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Summary: The Lathe of Heaven - an excellent book!
Review: First of all, I have to admit that I don't read much - I don't really have time, so I have to choose the books I read with a lot of care. This book really struck my attention, and I've already read it twice. The main character, George Orr has the ability to make his dreams come true. His Psychiatrist (Pardon the spelling) Haber, can see the change. This book is basically about what happens to a person, George Orr, when he has the ability to change the future for everyone. Human Nature interferes, and that is all I'll give you. This really is an incredible book from a very talented writer, LeGuin. My Recommendation : Definatly pick up a copy!
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Summary: A real gem
Review: Loved the book, which I've read twice now. I saw the movie back in the 70s and have looked and looked for its video release. Although I liked the book better than the movie, the movie blends the surrealist images of the book with the poetic story of perceptions and realities and the web of self-dillusion and fantasy. We need a movement to call for the the video release of the The Lathe of Heaven - wonderful and delicious they both are. All in all true to Ursula's vision of sci-fi
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Summary: The only novel I ever forgot wasn't actually true
Review: Fantastic -- after I finished the book, I caught myself trying to remember how things were before they had "changed" (read the book to find out how). This is listed as fantasy, but everyone (including non-fantasy fans) is fascinated by the plot when I describe it. A true classic, and under-remembered.
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Summary: A brilliant vision of the stuff dreams are made of!!
Review: This book is a perfect gem. I strongly disagree with the last reviewer who called the ending "weak." Possibly she or he failed to understand it. Suffice it to say that, in this book, there is a character whose dreams occasionally come true--retroactively! That is, he dreams that certain things have ALREADY happened, and then he wakes up and indeed they have. He is frightened of this "power" and tries to narcotize it away, and he subsequently falls into the hands of an unscrupulous psychiatrist who tries to control reality by manipulating his dreams. I won't give away any more than that, except to say that the book ultimately depicts a remarkable cosmology which can incorporate such things as "dreams" coming true--and it is all done with great warmth and poetry. This book is not only a riveting, well-characterized page turner, it's metaphysically visionary, and I love it as much as I've ever loved a book. And for those of you that care about arcane literary matters, it also makes masterful use of the omniscient point of view.
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Summary: Interesting, but a weak ending
Review: I am an avid LeGuin fan, but although I enjoyed most of this book, the ending was rather weak. _A Fisherman of the Inland Sea_ and _The Disposessed_ are definitely superior to this work.
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Summary: Perhaps the best science fiction I have ever read.
Review: Granted, I don't read a lot of science fiction--it seems to me that most science fiction authors care a lot more about the science than the fiction. That is what makes this book so great: LeGuin cooks up a fascinating premise (a man whose dreams change reality), and then serves it up in gourmet style. Her descriptions are vivid, and her characters are real. Also, LeGuin deftly exploits the basic literary triad: she effectively renders three main characters (Orr, Haber, and Lelache), and each interacts effectively with the other two. All of this stands in sharp contrast to, e.g., The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K. Dick, which also posits reality-altering experiences by its main characters, who are, by comparison, cardboard cut-outs.
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Summary: facinating and realistic
Review: this book, like all leguin, is innovative and belivable, streaked with a dark sense of humor (under the influence of the powerhungry, but well-meaning doctor, the main characer dreams away racial tensions by making everyone grey, makes people stop fighting with eachother by inventing an alien invasion, stops world hunger by inventing a disease that killed off most of the population). But she is difinitly not dark like orwell or many of the Russian writers; there is, always, in the end of her books, a glimmer of something akin to hope, or at least a sense that life will go on.
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Summary: The Power of Dreaming
Review: Dreaming implies many things -- it is the involuntary creations of the unconscious mind, it is the quintessence of inaction against conflict, and quite frequently it is the act of wishful thinking. "The Lathe of Heaven" is a successful experiment in reversing these concepts. For George Orr, dreams are not involuntary creations but ideas directly fed to him by a psychologist and a machine; Orr's dreams are the source of action; wishful thinking is not unrequited desires, but rather plausible (if undesired) solutions.
By definition, one does not dream or wish with the hope that it will not come true. Le Guin shares a feeling of sheer psychological terror by allowing the reader to poke around the mind of man who desperately fears his own dreams.
