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.

The Lathe of Heaven – Imaginative, Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi

⭐ 4.5/5

A great and imaginative novel that weaves together chaos (in a Michael Crichton-like way), free will, morality, and science fiction, all written in a clear and delicate style. The premise is fascinating, and the way the story unfolds feels both unpredictable and deeply thoughtful.

The novel maintains a strong grip for most of its length, but the final part loses a bit of its momentum—just enough to keep it from being a full 5 stars for me. Still, it’s an exceptional, intelligent sci-fi novel that balances deep themes with an engaging plot.

Wasn't bad, just didn't grip me. 

George Orr (try to say that without thinking of George Orwell) is having dreams. Trouble is, they are coming true and retro-actively changing reality and history. Only George remembers the previous history and knows that it has been radically changed. He tries to drug himself into dreamlessness but ends up in drug therapy with a psychiatrist dream researcher who sees an opportunity to gain power. But as the power hungry psychiatrist hypnotises George into dreaming certain events, the dreams are not so controllable and become increasingly dangerous in a 'be careful what you wish for' kind of way.

The book is a rush of alternate histories that leave George scrambling to remember what is the current reality and what has changed. It's like 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' except that Harry has some control over his various histories. And in each book they meet the woman to whom they were married in a different stream/life and have to decide how to relate to her.

This story has a bit of bittersweet aftertaste. The world is still very much imperfect, but how does one decide the level of imperfectness that is acceptable? Orr personally seems better off than in the beginning of the book at least. And there is hope for him and Heather. I'm glad she appeared at the last page.

The world was changed so much and so many times, that at some point I gave up trying to keep up with the changes. I'm still not sure I understand Haber's plan. Partly, of course, because Orr's subconscious mind interfered, but also, I suppose Haber himself got lost in all the realities and didn't have a clear idea any more. That's why he almost erased the world completely as soon as he got the power to do so.

It's my first sci-fi by Le Guin and I'm looking forward to read more.

Like a psychiatric Sliders, but with a surprisingly milquetoast ending. 

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.

"Orr had a tendency to assume that people knew what they were doing, perhaps because he generally assumed that he did not."

A dangerous assumption, in any context.

This was a rather neat read about the potential of dreams. What if your dreams had the power to change reality? It sounds good in theory, but in practice it can easily lead to chaos—something the main character, George Orr, uniquely understands. Forced to attend therapy for what people assume to be some sort of mental affliction convincing Orr that his dreams become real, he is thrown in with Dr. Haber, a psychiatrist assigned to Orr to try and help him overcome his problems. In so doing, however, Haber figures out that Orr isn’t crazy, and starts manipulating him and his dreams for his own purposes.

For a short book, this one sure covers a lot of ground. Lots of philosophical thoughts about the rights of man to interfere in destiny, the corrupting influence of power, and general thoughts on the importance of human connection in one’s life are all present in this book. Whether or not you subscribe to the idea of some sort of cosmic balance, it’s telling that every time Haber tries to make Orr dream something good for humanity, Orr dreams up a monkey’s paw version of the wish.

It's an older book so some parts definitely feel their age, but overall I really enjoyed thinking about the implications of having a power like Orr’s. I was left with some nagging questions in the end (did Orr create the Aliens or just ship them in from another reality? How did Haber, and to a lesser extent Heather, resist Orr’s reality changes so completely?), but I think it’s left open on purpose to allow you the space to come to your own conclusions.

This was a fun read, and I’ll likely seek out more from this author in the future.

This is sooo good y'all. If you want a short and accessible classic sci-fi book, this is a good pick.

“We're in the world, not against it. It doesn't work to try to stand
outside things and run them, that way. It just doesn't work, it goes against life. There is a way but you have to follow it. The world is, no matter how we think it ought to be. You have to be with it. You have to let it be.”

This one is a bit darker than most Le Guin books, but truly a mind-bending and profound dystopian masterpiece. I kept getting Philip K Dick vibes reading this book, the central character is so PKD style (an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances).

Overall a very interesting read indeed. I will leave you with this quote from the book -
“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new. When it was made, they lay in each other's arms, holding love, asleep.”

Interesting book from an author that's quickly becoming one of my favourites. This one reminds me quite a bit of the general tones of a Philip K Dick, which is different to the other two books I read by her (the dispossessed and the left hand of the darkness).

Clear references to George Orwell too (main character called George Orr) and, interestingly, the ever shifting reality of the book reminds me also of Murakami's 1Q84, which also pays homage to Orwell.

Overalls fun short read

A solid, introspective book. Not so much plot-focused, more focused on ideas and ideals and morality. I enjoyed it but found it a bit unsettling. It is crazy to me that this was written in 1971 - im reading it 50 years later, in Portland Oregon, and it feels like a reality that could exist. Interesting food for thought

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. This story is great allegory of dreamers and those who want to improve the world, and how every action has consequences. Wonderfully littered with smart lines about how our brains create our worlds. And besides all that, also just a good story.

Now I wonder though, why all the three scifi novels I've read of Le Guin's have male protagonists.

I have a complicated relationship with Le Guin's books.

I very much love her accomplishments and contributions to science fiction, I love the concepts she tackles and I love a lot of the things she does in her books, but sometimes I find myself not completely taken in my her writing.

By the end of this book I loved it, but there were times in this short, short book where I was reading it out of obligation. I understood what she was doing in this book but it was difficult to find much of a connection to any of the characters. Again, I get what she was going for, but it didn't make for an enjoyable read because, well, I didn't care about the characters until near the end.

