The Lathe of Heaven

By Ursula K. Le Guin

This science fiction classic by the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author is "a rare and powerful synthesis of poetry and science, reason and emotion" (The New York Times).

In a near-future world beset by war, climate change, and overpopulation, Portland resident George Orr discovers that his dreams have the power to alter reality. Upon waking, the world he knew has become a strange, barely recognizable place, where only George has a clear memory of how it was before. Seeking escape from these “effective dreams,” George eventually turns to behavioral psychologist Dr. William Haber for a cure. But Haber has other ideas in mind.
 
Seeing the profound power of George’s dreams, Haber believes it must be harnessed for the greater good—no matter the cost. Soon, George is a pawn in Haber’s dangerous game, where the fate of humanity grows more imperiled with every waking hour.

As relevant today as it was when it won the Locus Award in 1971, The Lathe of Heaven is a true classic, at once eerie and prescient, entertaining and intelligent. In short, it does “what science fiction is supposed to do" (Newsweek).
 
"When I read The Lathe of Heaven as a young man, my mind was boggled; now when I read it…it breaks my heart. Only a great work of literature can bridge - so thrillingly - that impossible span."—Michael Chabon 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781626812628

Ursula K. Le Guin

URSULA K. LE GUIN (1929-2018) was the celebrated and beloved author of numerous groundbreaking works, such as The Left Hand of Darkness, A Wizard of Earthsea, and The Dispossessed. The breadth and imagination of her work earned her six Nebulas, nine Hugos, and SFWA’s Grand Master, along with the PEN/Malamud and many other awards. In 2014 she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.

Reviews for The Lathe of Heaven

[drfuriosa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An unusual but interesting short novel about the landscape of nightmares. The twists and turns of the story are cleverly plotted.

[lightkensei · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't pretend I understood this book. But it moved something inside me. And the writing was beautiful.

[sunyidean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like many LeGuin books I wasn't sold on the beginning; the psychiatrist stuff is quite dated and poorly done.

However the book is excellent conceptually and many of the "dated" concepts can be explained away by the narrative functions existing in the novel (SPOILER: multiple realities).

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are some amazing things in this book, and I valued them more in this read than I did decades ago when I first encountered it. But I still didn't really find it absorbing or enjoyable. Her use of language when Dr Haber is first introduces is like a spiked washing board giving vivid warning of his propensity for damage.

[wickenden-285487 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this a long time ago and barely remember more than loving it.

[elenaj-147457 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a strange book, and one that I think would have been better (particular in terms of gender) if it had been written later in Le Guin's career.

Reading a book set in the future when it was written, but in a time that is now the past, is a fascinating experience, particularly seeing what predictions Le Guin landed more or less correctly and where she was notably wrong. (Primarily, things aren't as bad as she predicted . . . yet.)

[jzacsh-533759 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awkwardly shows its age in gender and race, but despite that this comes through really well. I'm really surprised this was written in 1971. Quite impressive sci-fi and a really good story over all.

[Matt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm a fan of Phillip K Dick and had heard lots about Ursula. Well, this has been my first book and it spoke to my interests so much and was written in such a captivating way that it's arguably among my favorites of all time. I love a good psych sci-fi novel that turns your perception of the world upside down and constantly has you questioning the reality taking place in the novel. Lathe of Heaven is unique, creative, profound even, and utterly mesmerizing. I couldn't recommend it enough!

[d-fbuser-554672245 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ursula is such an elegant and incisive writer; all of her work is beyond beautiful. This novel feels like the afterthoughts of a wild dream, the 'whatifs'. A rollercoaster of a read. Highly recommend it.

[themjrawr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never quite know where an Ursula Le Guin book is going to take me, but it's almost always fantastic to read, and usually a bit mind boggling. And almost always a trip into the human psyche to play with how we tick, what makes us break, and how we might respond. This one is no exception to any of these things.

[greeniezona · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My suggested subtitle: LeGuin does Philip K. Dick.