This is a novel about power on many levels. We glimpse the struggle of a man seeking power over his own mind as he attempts to rid himself of dreams. There is the external power of a man attempting to control anothers mind, manifesting in a suspicious doctor-patient relationship (is Le Guin commenting on all relationships of this type?). The power of society against the individual is present from the opening page of the book as Orr's options are limited to therapy or imprisonment. And power is expressed on a grander scale as a man attempts to alter the world for what he claims is the greater good (or is it denied self-interest?).
The result, and the final depressing tone of the novel, implies that these struggles for power always ends in disaster for society as a whole. But it is clear that this does not mean that one should not attempt to make a change for what one feels is right, but rather to always questions motives. Dr. Haber is the example to the reader of someone acting with good intentions but with wrong motives. We can apply this concept to the real world: war is fought to bring justice and promote freedom, but only on the terms of the "forces of good"; laws are made to protect the freedoms of people, but laws in themselves are an expression of power. "The Lathe of Heaven" exhibits the effects of wrong motives towards good intentions, and power is the means.
But in the end we find that world where George Orr ends up is not much worse off than where he started. He has a satisfying job, an agreeable boss, he is released from his awful dreaming, and begins a new relationship with Heather. Power then becomes a fragile force -- there is a hairline difference between what is right for one and what is right for all. With all its consequences for the world at large, maybe for the individual, the effects of power aren't so terrible after all.
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Summary: What is reality...?
Review: Is it fixed series of events, a string of cause and effect? Or can it be changed at a whim, changed by nothing but a dream of a sleeping man? George Orr is that man. For some of his dreams change the real world, because his dreams sometimes come true. But Mr. Orr does NOT want to change the world, he just wants to be a normal man with normal dreams.
When George tries to take drugs to end his dreaming he is sent to Dr. Haber to be cured of his fears. But what happens when Dr. Haber also realizes Orr's gift/curse is not the product of an insane mind, but in fact is real and decides to use it for the 'good' of mankind?
If you liked the book there are two movies available to watch. I prefer the older version made by WNET/THIRTEEN (PBS).
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Summary: The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number
Review: Ursula K. Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven was first published in 1971, but its message is still relevant today. Le Guin's stable of work has included space opera (the Hainish books), fantasy (the Earthsea stories), as well as science fiction (The Left Hand of Darkness). All of her works possess the familiar sense of didactic about them, however. The Lathe of Heaven falls more in the science fiction realm but is probably more accurately described as psychological fiction.The story is set in the near future and revolves around one man, George Orr, who's dreams can affect reality. He is greatly troubled by this because he cannot control his dreams, thus he tries to stop himself from dreaming through misuse of prescription drugs. He is sent to counseling with a dream therapist, Dr. William Haber, who quickly learns the truth about George's "effective" dreaming. George just wants to be cured of this ability, but Haber sees its potential and decides to manipulate it to turn their troubled world into a better place. As Haber tries harder and harder to manipulate George's uncooperative dreams he becomes the victim of his own good intentions. This leads him down a dark road where he eventually discovers the truth of "the world after April". The Lathe of Heaven works on many levels. Simply as a story of a man wrestling with his therapist to find a cure to his ills it is an engaging tale. But it is more interesting as a parable of how one person's attempts to do good can go awry. Dr. Haber sees the power that George Orr possesses and understands the good it can do. The world they live in is plagued by war and overpopulation and he believes that he can use George's power to rid the world of its ills. The problems with this become apparent early on, however. When Haber has George dream of a less crowded world, he conjures up a plague that wipes out billions. Thus the problem of overpopulation is solved, but with terrible consequences. It is important to understand that Haber has only the best of intentions: "The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number" is his motto. The stumbling block comes in his inability to control George's subconscious mind. Every time he tries to do good in one place, he inadvertently conjures evil in another. And this is the strength of the story. It is not about an evil character causing evil in the world, but a good person bringing evil through his inability to control the power he possesses. This should be required reading for all politicians. At only 175 pages, this is a quick read. Le Guin's writing is accessible and fast paced. There are only three main characters in the story, George Orr, Dr. Haber, and the social worker Heather Lelache, so she does a good job of developing each of them fully. This book is considered a science fiction classic, rightfully so, but also has broader appeal because of its social and political implications. I give The Lathe of Heaven the highest of recommendations.
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