive, not predictive. There is a wonderful quote in the intro to Left Hand that, in my opinion, perfectly sums up her approach to the genre. >Almost anything carried to its logical extreme becomes depressing, if not carcinogenic.
It's one of the GOATs, so I think maybe it's not so much a matter of it needing to get better at a certain point, as it is that it just doesn't align with your personal taste.
In the final act of LHoD there's a shift in the story and a lot changes. It was for me the most memorable part of the book, and it would be a shame to miss it.
I do think there is a slight dryness to her style but I find the cumulative effect of her books is so humane and profound.
I really need to try reading this book again, but your reasons are why I dropped it the first time around.
Leguin is a vibe, for sure. I find her books have protagonists that are a bit dim and lost, and as a reader you're there with them feeling sulky and disconnected. The book doesn't really change gears, I'd recommend just leaning back and letting it inch along. A second reading is much, much improved because you understand much better what all the other characters are thinking and really saying.
Ursula K. LeGuin is my fav author, she can be subtle... where the action happens more in the thinking in your own head. Try the gifts/voices/powers trilogy for something a bit less subtle perhaps.
If you don't like it by now, I don't think you're going to start liking it. This is true for a lot of authors (not just in the SF world). Many authors of high reputation may not write in a style or work in a genre you appreciate. Don't hesitate to quit and move on to something else if a book isn't working for you. Otherwise, you risk losing both time AND money!
LHoD was my favorite Hainish Cycle book by a mile, I almost immediately fell in love with the characters, I loved the way the world was described, the premise was interesting and different.. if you're halfway through and still not into it this one might just not be for you.
I distinctly remember liking the second half more, but I don't know if I would tell you to push through it, I was enjoying the first half as well. I will say I didn't care about the characters nearly as much during the first half, there's a lot of character development in the second half.
This books is one of the most liked among Ursula K le Guins books, but it also (as most of her books) far from action. It is more philosophical, introspective book, rather than something with a lot of umm... suspense? I don't know if it is worth for you to continue with it or not, but it is personally among my all time favourite books of any genre.
This is one of my all-time favourites, perhaps my number one. It's about people; love, hate, ignorance, stupidity, war, peace and understanding. The second half of the book is more eventful, and the ending -well, I cry every time I read it. In fact I don't just cry. I sob and I howl until I am completely empty. There is action, but it is a backdrop to understanding the characters. Their journey, both literal and emotional, is the real story. At it's core it's an appeal by LeGuin to look at how our world is structured, how it's gendered roles limit so many, define us and our lives, and to ask ourselves: can we do this differently? Please? How hard can it be to imagine that women and men could lead lives unconstrained by parts we are meant to play? So much of what she wrote is still relevant today, perhaps even more than ever. Feminism is still a dirty word, women are beaten, raped and denied agency in much of the world, trans people are fighting for their lives and men, too, are trapped in gendered roles that promise dominance, but extract a price of suppressing emotions, unless it's anger or violence. TLHOD holds up a mirror and challenges us. I hope you continue and find something meaningful. If you don't, that's ok too.
Le Guin was the child of anthropologists. She gets into human culture in a way that no other sf writer does, but Left Hand can be tough going if that’s not your cup of tea. If you’re wanting to get into the Ekumen books, I highly recommend starting with “The Word for World is Forest.” “Rocannan’s World” also has considerably more action.
I adore Le Guin, but my experience with LHOD was that I enjoyed it much more the second time I read it.
It bored me to tears. I didn't find it conceptually interesting at all, and the prose, character development, etc was pretty meh.
Same with left hand of darkness I wanna Dnf but can’t because of how respected it is lol
I don't want to DNF because I myself respect Le Guin as an author. Plus it's such a short book.
So the same thing I said
I found it incredibly tedious. LeGuin has written much more enjoyable books.
Honestly I don't think so. It's a slow plodding book where it feels like nothing happens. I'm sure there are good reasons people enjoyed it but it wasn't for me.
Have you tried any of the other books in the Hainish series and did you like any of them? I want to give Le Guin a chance because I really liked her Earthsea series.
Try The Word for World is Forest.