Seriously, George and Dr. William Haber could be straight out of a Dick novel. George sometimes has what he calls "effective" dreams -- dreams that alter reality, both for himself and if not for the entire universe, at least Earth and some surrounding neighborhood. Not wanting the responsibility of determining the reality of billions of other people, he self-medicates with illegally acquired drugs to avoid dreaming, which lands him sentenced to mandatory treatment by Dr. Haber. Haber, realizing George's power, of course wants to use George to re-write all of reality, over and over again, until they get it "right." Of course, the dreams are still dreams, and often use sideways dream logic to solve a problem, rather than whatever Dr. Haber had intended. At one point, George invents an alien species in order to solve world war, and even the aliens, confined to turtle suits and limited in their ability to make themselves understood cross-species, have a Dickian feel.

Heather, however, could not have been written by Dick, nor George's feelings for her. Heather who falls for George and tries to save him. Heather whose identity -- child of a militant Black Power father and white hippie mother -- is so much a part of her that when George's dreams invent a world free of racism (everyone is grey), Heather could never have existed.

Bleak, not what I've come to expect from LeGuin from what else I've read by her, but always interesting.

[undermyappletree · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What’s it about . . .George Orr doesn’t want to sleep, because when he does, he dreams. Most of his dreams are meaningless, but occasionally he dreams that something has changed in his life or the world he lives in, and when he awakens, he finds his dream world has become reality. No one around him senses anything different, but he knows people have disappeared and history has changed.George has been taking drugs in an attempt to suppress his dreams, but eventually he seeks help from a psychiatrist. Soon the doctor begins to realize that George really can change the future with his dreams and attempts to covertly influence him to make changes for the benefit of mankind. But the results are not what he intended.What did I think . . .The Lathe of Heaven was first published in 1971 and is set in Oregon in the year 2002. In this future, there is much poverty, racism, overpopulation, and despair. The climate has altered and it rains all the time. LeGuin was remarkably prescient in many of her visions and description of a future earth, including a changing climate.This is a short novel with only three main characters – George, his girlfriend, and Dr. Haber. Using alternating points of view, the author sends a thought-provoking message about the consequences of playing god. And what can happen when you get what you wish for.Audio production . . .This is a newly recorded version of the book and is narrated by George Guidall. As always, Guidall gives a believable performance. We feel Orr’s anxiety as he fears each new dream and the doctor’s arrogant attitude as he attempts to manipulate Orr. Other than the need to pay attention for the changing points of view, this is an easy and enjoyable listen.

[shawislandlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reading Bernadette Mayer first thing in the morning and Ursula Le Guin last thing at night: kind of perfect. The Lathe of Heaven is a remarkable piece of speculative fiction. Michael Chabon perhaps says it best: "When I read The Lathe of Heaven as young man, my mind was boggled; now when I read it, more than 25 years later, it breaks my heart. Only a great work of literature can bridge--so thrillingly--that impossible span." - Brian

[liveandrew · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The solipsistic nightmare of a man desperately trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle.A few notes:* Until the end of the book, George is a draftsman. Someone who acts as an interface between someone's idea and the realisation of the idea.* With his median psychometric scoring George is the ultimate "Everyman".* Dreams as reality.* Absolute power, even if it is for the greater good, corrupts, absolutely.* There is Nietzschean subtext throughout. Will to power. The destruction of god by Haber trying to become an Übermensch. The void, "The eyes looked straight forward into the dark, into the void, into the unbeing at the centre of William Haber".

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading and loving another of LeGuin's books ([The Left Hand of Darkness]), I looked forward to this one. I was not disappointed. Sci-Fi - Psychology - Dreams - Dystopia = weird, very weird! I probably should not have chosen this as my bedtime book though... led to some strange dreams on my part.So, the main character dreams - and those dreams come true changing his dystopian world. Insanity, mind control, aliens, time shifts...

[ohernaes · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A man's dreams change reality. In attempts at exploiting this for humanitarian objectives, there are unintended consequences. I've always found the topic of dreams fairly boring, and the plot was perhaps a bit too obviously laid out.

[comixminx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great, absorbing book with a central hook concept that I liked a lot. Very odd though how it really reminded me of Philip K Dick, which is not something I would ever have expected UKlG to do: uncertain world, ever changing due to a mental ability? check. drugs? check. manipulation by hearty person who is sure of themselves? yup. Hmm, odd.

[suzemo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot - it's a bit of Monkey's Paw, a bit of Fisherman's Wife, and a whole lot of thinking.

