4 ms·

I'm not a sci-fi or fantasy reader but had heard so much about "Left hand of darkness" that I gave it a try. It was just okay for me, sort of underdelivered on

I'm not a sci-fi or fantasy reader but had heard so much about "Left hand of darkness" that I gave it a try. It was just okay for me, sort of underdelivered on a great premise. If I read one more LeGuin, which one should I take on?

drdeadringer 9y ago
I'm almost the same; for the book you mention I really enjoyed when the main character finally grok'd the concept of one's "shadow", and I also enjoyed "The Dispossessed". Other books of hers I've read were decent but I couldn't tell you their titles unless I was holding them in my hands.
empath75 9y ago
http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/eng102/Week%209/Text_LeGuin%20Ursula_Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20From%20Omelas.pdf http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/eng102/Week%209/Text_LeGuin%20Ursula...
- zwieback 9y ago
  Wow, that's great and horrifying.
- neaden 9y ago
  If we are doing short stories I think She Unames Them is another good work at a single page. https://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/s/smcmahon/courses/hist249/readingguide/files/leguin-unnames.pdf https://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/s/smcmahon/courses/hist249/r...
- ambrosite 9y ago
  I see this story as a kind of thought experiment about the way in which societies treat minority groups. There have been many societies that felt the oppression of a minority was justified, or even necessary, in exchange for the greater good of the society. This story takes that idea to its logical extreme: a perfect society, with unlimited health and happiness for all, in exchange for the complete and utter oppression and degradation of the smallest possible minority -- a minority of one. Is it still justified? The people who feel it is not are "the ones who walk away from Omelas."
  - eeZah7Ux 9y ago
    > There have been many societies that felt the oppression of a minority was justified "have been"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality
scrumper 9y ago
Lathe of Heaven is short and rather lovely. Wonderful characters.
voidifremoved 9y ago
A Wizard of Earthsea, and then The Tombs of Atuan. Then read the rest of the series, which are all good, it is just the first two are particularly wonderful.
mighty_atomic_c 9y ago
"The Dispossessed" was incredibly interesting abd my favorite novel from Le Guin so far.
thecombjelly 9y ago
I agree on "Left hand of darkness". "The Dispossessed" really is excellent though.
jcoffland 9y ago
The Dispossessed.
howard941 9y ago
If LeGuin disappoints but you enjoy a sociological take then may I suggest Samuel R. Delaney's "Triton" and Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow?"
- zwieback 9y ago
  Thanks for the tips. I loved the Sparrow, read it years ago and it left an impression.
Karrot_Kream 9y ago
It's an interesting book but I think a lot of its theses have become less groundbreaking over the years. Agree with most of the other commenters that "The Dispossessed" was better
poopchute 9y ago
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is very excellent and only a few pages long (under 10 if I recall correctly)
- solipsism 9y ago
  As an anecdote, I couldn't finish Left Hand of Darkness, but "Omelas" is a long time favorite short story of mine. For me these two are like night and day, in terms of overall quality, emotional impact, and style.
zwieback 9y ago
Everyone, many thanks for the tips. I think Dispossessed and collected shorts will be on my Goodreads want-to-read shelf and I'll go from there.
shadytrees 9y ago
Grab Library of America's collection of Hainish novels, volume one. In that body of work -- Rocannon's World (mindspeech, ansible, empathy), Planet of Exile (forgetting one's history), City of Illusions (divided mind), Left Hand of Darkness (ambisexuality), The Dispossessed (collectivist anarchy, invention of the ansible) -- you can see Le Guin grow as a writer, in her ambition to explore themes from anthropology and her casual brilliance in building out a coherent scifi universe.

drdeadringer 9y ago

I'm almost the same; for the book you mention I really enjoyed when the main character finally grok'd the concept of one's "shadow", and I also enjoyed "The Dispossessed". Other books of hers I've read were decent but I couldn't tell you their titles unless I was holding them in my hands.

empath75 9y ago

http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/eng102/Week%209/Text_LeGuin%20Ursula_Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20From%20Omelas.pdf http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/eng102/Week%209/Text_LeGuin%20Ursula...

zwieback 9y ago
Wow, that's great and horrifying.
neaden 9y ago
If we are doing short stories I think She Unames Them is another good work at a single page. https://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/s/smcmahon/courses/hist249/readingguide/files/leguin-unnames.pdf https://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/s/smcmahon/courses/hist249/r...
ambrosite 9y ago
I see this story as a kind of thought experiment about the way in which societies treat minority groups. There have been many societies that felt the oppression of a minority was justified, or even necessary, in exchange for the greater good of the society. This story takes that idea to its logical extreme: a perfect society, with unlimited health and happiness for all, in exchange for the complete and utter oppression and degradation of the smallest possible minority -- a minority of one. Is it still justified? The people who feel it is not are "the ones who walk away from Omelas."
- eeZah7Ux 9y ago
  > There have been many societies that felt the oppression of a minority was justified "have been"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality

scrumper 9y ago

Lathe of Heaven is short and rather lovely. Wonderful characters.

voidifremoved 9y ago

A Wizard of Earthsea, and then The Tombs of Atuan. Then read the rest of the series, which are all good, it is just the first two are particularly wonderful.

mighty_atomic_c 9y ago

"The Dispossessed" was incredibly interesting abd my favorite novel from Le Guin so far.

thecombjelly 9y ago

I agree on "Left hand of darkness". "The Dispossessed" really is excellent though.

jcoffland 9y ago

The Dispossessed.

howard941 9y ago

If LeGuin disappoints but you enjoy a sociological take then may I suggest Samuel R. Delaney's "Triton" and Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow?"

zwieback 9y ago
Thanks for the tips. I loved the Sparrow, read it years ago and it left an impression.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago

It's an interesting book but I think a lot of its theses have become less groundbreaking over the years. Agree with most of the other commenters that "The Dispossessed" was better

poopchute 9y ago

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is very excellent and only a few pages long (under 10 if I recall correctly)

solipsism 9y ago
As an anecdote, I couldn't finish Left Hand of Darkness, but "Omelas" is a long time favorite short story of mine. For me these two are like night and day, in terms of overall quality, emotional impact, and style.

zwieback 9y ago

Everyone, many thanks for the tips. I think Dispossessed and collected shorts will be on my Goodreads want-to-read shelf and I'll go from there.

shadytrees 9y ago

Grab Library of America's collection of Hainish novels, volume one. In that body of work -- Rocannon's World (mindspeech, ansible, empathy), Planet of Exile (forgetting one's history), City of Illusions (divided mind), Left Hand of Darkness (ambisexuality), The Dispossessed (collectivist anarchy, invention of the ansible) -- you can see Le Guin grow as a writer, in her ambition to explore themes from anthropology and her casual brilliance in building out a coherent scifi universe.