Name: The Lathe of Heaven
Rating: 4.012195121951219 (123 reviews)
ISBN: 9780060512743

Ursula K. Le Guin

George Orr discovers that his dreams possess the remarkable ability to change the world, and when he falls into the hands of a power-mad psychiatrist, he counters by dreaming up a perfect world that can overcome his nightmares. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

A Novel

The Lathe of Heaven

A classic science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, 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 have the ability to 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. The Lathe of Heaven is an eerily prescient novel from award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin that masterfully addresses the dangers of power and humanity’s self-destructiveness, questioning the nature of reality itself. It is a classic of the science fiction genre.

The Lathe Of Heaven

 this book is about how the protagonist's dreams end up altering the reality and goes to the psychatrist to make sure he stops dreaming altogether in order to stop the changes in the reality. However the psychiatrist sees more good than bad and ends up fixing the world problems via the protagonist's dreams. The start and the body was rather good however the climax didnt click with me and I didnt enjoy it as much per say. Regardless, the idea is very nice and the execution is very much decent. Good read in my opinion

Aarush Arora

The more Ursula K. Le Guin I read the more I like it.

Another fantastic story from her. Highlighting the difficulty in utopia building and making us all see it not from the architect or craftsman's eyes, but from the experience of the tools. 

Liam Richardson

The more Ursula K. Le Guin I read the more I like it.

Another fantastic story from her. Highlighting the difficulty in utopia building and making us all see it not from the architect or craftsman's eyes, but from the experience of the tools. 

Is a thought-provoking read. It challenges me to confront the complexities of a god complex, posing deep philosophical questions within a fast-paced narrative. It's balancing entertainment with introspection. The story led me to ponder my own nature—if I had the power to reshape the universe, would I act humbly or arrogantly? The reflection on my choice was unsettling.

Sarah Sammis

Read the Collectors next.

S/M	Uhoria	Maze	99CCCC

Overall, an enjoyable read. At times it felt a little messy, but the chaos of it all kept me hooked throughout. Plenty of beautiful prose within it, and I felt heavily invested in George Orr's story. 

The first of Ursula K. LeGuin's collection that I have gotten my hands on. PROS - a great concept, great characters, a good intro to sci-fi, some beautiful ruminations on the nature of humanity, and an epic perspective on environmental catastrophe from the 1980s. CONS - for a book that's less than 200 pages, it often got bogged down in sci-fi techno jargon, despite the fascinating concept I didn't feel compelled to keep picking it up. OVERALL - the book is a retelling of the classic story 'be careful what you wish for' in a unique new manifestation; however, it didn't quite compel me.

cedar winslow

'Her worlds have a magic sheen . . . She moulds them into dimensions we can only just sense. She is unique. She is legend' THE TIMES 'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVER George Orr is a mild and unremarkable man who finds the world a less than pleasant place to live: seven billion people jostle for living space and food. But George dreams dreams which do in fact change reality - and he has no means of controlling this extraordinary power. Psychiatrist Dr William Haber offers to help. At first sceptical of George's powers, he comes to astonished belief. When he allows ambition to get the better of ethics, George finds himself caught up in a situation of alarming peril.

ursula le guin the writer that you are…!!!

Cathy Trình

Shape Mismatch

It's amazing how she weaved a simple concept, classic storytelling into something this engrossing, crazy and generally amazing book. I'm finally convinced to go through her works, and I am convinced it's going to be a good ride!

