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The Left Hand of Darkness cover art

The Left Hand of Darkness

Written by: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's Summary

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 Books

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What listeners say about The Left Hand of Darkness

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Wrong choice for narrator

Why would you choose a male narrator for this? Completely incongruous. Does not make sense.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator is difficult to understand

I love this book! And I always wanted to listen to it. But alas the narrator was extremely mumbly and difficult to understand. I am not sure if it is just bad recording or something else. I’m struggling to keep up, and I have to keep rewinding.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Can’t sit through the narrator

An awful gravely old man’s voice does not fit this story and makes it impossible to enjoy. Wasted my money on this.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My kind of SF

I’m not a big fan of space operas, preferring imaginative stories with characters who are believable in strange surroundings. Ursula Le Guin manages to pull this off very well. George Guidall’s narration helps to bring the story to life, though at times it was hard to determine which character was telling the story, since it switches from one to another without warning.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Rich and unique world building and story

Leguin is an amazing author. Her work is rich, dense, and original. I'm glad to listened to this after so many years and it was even better the second time.

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