As a somewhat contrary opinion, while I agree that Le Guin is a fantastically good worldbuilder, sadly her stories and characters often barely reach mediocre quality. I still strongly recommend The Disposessed - it shifted my politics massively towards anarchism and I re-read it every few years.
Otoh many of Le Guin’s works feature strong misogyny, and The Word for World is Forest is one of the worst examples.
spoiler
Lots of sexual violence, and one of the PoV characters being a rapist.
While the depicted native culture is interesting, we see very little of it in proportion to all the violence and destruction.
Then there’s The Left Hand of Darkness which I’m quite on the fence about. I’m fascinated by the gender and sexual dynamics of its society, but sadly we experience the whole story through the thoughts of a very sexist cishet guy. Imho that spoils it a lot.
My second favourite Le Guin novel after The Disposessed is The Telling. Here, too, we see very oppressive societies, and as symptomatic of Le Guin’s works the pacing is uneven and the plot feels unfinished - but in its entirety the novel still feels like a beautiful poem about cultural and personal resilience in face of oppression.
As a somewhat contrary opinion, while I agree that Le Guin is a fantastically good worldbuilder, sadly her stories and characters often barely reach mediocre quality. I still strongly recommend The Disposessed - it shifted my politics massively towards anarchism and I re-read it every few years.
Otoh many of Le Guin’s works feature strong misogyny, and The Word for World is Forest is one of the worst examples.
spoiler
Lots of sexual violence, and one of the PoV characters being a rapist.
While the depicted native culture is interesting, we see very little of it in proportion to all the violence and destruction.
Then there’s The Left Hand of Darkness which I’m quite on the fence about. I’m fascinated by the gender and sexual dynamics of its society, but sadly we experience the whole story through the thoughts of a very sexist cishet guy. Imho that spoils it a lot.
My second favourite Le Guin novel after The Disposessed is The Telling. Here, too, we see very oppressive societies, and as symptomatic of Le Guin’s works the pacing is uneven and the plot feels unfinished - but in its entirety the novel still feels like a beautiful poem about cultural and personal resilience in face of oppression.
That is very valuable information that I will definitely consider before deciding to read her work, thanks!