Rohit Arondekar

A man dreams. Some of these dreams come true in twisted and unpredictable ways. Not knowing which dream will alter reality and what the consequences will be, the protagonist becomes dependent on drugs to avoid dreams altogether. This leads him to a man intent on using the protagonists power to shape the world to be more hospitable and just. But can any man be trusted with making such decisions? Can a single human being alter the state of the world and affect the lives of millions in order to create a world that is good? Ursula Le Guin explores this question through a well written and engaging book that felt quite modern. I'm surprised there isn't a series or movie on Netflix with the same plot! The ideas and philosophy discussed are deep and I've only scratched the surface. In the beginning I felt like the protagonist is weak and this is a wonderful power. But as the story progresses the idea of having your intentions go through a deep and unknowing consciousness and manifest in the real world in unpredictable ways seemed terrifying. I think this is one book that will read differently based on your own life experiences and world view.

my first (!!!) le guin novel, and i think i’ll be reading a lot more after this one. she wrote beautiful prose and creates the best worlds, i enjoyed immersing myself in this one so so much

Gavin

Hot-footed mystical parable, afloat on a bed of Tao, psychoanalysis, and Nietzsche. Bad guy’s a Grand Unscrupulous Utilitarian: excellent, manipulative, and innocently destructive (Confucius?). Her memorable para-omnipotent protagonist George Orr is put-upon, dismissible, infuriatingly passive (or, rather, wu wei): the Tao. 

Scifi has a lot of conventions which can easily end in literary clumsiness – think contrived alien names, more or less stupid extrapolations from current science, brooding passages about the curst Capitalised Social Change of Twenty-three-dickety-four – but LeGuin, even this early, was in charge of them. Gripping, but top-heavy.

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How does it do as Serious science fiction?

 Social development: Too full of psychoanalysis to be sound. The bit where George solves racism by turning everyone grey, to awful effect, is good.

 Software development: None.

 Actual Science: Not its aim.

Pavonini

George Orr discovers that his dreams possess the remarkable ability to change the world, and when he falls into the hands of a power-mad psychiatrist, he counters by dreaming up a perfect world that can overcome his nightmares, in a new edition of the classic science fiction novel. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Fraser Simons

Excellent classic sci-fi. Superb at provoking interesting questions. Maybe The question for me: Who are you actually, when opportunity presents itself. Money, or power, in whatever form it takes, is absolutely terrifying when looked at from that lens. I’d wager that if you grew up in poverty, even more so. People become their absolute worst selves as they achieve what we label success in our society. 

What if they the abstraction of influence was literalized, though? Replicating how we are socialized with that dynamic in place. Where the powerless are the designers of the world; dream crafting reality, what would that look like? The inclination to do good with power that essentially scales with ambition is a fantastic critique for many aspects of our society. From the meek “dreamers” in history, such as those we find in the future of this text, the IT space, Silicon Valley, etc. they really have shaped humanity. In some ways enriching life, other ways literally helped to destroy it further with those initial good intentions. 

One of the best analogy for capitalism in this generation is that of the save the trees! Do you remember that? Save them! We’re cutting them down. Clear cutting, the world is going to be affected terribly. In response we have gone fairly paperless. And the servers we use to do this are now arguably far worse for the environment than that ever was. There are only seemingly intelligent solutions in capitalism. Stuff we can’t see the repercussions of initially. But capitalism is inherently a stupid beast. There is no good outcome and every solution becomes a new problem. 

Such is the case in this book, only directly pointed at thought mechanics and the nature of humanity. I love when sci-fi books interrogate the human experience and make you think. Had this been a bit tighter of a story, short as it is, it would have easily have been 5 stars. As is, a solid 4 and more interesting than most scifi churned out today.

Claudia

"Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new."

Ursula K. Le Guin re-makes our love of the imaginable and unimaginable with every book she writes.

B.H. Pitt

Orla Kilroy

I think probably her best book, characters are always so engaging but I just wish she developed some of the dream plots more  - not actually a critique of the book as I understand why she wouldn't, and it's not really her style for a massive book with a million plots, but each could be their own book. Total legend

Astha Prakash

A powerful, thought-provoking and unstoppable read. I had to tear myself away every time I had to work, eat or sleep. I love the way it's written, and also how it remarkably shows the tussle between two philosophical schools of thought. Though I really wish the ending was stronger, I'd still recommend this to everyone. Doesn't matter if you like sci-fi, or dystopia, or drama; it's a great story, and one that can very well mess with your sleep. Sweet dreams.

The Lathe of Heaven A Novel

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