Left Hand of Darkness

Let’s talk about Ursula Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness, shall we? At first it was hard for me to get into the book, and the going was slow; I didn’t know some of the terms, there wasn’t too much action—it felt sluggish to me. Luckily, I’m one of those folks that once I start a book, I feel obligated to finish it…and thank goodness I did. A few chapters into the book it explodes with action, things are explained that earlier on in the book had you going wha’??, and it basically becomes this fantastic book that you just can’t put down. The book’s take on gender roles, politics, what a sense of duty means, and many other things are fascinating and well worth the read alone, apart from the action. This book is most definitely going on the list. So give it a read, and don’t get discouraged if you’re nothing but confused in the beginning because you’ll understand everything more clearly once you get a little ways into it.