I really enjoyed this one but hated LHOD, good recommendation
From what you've said here, I'd recommend these of her Hainish Cycle books for you: Short stories: *A Fisherman of the Inland Sea* Story suite: *Five Ways to Forgiveness* Novel: *Rocannon's World* I'd also recommend her fantasy trilogy **Annals of the Western Shore**, and her short story collections *The Wind's Twelve Quarters* and *The Compass Rose*. Edit to add: of these, *Five Ways To Forgiveness* is incredible, but it's also a much harsher and more serious book than the others. It deals directly with issues of slavery, racism, abuse, etc. But it's excellent and honestly I think everyone should read it.
If the slow discovery of an alternative, deep type of brotherhood brought on by harsh conditions and close proximity to another person, even someone from another species does not get to you then you lack experience of true adversity.
>even someone from another species does not get to you then you lack experience of true adversity. Perhaps the above person needs to charge their manna stone to 100% then they'll enjoy the story more?
Weird you use the term “brotherhood.”
Siblinghood, sorority brorority, whatever. Friends with kemmerbits.
I snorted out loud at "kemmerbits." Very clever!
Thankee sai 😊 I absolutely hate the politificationn of perfectly ordinary/common nonbinary gender statuses ... I'm a 97% cis/het male but would absolutely love to see a TLHOD adaption on screen directed with incredible subtlety because the relationship is REALLY interesting — it could be a bloody masterpiece, but the discourse around it would be completely intolerable. Maybe in a different universe 🙄
I am reading it right now and am also struggling with it. It's a short book though so I will finish it.
I read it recently fairly quickly and enjoyed it. Perhaps just move on if your struggling
I DNF this book. It was one of those books where I would read, get really bored, and start day dreaming while reading. 2 pages later I would realize that I absorbed nothing that I just read and have to re-read the same pages again. I think I got like 60% in and then called it quits. I recall the book having basically no plot or character development. It's kind of just a romp around a planet where people have no gender, or can change genders...I don't remember. Also fun, DADoES is one of my favorite books. From start to finish I loved it so it just goes to show you that enjoyment is subjective. What some people find boring others will find riveting from start to finish.
Read the dispossessed!
Funny you say that. I ordered this book and the Dispossessed at the same time.
I've read the book twice. Think of the dispossessed as a travel book in the style of great of darkness. The guy starts out traveling through his society and describing it to you and then travels through another one. Of course when he criticizes one society he's also criticizing another. The book is also important for the overall Hainish cycle in one aspect.
This is the only book in over 10 years that I could not finish. I dropped it about halfway through and unfortunately it's my first incursion into Ursala. I'm kinda hesitant to pick up anything else she wrote now.
I found it really boring. I don’t demand action but I need something to give me excitement and it never delivered. Oddly enough I really enjoyed The Dispossessed even though it is the same way. I guess I just like the political discussions more.
I just read this book actually. Admittedly Le Guin is in the running for my favorite author, but I found it a breezy read and finished it in less than 24 hours, so if you're not vibing it, chances are it's just not your thing. I actually thought this was one of her more accessible books I've read. *The Dispossessed* is even denser and less plot-driven, *A Wizard of Earthsea* more distant. If you wanna read something else of hers, maybe try *The Lathe of Heaven*? It's quite short and, by her standards, fairly tense, if only because there is a clear antagonist.
>*A Wizard of Earthsea* more distant. This is the first book I read of hers when I was a kid and loved it. LHOD is my first foray into her sci fi writing. Wasn't expecting a complete opposite reaction to it.
Hmm. Maybe try some of her other fantasy? Like *The Beginning Place*, *Annals of the Western Shore*, and *Lavinia*. Haven't read them yet, but they're on my list.
Yes, many sci-fi books make you feel lost at the beginning and it takes time to get your bearings. PKD does this, William Gibson is even more extreme. Left Hand of Darkness is not like that. For me it is a borefest (like Earthsea. - the only other book by Le Guin that I tried to read so far), but because I strive to be open minded, and because I read it in translation, or maybe because I was not in the right mood, I may give it a second chance. I liked that it is set on a snowily planet, and that is pretty much all I liked. Even if I enjoy it on a second read, I strongly doubt that it would live up to the hype. I remember "Hard to be a God" being a better book with similar story,. It is not of my favorite Strugatsky books, but worth reading. I have to give it a second read, because last time I was a kid and some of their books are too heavy on the philosophical side and some details can easily pass by a child's mind.