George Orr is a dude. A completely normal 50th percentile all over, totally forgettable normal dude. He isn't blindingly intelligent, he doesn't have a large or strong personality, and yet he's changing the world - changing reality, over and over again. The best part is - no one knows.

He dreams intense ('effective') dreams sometimes, and his dreams are true. And they change the world. As it is, as it ever was.

He goes to see a shrink, who doesn't just (eventually) believe him, but tries to use George's dreams to make the world a better place (but not just for humanity, he also decides to further his own gains). George's position also gets better, though it does not make him happy. The problem is, one must be careful what one wishes for.

George has a hard time accepting reality as *real.* He created it, right? How real is real? How much control do we really have? What will it take to make everything break? How much better, or even how do you even make things better? What will the mind accept and what will it create? This is a delightfully juicy psychological book.

[ahs7wolfy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

George Orr has a problem with his dreams. When he has what he terms an 'effective dream' it changes reality to match. What a cool ability to possess you might think? George's problem is that he has no control over what he dreams so he has tried all sorts of things to stop them from occurring. His current method is drugs but he's having to borrow other people's Pharmacy Card's so they're not all allocated to him and this leads to discovery and referral to a therapist as part of the Voluntary Therapeutic Treatment. Dr. William Haber, the psychiatrist Orr gets assigned to, soon realises that he can make use of this talent and improve the lot of mankind as well as helping himself along in the process. Unfortunately for Haber and the rest of the world, Orr doesn't always dream what Haber actually suggests and perceived results could have unforeseen consequences. Will the doctor find a way to get better results or perhaps even give his patient what he wants: to be cured of effective dreaming once and for all.Touching on many of the big questions such as the nature of humanity and with social and political themes abounding even touching on environmental concerns and over-population which, for 1971 when this work was first published, is quite something. The story never meanders though and stays fixed within its main tenets which means it's a fairly quick read weighing in at under 200 pages. In lesser hands this story could get terribly confusing but I'm glad to say that wasn't the case here. It's a really enjoyable read and I'll certainly be looking for more of her work having only read some of the Earthsea stories previously.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What you would do if you had access to unlimited power? Would you wield it to try to solve problems like overpopulation, warfare, and pollution, or would you be wary of it, knowing the dangers of ‘playing god’ may include all sorts of unintended consequences? This is the subtext to this story of a man who finds that he changes reality through some of his dreams, and turning to a psychiatrist to help him, finds himself being exploited.Le Guin is an excellent writer, and keeps the story clean, not bringing in all sorts of additional characters or subplots, but at the same time, making us think about the human condition. There are elements of environmentalism, eastern philosophy, and man’s nature on display here. I love how we feel the angst of the world when the book was written, the fear of overpopulation, pollution, and clear references to the immorality of the Vietnam war (“He had grown up in a country run by politicians who sent the pilots to man the bombers to kill the babies to make the world safe for children to grow up in”) - yet at the same time, the book is ahead of its time, and timeless. As a lot of the best science fiction authors are, Le Guin is remarkably prescient about the future; to be warning of global warming because of greenhouse gasses in 1971 was impressive to me. She also envisages battery powered cars (‘batcars’), the inevitable uprising to end apartheid in South Africa, and a multitude of nations all armed with nuclear weapons.Le Guin also occasionally injects little one-liner barbs into her prose, almost as if in her stream of consciousness, and they’re wonderful (“Look out for this woman. She is dangerous.” then later “…and so now she’d have heartburn. On top of pique, umbrage, and ennui. Oh, the French diseases of the soul.”). When the doctor is frowning and standing over his patient she injects “Your God is a jealous God”, which delivers on many levels, including a criticism of the doctor and a religion.I loved how the book was set in Portland, and had a strong African-American woman character in the lawyer he enlists to help him. Most of all, I loved the blend of reality with dreams, self with universe, and the virtues of action vs. letting things be. Oh, and the turtle aliens too.Quotes:On dreams vs. reality, reminding me of Chuang-Tzu’s butterfly dream:“George Orr, pale in the flickering fluorescent glare of the train car in the infrafluvial dark, swayed as he stood holding a swaying steel handle on a strap among a thousand other souls. He felt the heaviness upon him, the weight bearing down endlessly. He thought, I am living in a nightmare, from which from time to time I wake in sleep.”On the meaning of life:“Things don’t have purposes, as if the universe were a machine, where every part has a useful function. What’s the function of a galaxy? I don’t know if our life has a purpose and I don’t see that it matters. What does matter is that we’re a part. Like a thread in a cloth or grass-blade in a field. It is and we are. What we do is like wind blowing on the grass.”On nature:“She went to the door and stood half inside, half outside for a while, listening to the creek shouting and hollering eternal praise! eternal praise! It was incredible that it had kept up that tremendous noise for hundreds of years before she was even born, and would go on doing it until the mountains moved. And the strangest thing about it, now very late at night in the absolute silence of the woods, was a distant note in it, far away upstream it seemed, like the voices of children singing – very sweet, very strange.”On oneness, it reminded me a lot of Alan Watts’ writings on Buddhism:“…I’m a part of it. Not separate from it. I walk on the ground and the ground’s walked on by me, I breathe the air and change it, I am entirely interconnected with the world.”On sex, interesting comment during the ‘sexual revolution’:“The insistent permissiveness of the late twentieth century had produced fully as much sex-guilt and sex-fear in its heirs as had the insistent repressiveness of the late nineteenth century.”And this one, on attraction:“An irrelevant and poignant sensation of pleasure rose in him, like a tree that grew up and flowered all in one moment with its roots in his loins and its flowers in his mind.”On the Taoist principle of wu wei, and the uncarved block.“The infinite possibility, the unlimited and unqualified wholeness of being of the uncommitted, the nonacting, the uncarved: the being who, being nothing but himself, is everything.”I loved this one too:“Are there really people without resentment, without hate? she wondered. People who never go cross-grained to the universe? Who recognize evil, and resist evil, and yet are utterly unaffected by it?”

