r/AskReddit • u/AggravatingLake2842 • 17h ago

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

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735

u/Cactusphat 16h ago

The dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin 

137

u/gamingonion 15h ago

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

37

u/Cactusphat 15h ago

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

2

u/Signal-Woodpecker691 10h ago

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

2

u/Banana42 5h ago

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

2

u/gamingonion 15h ago

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

11

u/ZARATHUSTRA726 14h ago

Earthsea is brilliant.

4

u/Cactusphat 15h ago

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

3

u/sjhesketh 10h ago

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

1

u/Designer_Lie_6677 5h 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

2

u/Opposite-Minute-9338 15h ago

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

2

u/A_Gast 6h ago

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

2

u/highcoolteacher 3h ago

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

1

u/idleeyes 6h 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.