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Loading... The Lathe of Heaven (1971)by Ursula K. LeGuin (Author)
Work InformationThe Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (1971)
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I enjoyed this book; it really felt like a Phillip K. Dick story. Quite a few times I was reminded of the Mandela Effect, the Butterfly Effect, and the Hindu god Vishnu. ( ) This gripping science fiction novel from Ursula K. LeGuin tells the story of George Orr, a man cursed with the unwanted ability to make some of his dreams become reality. Because George is terrified by the massive changes his dreams can produce in the world, he is afraid to sleep. He contacts Dr. Hader, a psychiatrist specializing in dreams who, instead of helping him, tries to direct George's dreams for his own purposes. The beginning of the story is confusing, reflecting George's own uncertainty about what is happening to himself. After a few chapters things become more clear and the book turns into a real page-turner. this is more the kind of science fiction that is up my alley - it's more philosophical thought experiment and moral argument than anything else. and she (of course) does it well. it's not a quick fun read, but it's thoughtful and smart and it was first published in 1971 but she's warning us about the climate crisis and she predicts rising oceans and battery powered cars and a plague event and the opening of protected lands for building. (she even predicts one of the cascade mountains visible from portland erupting, although she chose mt hood instead of mt st helens. it was strange to see it described as cone shaped a few times in the book. it was really fun to be in portland and to know portland when reading this, to see where she made changes, where she kept true. i bet no one not from here would think she didn't make up the towns of zig zag and rhododendron. to see each iterations changes and modifications, and to really be able to feel how different the city would be with each track she created.) the real question she's addressing here is about playing god. even if you think you're benevolent and have the best interests of everyone in mind, what gives you the right to make those decisions, and how can you be sure that even a "positive" change doesn't have far reaching unforeseen negative consequences that you didn't predict? this is a book about science and eugenics and racism and overpopulation and eastern and/or native ways of thinking and climate change and power. and how if too much power is given to only a few people, it can so easily get out of control and turn into something unexpected and unwanted. and against the greater good. this is a really interesting read. i do wish that heather was still a lawyer in the last iteration and i'm not sure why she demoted her. that felt decidedly un-leguin like. "What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?" "Are there really people without resentment, without hate? she wondered. People who never go cross-grained to the universe? Who recognize evil, and resist evil, and yet are utterly unaffected by it?" A man who can change reality through 'effective dreaming' under the influence of a psychologist who wants to fix everything? Recipe for a absorbing but very short read. Written in the early 70s but set approximately around the early 2000s, recommended for fans of dystopian examinations into can humans really fix things/should we have the power to do so/etc. Dark, enigmatic, nightmarish, with hope and love at its heart. Le Guin's writing is beautiful, the characters are vivid. It is fascinating to read books in which the fabric of reality gets ripped apart, stitched back together, ripped apart again... A few pages in, I began thinking about Philip K. Dick (I've only read Ubik, though), dreams altering reality seems to be his kind of theme. Speaking of themes, Le Guin skilfully packs so much into ca 185 pages: playing God, the tricks our subconscious plays on us, inaction and responsibility, dystopia of climate change and overpopulation... etc. To summarise, this is excellent classic sci-fi. P.S. Just for the record, "my favourite Le Guin" spot is still occupied by The Left Hand of Darkness. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesAlpha science fiction (1979) Galaxy Scifi (6) — 6 more Is contained inHas the adaptationAwardsNotable Lists
A classic science fiction novel by one of the greatest writers of the genre, set in a future world where one man's dreams control the fate of humanity. In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams can alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George's dreams for his own purposes. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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