The Lathe of Heaven

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Adam Sims

Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Fantastic

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

"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.