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The Lathe of Heaven  By  cover art

The Lathe of Heaven

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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Publisher's summary

George Orr is a mild and unremarkable man who finds the world a less than pleasant place to live: seven billion people jostle for living space and food. But George dreams dreams which do in fact change reality - and he has no means of controlling this extraordinary power.

Psychiatrist Dr William Haber offers to help. At first sceptical of George's powers, he comes to astonished belief. When he allows ambition to get the better of ethics, George finds himself caught up in a situation of alarming peril.

©2020 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about The Lathe of Heaven

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A story I’ve experienced 4 times

I have been fascinated by this story since I first saw it on film in 1980. I think I saw it twice and read the book and now the audiobook. I think it’s one of my favorite stories of all times the unbound imagination of the author. It’s been over 20 years since the last time I read this book and I find it amazing that the author way back in the 70s predicted the global warming event that we are all living through now in the way this is her imagination become reality like George’s dreams. I can’t recommend this book enough. I’m sure I will read it again.

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  • Overall
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good ideas, blunt execution

The underlying idea is intriguing and the of the world-building well thought out. Unfortunately the book lacks subtlety. Most points are conveyed in a very obvious, borderline cheesy way. The main character is unbearably annoying, while the psychiatrist is cliche but entertaining. All in all recommended as far as you are not looking for a masterpiece

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  • franjangle
  • 11-09-20

Annoyed

Fell asleep, not cos of the book. Since amazon took over the inflexible demand for a review & impossibility of easily going back to relisten to parts is really really annoying.

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6 people found this helpful

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  • Lestón
  • 02-19-23

An excellent yarn

One of those books I didn't want to put down. Narrator brought it to life very well, differentiating the characters' voices so you could focus on the story not the reading. Gripping escapism with an undercurrent of social commentary. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • ofer peres
  • 06-11-22

great story excellently read out

I enjoyed very much this book by Ursula Le Guin, of whom I knew earlier only the Earthsea series. Adam Sims does a fantastic job here, giving the characters distinguished tones without overdoing it. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Mark Stevens
  • 05-03-21

Fantastic

Superb writing and perfect narration. A fascinating story filled with the wisdom of the Tau.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • dglambeth
  • 03-30-23

Happy revisit

It must be forty years since I first read this book and, although I have returned to others in Le Guin’s oeuvre, sometimes quite often, I hadn’t returned to this one. Can’t think why. It’s great!
Very well read.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • "turkeyboy128"
  • 11-02-23

brilliant story and performance

female authors has been my 2023 theme and ursula le guin has been an absolute treasure! pure sci fi and world building! it was a totally immersive experience!

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  • Overall
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  • Cliff Moyce
  • 05-14-23

Great - even for a non-fan of sci-fi

First things first: an amazing performance by Adam Sims. If I had read this book on recycled trees first the voices would not have disappointed (as they can do). Adam captures perfectly the underdog George, and his therapist - the pompous Dr Haber (both characters to whom I think everyone can relate).

The idea behind the story is simple but brilliant: someone who changes the reality of the world inadvertent through his dreams. Each reality being a real possibility that could have happened if decisions or events had gone slightly differently. As with most sci-fI the scenarios are pretty gloomy, but some are not without hope. Also, as with most sci-fI there are obvious contradictions and plot holes (eg why is George in therapy in every scenario despite the worlds and societies being so different?), but it is always best to suspend disbelief when reading this genre. The writing is brilliant, and the dialogue believable. Le Guin even makes you feel sympathy for aliens. She really was a cut above almost everyone else in sci-fI writing.

Highly recommended.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Call me Bob
  • 04-16-23

A classic but more philosophical than scifi

Awesome performance!
Most of the classics lose much due to the outdated performance but this was great.
The ending is more out there than i would have liked and the scifi part is mostly missing.
Ok book to read once.

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  • Norma Miles
  • 03-31-23

"It's only dreams."

