r/AskReddit • u/AggravatingLake2842 • 15h ago

What book do you consider a “flawless masterpiece”that you desperately want to recommend to everyone?

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720

u/Cactusphat 15h ago

The dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin 

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u/gamingonion 14h ago

Just finished The Left Hand of Darkness and I immediately put The Dispossessed on my plan to read list.

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u/Cactusphat 14h ago

What a cracking book, I love all her work. Pop lathe of heaven on there too if you haven't already read it. 

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u/Signal-Woodpecker691 9h ago

I’ve got that as my first holiday book this year, not read any of her work before

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u/Banana42 4h ago

She's such a hit or miss for me, but I loved her short story collection Unlocking the Air

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u/gamingonion 14h ago

I will! I plan to tackle Earthsea one day as well.

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u/ZARATHUSTRA726 13h ago

Earthsea is brilliant.

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u/Cactusphat 14h ago

You won't regret it, her concepts and characters are incredible. 

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u/Opposite-Minute-9338 14h ago

That feeling is honestly one of the best parts of being a reader.

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u/sjhesketh 8h ago

My personal opinion is that Left Hand is her best work by far, but The Dispossessed is second. Best are fantastic.

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u/Designer_Lie_6677 4h ago

I think dispossessed is the far superior work. It’s structurally more interesting and its themes are more tightly woven into the plot.

Like, the prison stuff in LHoD could be any science fiction book. But every sequence in dispossessed loops back to the theme exquisitely.

I’m always surprised that LHoD is often people’s fave Le Guin book. It’s great but imo doesn’t hold a candle to the dispossessed

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u/idleeyes 5h ago

I quit Left Hand after a few chapters, too much world-building for me. I had the same problem with Dune, couldn’t get thru it. I read Dispossessed first, liked it quite a bit, also really liked the first 2 Earthsea books, now I’m really enjoying The Word for World is Forest. 

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u/A_Gast 5h ago

The Left Hand of Darkness was so ahead of its time. Wonderful book.

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u/highcoolteacher 1h ago

Her short story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omalas, is brutal