Rating: 
Summary: Kind of a letdown...
Review: Now I know why I stopped reading Science Fiction at age 15. I'd always heard & read about how great this book was & having seen both film adaptations, which were criticized as being travesties of the source, I finally bought & read it. It's a good story, though to my taste it's a bit heavy on the political ironies of the period (e.g. how the sexual permissivenss of the 1960s & 1970s create a backlash in the protagonist, or how both major male characters wear "traditional" shoulder length hair & beards). Some of the "technical" theories of Dr. Haber just go on & on & are definitely drowse-inducing, but that's typical of the genre. The idea is a great one, no question of that, in a best of Twilight Zone way. My greater gripe is with the edition of this book I bought from Amazon. There's a typo on every page, often a misspelling or dropped letter, but just as often a chopped or garbled sentence. Soon the narrative voice in my head sounded like Peter Sellers doing one of his more exotic impersonations. So much for off-shore book publishing!
Rating: 
Summary: Boo, boo, and more boos.
Review: It isn't always easy to follow the author's train of thought. Then you have to get past all of her pschoprattle and philosophical nonsense. Taoism my foot.The 1980 movie based on this novel isn't worth watching either. This isn't to say that the author didn't basically have a great premise for this book. She simply didn't do it justice. If you really want to read this book borrow it from your local library like I proceeded to do. Save your money for some other book that is worth spending it on.
Rating: 
Summary: An entry course to Taoism
Review: As a person who learned a little Taoism growing up, I find the book a stunningly authentic and spot-on Taoist-themed story told in the sci-fi format. This story about a passive, ordinary, unheroic, most unlikely hero who is able to dream up reality and an aggressive, progress-minded, megalomanical psychologist who creates disasters for the world by trying to manipulate and control the former's dreams, is more poignant and relevant now than ever. Many accomplishments make this book an exceptional work, including the well-rounded and complex characters, the emotionally rich story, the fluid style, the clever premise. The most astounding success, however, is her precise understanding of the Taoist philosphy and then infusing it in a profoundly human story. After all, Taoism is an observation of the human condition. I have never seen it better illustrated in another story. Le Guin refrained from making the antagoist into a typical bad guy, a mad scientist out to destroy the world. His blindness to his own evil echos Graham Greene's "The Quiet American." The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The novel criticizes not science, but the arrogance of the Western culture, as the hand that leads the world to hell. It must be read as a fable, a reflection of what is really going on in the world, now, every day.
Rating: 
Summary: "You can't run away from your own Dreams."
Review: Set in Portland, Oregon in the future--several different futures, actually--this sci fi story pits man's mind against his innate moral sense of responsibility for the rest of Society. Referred for Voluntary Therapy as a result of drug abuse, a mild-mannered patient becomes a pawn in his shrink's chess game of power. Seeking a cure for his too effective dreams--which drastically change reality and distort the time continuum-- George Orr realizes with helpless anguish that Dr. Haber is more interested in exploiting his special mental powers than in curing him. He is literally afraid to sleep, for to sleep means to dream, which could affect millions of lives. Desperate to control his dreams Orr seeks help from a Black lady lawyer, but is this a simple civil rights case or unauthorized scientific experimentation? What will push a milquetoast man over the edge of his own equilibrium? Is he justified to save his own sanity at any price? What is one man's role in the universe, in relation to mankind at large? Le Guin's mastery of language, devious plotting and human thought processes combine to create a chilling voyage of conflicting ambitions and manipulation, as the doctor violates his patient's rights--another mad scientist gone amuck. But serious moral issues arise which challenge 21st century readers with haunting reminders of our mistakes in the last century. Who has the right to decide the fate of mankind, to orchestrate earth/alien relations? Will absolute power prove too great a temptation? How can the common man survive the battle of titans for mental control? An excellent, soul-searching read. Remember that "Self is Universe."
Rating:
Summary: The Lathe of Heaven
Review: I have read and reread this book since 1982. It is one of the classic SF of all time and especially from the sixties era. However, as I read the enthusiastic reviews of other readers, I notice that that the one aspect of the book is often overlooked: the love story. All the madness, the crashing possibilities of dreaming new worlds, the aliens, the wonderful/awful imagery are secondary to the human emotions that cause the dreams. And the book says: go with your heart no matter what, never give up.