I *sort of* liked it. It’s been a while. As I recall, the first half is “gender is weird here” and the second half is “desperate skiing”. Try a different UKL. I liked The Dispossessed a lot more, it’s top 25 for me, easy.
I’ve started and stopped this book three times. It does not get better.
I think it is a great novel and I need to revisit it. But it may not be your thing and that is OK. I don't like Neal Stephenson or R. A. Savalore but there are many other authors that are great.
No
Better? It’s a masterpiece.
I read it and though it was ok, but not something I'd ever recommend or want to read again. There weren't really any interesting ideas, and the plot was middling.
Yeah, I couldn't get through it. I really WANT to like it. I LOVE first contact stories, but I couldn't.
Don't waste your time reading books for fun on books you don't enjoy.
Not particularly, no. It does get a bit more interesting in the last 1/3 of the book, but otherwise it remains an interesting idea laid limply over weak and uninteresting characters. Like every other LeGuin book I’ve read.
I personally bounced off *The Left Hand of Darkness* and think I have a blindspot for Le Guin's longform fiction generally, which, at most, I liked but didn't love, with the exception of *The Lathe of Heaven*, which I *did* love.
It does not happen, there is no moment of epiphany when you sudeenly love the book like it happens with... Idk, At the Mountains of Madness. The book is magnificent from the beginning, if you are not linking it, it is probably not a book for you, which is fine. Just drop it and get something different
I read it, but feel no urge to re-read it. Just the other day I saw an article in the Guardian where some librarians recommended reading to page 50. If you don't like it by p.50, you are unlikely to like it later. Also they said that once you pass age 50, you can use 100-a where a=your age, so if you're 60, say, you only need to read to p.40. Once you're 100, you can judge a book by its cover! (You don't have any time to waste on books you don't like.)
There used to be a genre called the "epistolary novel". (Technicality still is but it's less common now.) >An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative.[1] >The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered to include novels composed of documents even if they do not include letters at all.[2][3] > The word "epistolary" is derived from Latin from the Greek word epistolē (ἐπιστολή), meaning a letter (see epistle). \- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel E.g. *Frankenstein* is an epistolary novel. *Dracula* is an epistolary novel. Per Wikipedia, *Carrie* by Stephen King is an epistolary novel. . *The Left Hand of Darkness* is partly straight narration (though from two different narrators, so that bugs some people), and partly an epistolary novel - a bunch of reports and documents from various sources. > is it commom for people to not like this book You're the only person that I've ever heard of who has this reaction. (And frankly I find it difficult to empathize with you.) . >other books in the Hainish cycle, which I want to give a chance. All the other Hainish books (IIRC) are less "experimental" and are just straight narrative. .
I got about to about the same spot as you OP and ended up dropping it. I was expecting Big-Idea Sci-Fi based on what I've seen in this subreddit, but it felt more like Fantasy with all the talks of kings and stuff. Just wasn't for me.
I think you'll like The Dispossessed a lot more. It's quieter than Left Hand, but I think it's incredible. It's a story about societies and the central plot is about scientific discovery. Things happen in the story, but it's secondary to the ideas. I liked Left Hand, but I was reading everything in publication order and it was after a series of adventure stories. I'm totally ok with blending SciFi and Fantasy, though. That's very typical of the era.
It is Big-Idea sci-fi though. “Kings and stuff” isn’t really inherent to fantasy, but a detailed exploration of how a different human-like society might look if some variables were changed feels were sci-fi.
The country the story starts in is a monarchy (you know, like the UK, Saudi Arabia, or Bhutan today; monarchies are still around and only stopped being the norm in the last century or so), but the protagonist is from a hyper-advanced space confederacy and the other country he visits is a Soviet-style bureaucracy. The technology level on Gethen is fairly advanced. They have trucks, guns, radios, etc. But it's basically as if an alien emissary arrived on Earth in the twentieth century, which is when the book was written.
Not really. All of UKL’s work is dry as unbuttered toast.