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remysharp.com · @remysharp.com@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The Left Hand of Darkness 6/10

300 pages but wow it felt 4 times longer...<br/><br/>I found the writings quite difficult to consume. A lot, if not all the names were sounds but without any familiar rhythm, and Le Guin was describing, with I assume great accuracy a world with locations, cities, regions and mountains - but I was struggling to map it all. <br/><br/>Then the story was thread through this detail, which left me struggling to read and struggling to enjoy the book.<br/><br/>It's only when I hit around 60% and the two characters embark on a journey across the ice did I finally manage to engage properly. I really did feel the characters relationship change through their journey and felt their struggle, which I think is what turned this book, for me, from 2 star to 3.<br/><br/>There's a scene towards the end when the protagonist revisits the King of {whatever the name of the city was}, and the protagonist reflects on how the time has passed since his first visit much earlier in the book. I could empathise! It felt like a lifetime!<br/><br/>Probably a great book. Maybe passed me by though.

#book

Published 2026-08-01 11:10 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere