About this title: Ursula Le Guin referred to this novel as her "homage a Philip K. Dick." George Orr is a draftsman whose dreams are changing reality. He takes speed to stay awake, and barbiturates so that when he does fall asleep he won't dream. But ultimately he consults with Dr. Haber, a psychiatrist who--delighted at George's talent--hooks him up to a machine and sets about reforming the world. What Dr. Haber does not consider is that when one part of reality is changed--no matter how lofty the goal--other parts must also change as a consequence. When George awakens, he fights Haber's attempts to ...
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Binding: Softcover
Publisher: GRAFTON
Date Published: 1974
ISBN-13:9780586038413ISBN:0586038418
Description: Published by Grafton in 1974. Paperback. Number of pages: 160. Condition: Good. Used book but in Good Condition for sensible price. read more
Description: Very Good. 0380013207 Great condition paperback book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Edition: Reprint.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Avon Books, New York
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780380013203ISBN:0380013207
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Square & tight. Some smudges on title page. Some dark spots on bottom of book. Light to moderate wear to covers/spine. Lightly creased or bent corners. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Description: Good. GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. May contain minimal highlighting, inscriptions, or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Description: Good. MEDIUM TO HEAVY WEAR ALONG EDGES AND AT CORNERS. FOLD LINES TO FRONT AND BACK CORNERS. NAMES IN PENCIL INSIDE FRONT COVER AND FIRST PAGE. TEXT IS CLEAN, CRISP BUT JUST BEGINNING TO TONE. read more
"If I had to describe this book in a word, it would be 'understated'. It explores utopia and dystopia, supernatural abilities in humans, aliens, and alternate realities, while somehow remaining very realistic and not at all far-fetched.
It doesnt have a massive adventure of a plot, it takes you on more of an emotional and existential journey rather than anything you'll see at the movies. It's so hard to articulate what I feel about this book, but I definitely agree that Ursula Le Guin writes damn perceptive novels.
I really empathised with and loved George Orr - he has this immense power that he can't control, and everytime he makes a change for the betterment of humanity, something else goes wrong instead. He truly is blessed and cursed at the same time, and I totally felt his helplessness under Dr Haber.
*sigh* Dr Haber. He's evil in the most subtle way - he's very utilitarian in nature, wanting to help the world but exploiting poor George in the process. He's also hella creepy. Again, I can't really articulate what I feel about this book, but Dr Haber is an interesting character.
*SPOILERS* My only gripe with this book was the description of "The Break", the abyss, and how Haber was seeing the world after April 1998. I can understand the break itself, but am confused about the actual abyss and the mist that George was walking through. Heather fell into nothing, and George was walking through nothingness, but somehow there were still buildings melting?
And well, I'm just not quite sure what happened with Dr Haber, and how he was able to tap into that horrific post-apocalyptic world."
"I always say my favourite film is Raiders of the Lost Ark and my favourite book is the original Earthsea trilogy, or if pushed A Wizard of Earhtsea. Picking one favourite is always a bit arbitrary but both of these are childhood favourites that have survived repeat viewings/readings and have developed accretions of personal associations that add to their significance to me. I think I can now go a step further and say that LeGuin is becoming my favourite author because she just has so many completely top-notch books: books that are about something, are thought-provoking, are elegantly written, tell excellently crafted stories about real people (though often in unreal situations) and reward repeat reading. The USA should consider her a National Treasure.
The Lathe of Heaven must go on my list of these superb works. It has a main protagonist whose dreams can retro-actively change reality. That's an idea any science-fiction writer would have made a pact with the Devil for - but most of them would have then squandered it on mere pyrotechnics.
LeGuin saves the pyrotechnics not for the story, but the story-telling; pyroclastics feature in the story, however. What do I mean by pyrotechical story telling? Here's an example: A second-rank protagonist gets some brief promotions to view-point status. In the longest of these, she starts the scene in an extremely agitated, anxious state of mind. The prose is all short sentences and sharp edges. As the scene progresses over several pages, she gradually calms down and the prose gradually shifts to the calm, languid prose readers would more usually associate with LeGuin. This use of style to emphasise the mood of the character is clever and successful but is merely in the service of her aims. Too many of her contemporaries would consider such deployment of technique as the purpose of the book itself.
So if you haven't read this book, please do so - this is literature at its finest."
"George Orr is a quiet young man who has a paralyzing fear. He believes his dreams (some of them, which he calls "effective dreams") come true. He steals drugs to keep himself from dreaming, is caught, and is sent to "voluntary" therapy. I put voluntary in quotes because, if he doesn't go to "voluntary" therapy, he is institutionalized and then has to undergo mandatory therapy. Now, how voluntary is that? He is sent to Dr. Haber, who tests him and, sure enough, his effective dreams to come true, that is, they change reality. Instead of trying to free Orr of these effective dreams, Dr. Haber decides to try to harness those dreams to improve the world. Only Orr's subconscious makes outcomes that aren't at all what Haber intended. It works kind of like the granted wish of fables. Think Midas, who was granted his wish of being able to turn things into gold with a touch, then discovers it is actually a curse when he hugs his daughter and turns her into a golden statue, and how starves because his food turns into gold in his stomach. Haber has Orr dream of peace on earth, where "humans don't kill humans" in war. So, a race of extraterrestrials show up, and the world has to join together to fight them. Haber has Orr dream of an end to racial prejudice, and everybody's skin becomes one shade of gray."
The Lathe of Heaven is a classic dystopian treatment of maleable time. But re-reading the book after 35 years I find that it can hardly be understood outside of the context of the decade when Ursula LeGuin wrote it.
The protagonist, George Orr, literally dreams up nightmare solutions for each of the social phobias that the 60's bequeathed to our age: overpopulation, consumerism, racism, drug control, and eco-disaster. And the misguided psychiatrist who manipulates George simply acts out the naive liberal ideals of government from that time: bureaucracy, internationalism, and social engineering. So today the most interesting aspects of this book are 1) how it undercuts LeGuin's undeniably liberal point of view and 2) how mild its nightmare scenarios feel compared to contemporary liberal world views.
It seems impossible that LeGuin could have written this book even ten years later, after progressive thought had accreted the values of abortion, technophobia, euthanasia, and the queering of the social. Indeed, the postulates of postmodernism run directly counter to the cautionary thesis of her book."
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