The Art of Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in 1969.
Early covers
A strong thread of cover illustrations show dual image. Here, it could be two people -- Genly Ai and Estraven -- or the dual nature of the Gethenians. |
An early hardback cover, prefiguring much of the cover art of the late 20th and early 21st centuries with its emphasis on a minimalist blue and white landscape. |
Buildings
clearer here in the original. |
An unusual treatment; possibly the spaceship that brought Genly Ai to Gethen, or perhaps one of the buildings on Gethen? |
Abstracts
Landscapes
- Fantastic landscapes, evocative of castles
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- Naturalistic glacial landscapes
- Tiny figures dwarfed by the landscape
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 A popular paperback cover -- note the Janus-like figure referring to the Gethenians' dual nature. |
Human elements
Faces
Singular faces; both oddly masculine.
An outlier among covers, with the imagery evocative of flames, and a strongly masculine face -- Genly Ai's, perhaps? The Promethean imagery also does not seem particularly apt -- presumably, a reference to the Gethenians' fears about what Genly Ai might be bringing them. |
Faces emerging from the landscape or the elements.
A popular paperback cover -- note the Janus-like figure referring to the Gethenians' dual nature. |
Here the face is emerging from crystalline shards, although in an orange-red tone -- an unusual color selection for the LHOD covers, and one more evocative of flames than of ice. |
- Eerie Eyes
Figures in a Landscape
An early hardback cover, prefiguring much of the cover art of the late 20th and early 21st centuries with its emphasis on a minimalist blue and white landscape. The two tiny figures appear to be approaching a city, castle, settlement; or perhaps a mountain of ice. |
By far the more common treatment is that above, with two tiny figures dwarfed by their landscape. Here, the eye is drawn to the single figure, which is robed and somewhat mysterious; the landscape includes something like a castle in the background. |
Hands
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An outlier among covers, with the imagery evocative of flames, and a strongly masculine face -- Genly Ai's, perhaps? The Promethean imagery also does not seem particularly apt -- presumably, a reference to the Gethenians' fears about what Genly Ai might be bringing them. |
Duality
A popular paperback cover -- note the Janus-like figure referring to the Gethenians' dual nature. |
A strong thread of cover illustrations show dual image. Here, it could be two people -- Genly Ai and Estraven -- or the dual nature of the Gethenians. |
Two figures, clearly not representing individuals but Gethenian nature. |
Two Together
One of the only editions that attempts to show kemmer, an unusual choice since kemmer isn't portrayed in the novel, although it was described (and portrayed in other Gethenian fiction). |
Two figures, clearly not representing individuals but Gethenian nature. |
Two figures; Genly Ai and Estraven? |
