Rating: 
Summary: Dream awake
Review: When people say that dreams do come true they mean for you personally and not that your dreams impose onto everyone else's life. That however is exactly what happens when George Orr dreams. Written in 1971 about the then not-to-distant future of 2002, Le Guin portrays the world as being full of war, over-population, and being on the brink of environmental disaster (so much for science fiction). Orr is assigned to a drug treatment program after getting caught using other people's prescription allotments to obtain drugs to stop him from dreaming. There he is assigned to a Dr. Haber to help him with his "mental" problem. After realizing the potential such a peculiar skill could unleash, Dr. Haber decides that instead of curing Orr of his problem he would nurture and attempt to control this phenomenon. Upon doing so Haber tries to right all the wrongs of the world (ie. war, famine, disease) by using suggestive influence on Orr when he dreams. This newly found power eventually turns Haber, who at first only had the best intentions for society in mind, into a megalomaniac. As a result of trying to heal all of mankind's wounds he turns the entire world into a homogeneous, "big-brother" type society. Thought-provoking and at times deep, Le Guin shows the possible ramifications when mortal man plays God. The only down-side, if you can call it that, to the book is (as typical) the ending. With unlimited potential for many different endings the one that was chosen seemed a little weak. Don't let this however hinder you from a reading this classic Sci-Fi novel.
Rating:
Summary: how'd i miss that ?
Review: In the year 2002, Earth is plagued by war, famine, pollution, overpopulation, etc. George Orr is afraid to go to sleep, because when he wakes, whatever he dreamt the night before has become reality. He is put in a Voluntary Therapeutic Treatment program when he is caught using drugs to avoid sleep. There he meets Dr. Haber, who sees in George a solution to the world's problems and so he starts manipulating George's dreams to create a "better" reality. Haber's delusion's of godhood inevitably lead to unintended consequences & it's up to George, the freak of nature, to stop him. Ursula K. LeGuin is one of the towering figures in Science Fiction, indeed in all of literature, and this is her finest novel; a brilliant cautionary tale to rival Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. GRADE: A POSTSCRIPT: I don't know how I missed this angle, unless I'm losing something off of what little fastball I once had, but I just watched the long lost PBS version of this story and the most important aspect of this story became abundantly clear. After they showed the movie, Bill Moyers interviewed the author and it occurred to me that this may well be one of the most conservative novels ever written. Though she spoke of the story in Taoist terms--George Orr gets along by going along--it is also easy to read the plot in political terms. Dr. Haber can be seen as any intellectual who conceives a better way for society and then seeks to impose it, completely failing to understand the unintended consequences which this action will inevitably have. George Orr, meanwhile, understands that the power to shape reality is too dangerous to entrust to any one man or group of men. It is better to let the future evolve naturally and preserve Man's free will, even if this means not stepping in to "fix" some situations that seem amenable to his personal solutions. This is sort of the novelization of Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom and it is very, very good.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: Ursula K. Le Guin has succeeded in writing a perfect sci-fi fable about ourselves and the nature of reality. This small tome is so many different things at once: an introduction to Taoism, a gripping sci-fi read, and a realistic tale about the dangers of desiring power. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in what science fiction is supposed to be: a literary genre with no limits on the metaphors that can be used to describe the complexities of humanity.
Rating:
Summary: The Dark Side of Dreaming
Review: I remember seeing the film version of Lathe on PBS when I was a child, and being totally mesmerised by it even then, although I didn't fully understand all the implications of its premise. I thought for years that it was an original "unadapted" story until I found LeGuin's original novel as a teen, and all but devoured it in one day! Wow! What a story! I've lost track since then of the number of times I've read Lathe, but every time I read it I find something new. The Taoist aspects of the novel have been remarked upon endlessly, but what I find intriguing is how few people seem to realize the Leguin is using Taoism, and George Orr's tale (and think about the significance of that last name!), to comment on the darker side of 1960's idealism. she covers many of the "hot-button" issues of the time -- racism, overpopulation, war, etc. -- and shows, through the nefarious Dr. Haber's attempts to eradicate those ills, that it will take a lot more than a "quick fix" or having a dream of the promised land to rid the world of such evils. This is far more than a novel about the near future -- it is a deeply cautionary tale about how dreams, unless they are treated with deep and tender care, can turn violent and dark. LeGuin herlelf, in her great foreword to The Left Hand of Darkness, has said that the best s-f authors do not predict the future (that would be silly), but instead tell us something about today by showing us an imagined tomorrow. Just as the ambisexual aliens in Left Hand of Darkness were a comment on our own discomfiture about homosexuality and bisexuality, so Lathe is a warning that while being a dreamer is all well and good, it's a very dangerous thing to confuse dreams with reality. Few writers have ever been able to pull this trick off under the reader's nose quite so effectively -- or audaciously -- as LeGuin. Lathe is a classic for that reason alone, even if it weren't sweet, lyrical, mystical, and compulsively readable. The fact that it is all those things at once is merely icing on the cake. Simply put, you HAVE to read this one!