[stephlaymon · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

So many of you loved this, but it was painful as hell for me. Sure, it was thought provoking, and the end was good enough that it calmed my hot nerves enough to give it a 2-star, but man oh man was there ever A LOT of useless filler, and this book is only 200 pages long!

[booklove2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ursula K LeGuin proves herself a sci-fi pro yet again, in this compact, yet full of ideas dystopia. Written in 1971 but with a plot that takes place in 1998 (and reading the book for the first time 20 years after 1998) it becomes an interesting little experiment in time. George Orr (ring any bells?) finds himself able to have certain dreams that recreate reality. Much of the book involves George Orr talking with his dream therapist, in order to figure out how to stop the dreams. But the doctor wants something different. And of course an unconscious mind doesn't take dream direction very well... The book is a lovely little weird snippet of sci-fi. It reminded me of the Terry Gilliam movie 'Brazil'. The book takes place in Portland, Oregon which is a setting you don't see every day. I wonder if LeGuin was friends with Katherine Dunn? They were both awesome book ladies who lived in Portland, so I hope.

[dylanwolters · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A really great, introspective journey. The world within the book changes left and right as George continues to dream beyond his control. A fabulous look into learning to adapt and to accept. Man is not mean to be god, and that is for the better. Well worth the rather short read by anyone looking for a captivating journey full of intriguing plot shifts.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

George Orr is a mild, unassuming man, a good draftsman, a man who has recently developed a mild drug abuse problem. This is discovered in part due to the pharmacy card that every citizen is issued. He's been making unauthorized use of other people's cards. It's not a very serious offense, at least at his level of abuse. Because he admits it, and another person admits to being one of his sources, he's only sent for Voluntary Therapeutic Treatment.By chance, the psychiatrist he's assigned to is Dr. Haber.This isn't the beginning of George's nightmare. George was using the drugs to suppress his dreams, and this is vital because some small percentage of George's dreams are what he calls "effective dreams." They change the world, and not just for him. He's the only one who even remembers that the world was ever different.He tells Dr. Haber the truth, and manages to convince him. Haber promises to help, but instead begins manipulating George's dreams, in pursuit of his own ideas of a "better" world.What follows is a strange, often dark, and fascinating adventure through alternating timelines, none of which work out exactly the way Haber intended. Haber grows increasingly frustrated; George grows increasingly alarmed--even as, along the way some positive and encouraging changes do happen. Yet even the good changes are often the result of horrific events that killed millions, and George feels responsible for those deaths.He needs friends, help, a way out of the trap.George is a very good man, with seemingly great power, who wants to do as little damage as possible. Haber is not really a bad man, and he is genuinely trying to make things better--but he does have a large ego and great personal ambition, too. They and the whole world are on a roller coaster ride through an unpredictably changing world.It's a fantastic, wonderful story. Highly recommended.I bought this audiobook.

