The Left Hand of Darkness

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: George Guidall

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

Such a great story

One of the classics of hard science fiction that I always seemed to put off and am glad I took the time now. So ahead of its time and yet timeless. The reader was generally great, but at times it was hard to distinguish between the characters speaking.

Award winning science fiction

What made the experience of listening to The Left Hand of Darkness the most enjoyable?

When reading the perspectives of the main character, I felt like I was listening to an old man in his twilight remembering his greatest diplomatic adventure.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Although not fully explored, I enjoyed Faxe the Weaver. Faxe provides the listener/reader with background on the Handarrata religion and also serves to move the plot along in his capacity as a "foreteller". Faxe's divination provides the main character the motivation to move forward on his mission without giving up.

What aspect of George Guidall’s performance would you have changed?

Mr. Guidall was at times a bit monotone and even though the Audible book denotes chapter breaks, it sometimes took a couple of paragraphs to understand that the narrative perspective had changed. There are some passages where his diction is less clear and borders on mumbling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Although overall I enjoyed Mr.Guidall's performance, listening all at once would have easily put me to sleep. Also, I think this is a book to think about as new concepts are introduced, Le Guin is inviting the reader into very interesting areas to consider on gender and society that deserve time to think on; although there is drama, this is not your average action/adventure beach read.

love this story

You will need to take your time with this, as there is no hand holding to explain things right away, but it is well worth it. This book is beautiful and amazing. It challenges the ideas of gender and sex as well as the concept of nationalism. I highly recommend this book.

Can not believe I waited so long to read

Beautifully written, took till chapter 2 to suspend my belief and get drawn into character development but then ... just wanted to know what would happen, a purely lovely read.

Striking in some societal details, but perhaps better read than listened

Did not care for the narrator. Half his sentences are punctuated by a breath somewhere in the middle of the line. His tone was plaintive and judgmental, yet somehow passive and nearly manic simultaneously.

I understand this book is highly regarded, especially for the time it was published, but I felt lost much of the time. Scenes and actions drifted by with no more sense of importance or weight than passing strangers in the street. There were evocative bits throughout, but the POV narrator’s internal life was just bland. I have to guess the reading is a disservice to the story.

Phenomenal Text, Mediocre Narrator

The Left Hand of Darkness audiobook was on sale for the 4th of July and I had heard good things, so I figured why not?
This is an amazing piece of literature. The writing and world building is really interesting. I'm usually a bit skeptical of super human-like aliens but I loved the lore Le Guin built into this universe. Also the themes are so relevant and timely, even today.
What really made this book for me though was Estraven and Ai's relationship. It was so beautiful. The plot doesn't have anything particularly amazing going for it, but the themes, characters, relationships, and world are so well done. I totally agree that this should be a staple of science fiction.
The narrator is pretty hard to understand sometimes - he has a bit of an accent and he mumbles a lot. It took a while for me to get used to his voice, but by the end it didn't hinder me anymore. He just kind of reads it, there's not much variability. He doesn't do voices for different characters and he doesn't change his tone at all despite what's happening in the story.

Wonderfully engaging story, beautifully read

I'm not a reader of science fiction, but the recent death of Ursula K. LeGuin prompted me to listen to one of her most renowned books. I was delighted by her evocation of the world and culture of the planet Gethen, through the eyes of 2 engaging characters. As usual, George Guidall narrates the book beautifully. Highly recommend.

Very interesting read

I was not sure what to expect then I couldn't put it down till the end.

I’d Forgotten.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed reading the book originally until listening to it again. My only suggestion, should this be recorded again, is that, since the story is generally told in the first person by two narrators in alternating chapters, it would lend itself to being read by two voices. I’m not sure if someone who is not familiar with the book would realize this alternating chapter structure at first.

Fascinating look at a different society

The Left Hand of Darkness holds up just as well as it did all those years ago as an investigation of society and gender through the eyes of the somewhat chauvinistic Genly Ai who steadily adopts more and more elements from the androgynous society.