PS: the scene with the hippie tea and the Beatles tune is a constatnt tearjerker.
Rating:
Summary: The invasion of humanity into SF was lead by Le Guin
Review: Effective dreaming. Physicians. Aliens (of a sort). Portland, Or. Stirred, not shaken and the result is an icy fine, dry exploration of humanity. The perfect Martini of the genre. The PBS film version is an excellent rendition and it has been issued in DVD. Buy both!
Rating:
Summary: Low-key, but incredible
Review: This is truly one of Le Guin's best novels. A very grim story of a man whose dreams alter reality and the psychologist who manipulates his talents to improve his career and then the world itself, with mixed results to say the least. Much has been made of the socio-political points Le Guin was attempting to make with this novel, although I think such speculations on where this book, or Le Guin herself, stands on the political/ideological spectrum are rather pointless. Here Le Guin seems to be exploring a much deeper problem, i.e. the hubris of humans who think they are the masters of the earth, able to mold it as they will without consequences. On another level, "Lathe of Heaven" seems to simply be an elaboration of the old adage about being careful of what we wish for, because it just may come true.
Rating:
Summary: ENTANGLED IN A WEB OF DREAMS
Review: Ursula shows the reader a milieu of parallel worlds. She does this by speeding up her own fast changing world, using a unique switching device, the Dreams of George Orr. The brilliant aspect of this story is that the reader also must live in a spider web world very much like the rapidly switching worlds of George Orr--one made up of man's collective dreams. All aspects of the modern world stem from other minds and dreams: from phones to airplanes, satellites, space craft, space stations, aircraft carriers, submarines, TV, radios, computers, microwaves, the internet and you name it. Yes, our changes appear more slowly but do we have any more choice? What madman's dream gave us 9-11-01? We can lay back on our technological spider web or try asserting free will to leave the web. The story was a great read but the Aldebaranians were totally superfluous. These unexplained, unmotivated, godlike, alien characters failed to elucidate the mind of George Orr. Perhaps they functioned as a framework when the author reached the end of her imaginative rope. Perhaps some dopey editor told her she needed aliens in the story? What the plot showed was that you can't have your cake and eat it too--if you want free will you can't have a dreamer as the designer of earthly society. Were one to allow any credibility to George Orr, the dream designer, it would drive a wooden stake through the heart of free will. What did Ursula, the narrator, say about free will? "He (George Orr) was running the same risk the insane mind runs: the loss of the sense of free will." (P.146) Without exerting free will Orr realizes that he had no real job--that his entire dream world was hollow. Ursula's unraveling of reality in THE LATHE OF HEAVEN paralleled Philip K. Dick's work that inspired this story. I wonder if Dick himself wasn't the model for the protagonist, George Orr?
Rating:
Summary: My confusion with reality
Review: This is a wonderful yarn ... The twists and bends of reality manipulated by the misguided psychiatric experimenter Haber revolve around Haber and the central character who may be any one of us - and his 'partner'. Indeed, for a while I thought that Haber may indeed be an allegory of God - and perhaps it is so. Haber does not have real power, but he can influence, cajole, manipulate. And perhaps this is the way of God with us - guiding, influencing, even threatening, but it we who have the power invested in us by our free will to take whatever path we choose. But the mountains are also powerful characters in this novel - especially Mount Hood. In 1989 I happened to travel passed Mt St Helens well after it had blown its top. But here in this novel there is reference to the perfect cone of the top of St Helens. Without looking at the publishing history, I wondered if this was the clue to relaity in this novel. Perhaps when St Helens' shape was changed we would be back to familiar reality. But of course the book was written before the eruption of St Helens and so my reality was confused with the reality shifts in the novel. There are two very powerful apocalyptic scenes in this novel, and one shadowy one that is not described but hinted at in a most tantalising way. The blurb on my paperback edition (SF Masterworks 44) says this novel is one to read again and again. I do like rereading novels, but generally I take little notice of blurbs. In this case however, I think it is spot on.
Rating:
Summary: Great entertainment plus meaning and wisdom
Review: This is one of those very rare fiction books that are enjoyable to read but pack a lot of meaning and wisdom. If you want to experience what LeGuin is talking about read Roy Laurens non-fiction book "Fully Alive." Both are great books
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