Frustrations aside, I've seen a lot of people come to the conclusion that this is a warning about playing god or being greedy. While I think there are parts of that to this, to say that's the point of the book seems to undercut a lot of the metaphor and allegory buried deep in there.

At the core is George Orr, a man who can “change reality” through his dreams, thus he needs to self-medicate to avoid changing the world. That world that George lives in doesn't sound too great. He's lonely, depressed, anxious and clearly unable to face the reality around him. Something like asking out the girl at the lawyer's office churns inside of him into the fantastical, as does his relationship with Dr. Haber.

As someone who's met someone and immediately created a fictional future with that person it makes sense. To George, he sees multiple realities with Heather, all while Dr. Haber is there, pulling the strings to make him do stuff he doesn't want to do. This begs the question: how much of the world George is seeing and how he's seeing it actually a construct of his anxiety and depression?

This is a book that worth reading, considering and really sitting down to think about, even if a lot of the set up in the first half can be laborious without an anchor character to center the reader.

This book totally boggled my mind. At some points, this book really frightened me. There are so many possible futures for our world and some could be amazing and others would-be nightmares.

The story feels very disorienting, because it jumps between realities, and it's a new world that you have to get used to every time. This is intentional, of course, and effective. However, I felt the need to have some constant to hold onto, and didn't get it. The only relationship that exists throughout the story is between George and Haber. I would have liked to see some sort of evolution in this relationship, like a power struggle that goes back and forth. Instead, I felt that it was quite static: Haber always has the upper hand, and there's not much George can do about it.

4.5 * Excellent and thought provoking.

This is very much a book of its time in style and core concept.

The story is about a guy whose dreams change reality and his psychiatrist who wants to try to use that ability to improve the world and give himself more and more power.

Thematically, it puts taoism against utilitarianism. I won't spoil for you how that plays out, but you can probably guess.

L'idée de départ de ce court roman est excellente : un homme consulte un thérapeute car ses rêves deviennent réalité, au sens littérale puisque la réalité se transforme véritablement en fonction des rêves qu'il fait. Dommage que l'exécution ne soit pas tout à fait à la hauteur, avec un récit brouillon qui ne m'a pas totalement convaincu.

Wonderful book. Unlike anything I've read before.

Excellent story with equal parts philosophy and sci-fi, and beautifully written. The subject of dreams has always interested me, and the implications of the particular scenario in this story are endlessly fascinating. Don't know why it took me so long to pick up Le Guin, but I will definitely be catching up on her catalogue.

Een mens moet om de zoveel tijd eens een oude klassieker herlezen, denk ik.

Maar science fiction uit de jaren 1970 is toch altijd ook een beetje een risico.

Maar ik herinner me vaag dat ik het zéér lang geleden, in franse vertaling dan nog wel, een wijs boek vond.

Maar dat is nergens een garantie voor, mijn geheugen laat me soms écht in de steek (crf. Anne McCaffrey, brrr).

Maar ik kwam het boek plots ook tegen in een lijst met boeken met niet-menselijke aliens, en dat herinnerde ik me zelfs niet meer, dat er aliens in zaten.

En dus heb ik het dan maar in de rapte gelezen.

Aan de oppervlakte gaat het over George Orr, een mens wiens dromen waar worden. Als hij bepaalde dromen heeft, en hij wordt wakker, dan is de wereld veranderd. Dat kan gaan van het eenvoudige (een schilderij van een berg is plots een schilderij van een paard, maar neen: het is altijd al een schilderij van een paard geweest, en de eigenaar weet zelfs precies waarom het er hangt, want de hele wereld is veranderd) tot het ingewikkelde (de hele menselijke soort is anders dan ze vroeger was, en heel de wereldgeschiedenis is veranderd).

Het vervelende is dat het in dromen gebeurt, en dat dromen niet rationeel zijn, en dat George bang is dat hij dingen gaat veranderen, en dat hij naar een psychiater gaat (oei, daar is de tijdsgeest van de 1971!), en dat die psychiater minder scrupules heeft dan George.

De psychiater beseft snel dat het echt waar is wat er gebeurt, en begint George Orr's talent te gebruiken om de wereld te veranderen.

En neen, dat loopt niet zo goed af.

‘t Is een fabel, ‘t is typisch Ursula K. Le Guin, ‘t is erg jaren 1970 maar ‘t blijft zeer leesbaar. En verrassend kort. En een heel ander boek voor een tiener dan voor iemand die al wat geleefd heeft.

I feel wretched about rating only three stars; but I just can't bring myself to say I “really liked” Lathe of Heaven. It felt kind of clumsy; preachy, too. Not the voice I know as Le Guin. But it's Le Guin, dammit, so the fault is clearly mine.

This was a short read, but very high intensity.

I read it years ago when I guess I was about 13, what I got then was an adventure story about a man called George whose dreams literally change reality [he's going slowly mad and is sent into therapy]. He meets up with a scientist [actually, his psychotherapist] who hypnotises him so that they can change anything they want. Pretty cool!

As a slightly older individual I got a whole different side to the story, a unsettling story that asks big questions as to our responsibility to others and the consequences of our actions. In the novel the therapist forces George to dream more and more utopian dreams in an effort to improve the world. George soon realises that every utopia has a price and questions his right to change things, while the doctor argues that those with the power to help others have no right to withhold that aid.

A short, thought provoking read from a great writer.