Rating:
Summary: Rewarding and Memorable
Review: Ursula LeGuin has so much "on the ball" it's almost frightening. This book is all about the way dreams shape our world, (they really do, if you think about it -- America was FOUNDED on dreams), and also about when dreaming can become problematic. Her hero has the gift/curse of being able to change the physical universe by dreaming, and because his dreams come from his unconsious mind, he has no control over them whatsoever. He seems to find that maybe it's best just to sort of muddle through, not basing his world-transforming dreams on judgments about whether things are absolutely optimal or not... It's funny, but if you read studies on the nature of creativity, they tend to agree with what she's saying. If you can relax the mind and let things just come to you, your dreams and ideas will flow a heck of a lot more naturally than if you try to force them into some mold. And they won't be very negative dreams either, they'll be useful to you and to others. Also, this book is just PACKED with Taoism, just like her Earthsea trilogy. If you study this at all, you'll find that the way she uses Taoism to work against regimented social planning actually has had many real life counterparts which have occurred over the centuries in China. There have always been major philosophical differences there between the philosophically free-spirited Taoists and the hard-nosed, state-centered Confucianists, and of course the Buddhists have always fit in in various complex ways too. In a funny way, this book can be a good introduction to a lot of people to the ways issues have historically been framed in that part of the world. China is expected to become a more familiar part of America's world as time goes by, so maybe this book can play a part in that. Just a thought. If anyone's interested, "A Concise History of China" by J.A.G. Roberts is a good introduction to Chinese history -- you'll see what I mean. And beyond all that, the woman knows how to tell a story. Whew. Two thumbs up.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: Excellent commentary on how idealists obsessively try to influence and shape social policy in order "to make things right," and how their good intentions almost always have disasterous unintended consequences. But do they learn from their mistakes? No, they just keep on trying... The Lathe of Heaven should be required reading in this time of political correctness, when so many people are obsessed with equality at all costs. This book shows how bleak such a reality would be. If you enjoy fiction that has strong social commentary (think Lord of the Flies, 1984, Brave New World), then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Pragmatical solipsism?
Review: A book with many interesting ideas. Should be required reading for psychiatrists and others in the mental health professions (this and Lessing's "Briefing for a descent into hell"). This book reads well and doesn't drag hopelessly as too many of mrs Le Guin works do (e.g. "The Left Hand of Darkness"). On the other hand not overly simplistic as in "The Word for World is Forest". All in all an intriguing book.
Rating: 
Summary: not what it's cracked up to be
Review: This was my first Ursula K. LeGuin novel, and my last. After reading this I have no clue why she's gotten so much acclaim over the years. It reads like a sorry attempt to be Philip K. Dick (a genuine genius). It's a good idea poorly executed. I had to force myself to finish it. Maybe I should have tried The Left Hand of Darkness instead.
Rating:
Summary: Mind-Blowing Exploration of Whether We Can Perfect Society
Review: When the main character dreams it, it becomes real. His psychiatrist decides to use this ability to make some small improvements in society. Imagine there's no disease, or war, or racism... but things keep going wrong. This is an off-beat love story, fascinating science fiction, and thought-provoking philosophy. I've loved this book ever since I read it in high school.
Rating:
Summary: lease Bring Back The Movie
Review: I wold like to see this movie again... This is the New Millennium... but The Lathe of Heaven goes beyond our ordinary fronteer... Very good Movie.
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