The lathe of heaven

von Ursula K. Le Guin

Kein Titelbild — Ursula K. Le Guin: The lathe of heaven (1982, R. Bentley)

184 Seiten

Sprache: English

Am 8. November 1982 von R. Bentley veröffentlicht.

ISBN:: 978-0-8376-0464-0
OCLC-Nummer:: 7923551

“The Lathe of Heaven” ; 1971 ( Ursula Le Guin received the 1973 Locus Award for this story) George Orr has a gift – he is an effective dreamer: his dreams become reality when he wakes up. He is aware of his past and present, two or more sets of memories, although the people around him are only aware of the current reality. This science fiction story is set in Portland, Oregon, in/around the late 1990s - early 2000s. Orr begins to take drugs to suppress dreams but eventually he is sent to a psychotherapist, Dr. William Haber, who has developed an electronic machine, the Augmentor, which records the brain patterns of a person as they dream. When Haber realizes that he can use Orr's unique ability to change their world, the consequences are both beneficial and frightening, both locally and globally. Orr seeks out the help of a civil rights lawyer, Heather Lelache, who attends a treatment session, and sees Portland change before her very eyes as Orr awakens. In a strange turn of events, Heather helps Orr by putting him in a dream state where Orr can undo some of Haber's actions. The result – Aliens on the Moon land on Earth ! A special affinity exists between George Orr and the Aliens, who seem to understand his unique gift. Ultimately Haber decides to impose Orr's brain patterns on his own, so that he can bring about world-wide changes. Orr and Heather feel the chaos and a sense of a void as Haber dreams. Orr rushes back to Haber's office and turns off the Augmentor. The world returns to April 1998.

28 Auflagen

reading crustacean hat The Lathe Of Heaven von Ursula K. Le Guin besprochen

very different from her other works

3 Sterne

This one, to me, seemed very untypical for Le Guin. I would have thought it was one of her first, but actually it was written after the hainish cycle. The Taoism is very on the nose here, but it doesn't have much of the poetry and the reverence for life and mind that I loved about her other works.

It was written as an homage to Philip K. Dick and it really read more like one of his novels, like classical 70s sci-fi.

Sinyi@books.theunseen.city hat The Lathe Of Heaven von Ursula K. Le Guin besprochen

The Jellyfish doesn't swim, but floats.

4 Sterne

Full spoiler free review here : system-failure.trbn.xyz/lathe-of-heaven-wip/ [...] “Reality is an odd choice of word, when all that shapes it is a dream”, thinks the jellyfish.

We meet George Orr in the middle of an overdose. Whilst society deems him an addict, his issue is one much greater than that : he is a Dreamer.

His bed is a boat with no helm to speak of, and as he catches odd things shift in the world behind his eyes, so too does reality shape itself anew. The change terrifies him.

Should Orr attempt to swim ? Should Orr dream with intent, for the betterment of humankind, to become the Lathe of a heaven of his own making ? Or should Orr rid himself of this terrible and frightening power ? “Worse…” he thinks. “if my dreams have such potency… what will come with my nightmares ?”

Full spoiler free review here : system-failure.trbn.xyz/lathe-of-heaven-wip/ [...] “Reality is an odd choice of word, when all that shapes it is a dream”, thinks the jellyfish.

We meet George Orr in the middle of an overdose. Whilst society deems him an addict, his issue is one much greater than that : he is a Dreamer.

His bed is a boat with no helm to speak of, and as he catches odd things shift in the world behind his eyes, so too does reality shape itself anew. The change terrifies him.

Sally Strange hat The Lathe Of Heaven von Ursula K. Le Guin besprochen

Classic early Le Guin, holds up

5 Sterne

A few aspects of the story will strike 21st century readers as quaint, naive, or dated. For example the reliance on hypnosis as a foolproof method of making people dream whatever you want them to dream. However, this is a minor quibble, and the overall story arc is truly haunting, thought-provoking, and unsettling. It's sweet and beautiful in places, too. No wonder it's a classic.

altlovesbooks hat The Lathe Of Heaven von Ursula K. Le Guin besprochen

"The power of dreaming alone is quite undreamt of!"

4 Sterne

Inhaltswarnung Major ending questions, minor thematic spoilers

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 (thematic spoilers here) 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 (major ending spoilers here) (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.

Themen

Dreams -- Fiction