[.monkey.-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was amazing. Honestly have no more to say than that. Le Guin was a genius and everything she touched was golden. The way she wrote, and the things she wrote about... it's all incredible.

[unclebob53703 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful prose style, one of a kind story about a man who has "effective" dreams and a shrink who tries to use him. The writing had me from the first jaw-dropping paragraph.

[gabarito-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book, stands up there with Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed on the "books I freaking love" shelf. Both my husband and I literally gasped out loud at several points in this book. Speculative fiction at its best.

[rretzler_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Living in Portland, Oregon in a future 2002, George Orr has been caught using drugs and is sentenced to “voluntary” therapy. George has “effective” dreams that change the reality and been taking drugs to prevent them. In one of George’s first dreams, his aunt had been visiting his family and causing problems for him. After a particularly stressful event, George dreamed that his aunt had died in a car accident near her home weeks before. Upon waking, he learns his aunt has never visited and has, in fact, died in a car crash. In the new reality, as in the dream, the visit had never taken place, and George is the only one to remember the former reality. Once George is able to convince his assigned therapist, William Haber, that his effective dreaming does change reality, Haber attempts to control George’s dreaming initially to make the world a better place. However, with each change that Haber tries to bring about, there is an unintended adverse consequence. As the world becomes more chaotic, Haber becomes more power-mad. George and his friend and lawyer, Heather, know they must stop Haber before he destroys the world.The Lathe of Heaven was published in 1971, so the future 2002 in the book was still 30 years away. The dates are possibly the one thing that makes the book feel slightly outdated. I like the idea of this book, it is unique, and yet it is reminiscent of the many stories where one has three wishes, and with each wish, there is an unintended adverse consequence. I also like the messages that I think Le Guin is trying to send, that even the best intentions can go awry if one does not understand all of the consequences of their actions; and that one person may think they know what is best for others, but the others may not always agree. I felt that Le Guin did a great job of portraying George as an “every-man” that we want to succeed even though he essentially has a “super-power.” The reader may feel pity for him because he seems to be in a situation that is beyond his control.I listened to The Lathe of Heaven as an audiobook and thought the narration was good, but not outstanding. Although the book is well-written and tells a good story, the many changes in the book’s reality sometimes made it challenging to keep up, especially when one is listening instead of reading.

[williecostello · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Lathe of Heaven was the first Le Guin novel I ever read, and in many ways it is the speculative fiction novel I had always been waiting for. That's because it is just so marvelously written, in addition to being wildly imaginative and deeply engaging. Le Guin, I discovered, is the sort of writer that could write anything and I'd gladly read it, and this became clear within the first two pages of the book.Le Guin's greatest achievement in The Lathe of Heaven, however, is that it all just feels so real (and this in a book with continuum-shifting dreaming and an invasion of extraterrestial turtles). The characters, and the protagonist George Orr in particular, are believably portrayed and psychologically complex. The characters' actions and the turns of the plot follow naturally though not entirely predictably upon one another. And the world itself is immersive and detailed, in spite of its frequent oneiric rearrangings.It is this visceral reality of Le Guin's impossible fiction that gives The Lathe of Heaven its this-worldly literary impact. The near-novella hits on countless issues in its less-than-two-hundred pages (everything from geo- and global politics to Taoist spirituality), but more than anything else it is an exploration of moral responsibility. Through its imaginative set-up, Le Guin creates a mutually opposed protagonist-and-antagonist pair, neither of which is straightforwardly blameworthy for his actions, or straightforwardly innocent, either. In this moral morass Le Guin asks us to contemplate what a concerned agent can and should do.It is a powerful and thought-provoking question, and The Lathe of Heaven poses it in a powerful and thought-provoking way which is also eminently readable and thoroughly enjoyable.

[mattakunobaka-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best science fiction books I've ever encountered, and just about the only INTELLIGENT science fiction i have ever seen adapted to television or movie forms.A masterwork of ontological possibilities. . .