The Lathe of Heaven

I can't believe nobody assigned this book in any of my philosophy classes. Lots to chew on regarding relationships between self and others, the nature of reality, the relationship between dreams and reality, and lots of meaty ethical stuff.

3.5/5. Well, this was... a trip. This book had a lot of interesting ideas, but ultimately it quite often felt like a drag to keep reading. Our protagonist, George Orr, is as wishy-washy as his last name. His psychiatrist Dr Haber is even worse. The only person I could remotely feel some liking towards is the lawyer Heather Lelache.

This story kinda feels like it probably inspired Christopher Nolan's fever dreams. It had some elements which seemed like it might've inspired Inception, Interstellar, and sometimes even Avengers: Infinity War. Those elements were interesting in themselves, but I also wanted to think about more. Le Guin gave us tantalizing glimpses of the Taoism that is such a major influence on most of her works, but we never really get down to the meat of it to discuss these ideas and how it should impact our perception of reality.

What i found most compelling about this book was how plausible Dr Haber was. He wasn't an out and out villain. Sure, he's a manipulative asshole, but when he was talking to George you could really feel his charisma somehow. He reminded me a lot of Thanos from Avengers (and also the population-halving snap!) because he always seemed to have such altruistic motivations for what he was doing with George. Even though i found him mega sus straight from the start and even after I knew for sure he was a manipulative asshole, when he kept talking about making the world a better place, i could still feel seduced by his speeches despite myself - so no wonder George couldn't resist, as mentally battered as he was.

So ultimately I'm in two minds about this book. I love the premise, I love some of the ideas that it seemed to start, but I wasn't a fan of how everything went down in the end (the last quarter was pure chaos) nor can I shake off the feeling that I'm not sure what I'm walking away from this book with. I really enjoyed what I've read so far of Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle from the fantasy genre and thought that even in the first book of that series, I got a better sense of the really thought-provoking Taoist ideas that informed Le Guin's outlook on life than in this one.

George Orr is a dreamer. The only problem is his dreams can change reality. Referred to Dr Haber for treatment, George finds himself the subject of the doctor's experimental machine, The Augmentor, once the doctor realises the power Orr posseses. Haber tries to use George to remake the world as a better place, a utopia of sorts. But Orr's dreams never come out the way Haber intends and the world is made and unmade over and over until the very fabric of reality begins to tear. LeGuin's seminal novel is both powerful and moving as she explores what utopia might mean and how the best of intentions can lead to frightful outcomes. One of the great Science Fiction novels.