George Orr dreams. Well, yes, so does everyone, but some of his dreams change the waking reality not just for himself but for everyone. So terrified at the possibilities, George finds treatment with an experimental psychiatrist. As the story progresses, the pace speeds up and grows increasingly weird and intriguing idea emerge.. Great story but the character s are rather flat, two dimensional. Perhaps deamlike? Whatever - for this reason, I've scored it 4stats instead of 5.
Alan Sims performs well with clear narration and good differentiation of character voives.
A good S.F.read and highly recommended.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 03-16-23

Adrift in the world

Many of the novels of Ursula Le Guin feature far-flung settings removed both in space and time from the context she was writing in. This allows Le Guin to fictionalise the themes she was taking from the real world and place into her fictional settings. This had the effect of both intensifying and concealing the social issues she wish to discuss. The lathe of Heaven, does not conform to this traditions. It’s set in the year 2002, humans have not conquered the galaxy. They haven’t even conquered issues of climate change, food, shortages, and over population. Le Guin uses fear of contemporary and relevant issues (more relevant, now than when she was writing) to ground, her fantastical premise of a man who when dreaming is able to to shape the world and it’s history. This convergence of the fantastical and grounded makes for a short, highly imaginative narrative, that is part morality play, part thought experiment and altogether a compelling read.

Le Guin worlds are usually as a rule, so sprawling and complex as to really exist. this novel is no exception. It is not uncommon for the characters of Le Guin to play second fiddle to the world she creates. However the characters of this novel are three-dimensional and realistically motivated. This compelling characterisation is necessitated buy a narrative premised on change as a result of the realisation of dreams. The reader needs an anchor point at the heart of the storm.
Despite all the grandeur and change that frames the narrative, the core question of the novel are conveyed through a series of deeply philosophical conversations.

Le Guin interrogates the kind of domineering personalities that are so often drawn to power in the real world. She asks is good intentions, truly enough? Do we have the right to change the world like gods? Is there such a thing as a moral absolute? And what is lost when we take the easy road to resolving a problem? The novel goes to great lengths to physically depict these abstract idea in the world. Reality is not objective, just like dreams. The novel takes this often repeated concept, and turns reality into the realm of dreams, malleable and changeable.

The novel interrogates our understanding of dream. To Le Guin dreams are the realm of the possible we’re all is shifting like a great ocean of possibility. The waking world then is the realm of hard, fixed realities, the shore that borders on the ocean. Where these two realities, intersecting great and terrible changes occur. Reality becomes as illusory as a drug addled mind. Much of the perverse enjoyment of reading the novel comes from the vivid and creative versions of our reality rort with subtle or vast changes born of idealistic Dogma.

The lathe of heavens charters are similar as ambitious. George ore is a breath of fresh air as a male protagonist. He’s not hyper confident or overly intelligent or domineering. He slow to act, nervous and easy undercut. He often assumes the best in people which makes him easily to manipulated and is often overawed by the consequences of his decisions. What makes this character original is that these ideals are view as natural and normal. He’s a good person. And his journey of self growth and empowerment is one of the most compelling components of the novel. As he doesn’t radical change as mush as he find security an safe in his own from of positive divergent masculinity. This is a powerful message for manly not traditional masculinity men.

In closing the novel agues we are interconnected with nature, not separate from it. To change the world is to change ourselves, in so doing breaking the bounds of the unwritten game we all play. Reality can seem random and pointless perhaps there is a greater goal but we cannot step beyond your comprehension or else we risk bing lost on the sea of possibility. We must know when to stop a pursuit of understanding. If we can’t, we will be destroyed on the lathe of Heaven.

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  • Belvedere Spudge
  • 08-03-22

Interesting story, less so the performance

Changing the world with dreams is an interesting notion and meaningfully explored, however the performance choice on the central character detracted for me. While certainly passive and anxious, George is played here as such a meek and pathetic figure that I varied between struggling to maintain interest, to actively resenting his presence- neither of which I suspect was the intention. YMMV

Happy to revisit the book down the track, but think I'll go with the print version

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  • Jaz
  • 07-23-22

Solid sci-fi novella

Thought provoking piece by Ursula Le Guin. Depressing that even in the 70s they had enough foresight to imagine a dystopian future of climate change impacts, some of which are scarily similar to what we are seeing now. Pretty quick read and the plot moves along, neither the antagonist or protagonist are particular likeable, but the concept of effective dreaming is very fun.

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  • joe douglas
  • 09-09-21

dreaming life how it could be

very interesting story, it took me a while to get into it but once in I was hooked. considering it was written 50 years ago a lot of philosophical issues are thought provoking. Worth considering what kind of dream is worth dreaming into existence.

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  • Ahmet
  • 06-24-21

Depth

With so many layers, this story will keep you peeling for more. A true classic.

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