Book: The lathe of heaven
Dec. 14th, 2012 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livAuthor: Ursula Le Guin
Details: (c) Ursula Le Guin 1971; Pub Gollancz SF Masterworks 2001; ISBN 978-1-85798-951-9
Verdict: The lathe of heaven is well-written but creepy and depressing.
Reasons for reading it: It's a classic, and Le Guin is always worth reading.
How it came into my hands: Library.
The premise of The lathe of heaven is that the protagonist has dreams which can alter reality. This is explored really interestingly, principally because the dreams are actual dreams, Orr can't simply decide to dream of the outcome he wants or even really control how his dreams pan out or how they will be reflected in the changed reality when he wakes up. This device is used to portray a bunch of branching and variously dystopian futures, but the focus is really quite narrow and personal, it's the relationship between Orr (who is something of a loner anyway), the psychiatrist who tries to use hynosis to direct his dreams, and the lawyer who falls for Orr while trying to prove that the psych is breaching his human rights.
As dystopias go, it's both very 70s and very contemporary, because a lot of the dystopian background is about global warming and rising sea-levels, with a side of over-population and mass plagues, depending which branch of the timeline is active at any given moment. And the politics is all Orwellian surveillance state stuff. The dystopias are made especially horrifying because they're in some way caused by Orr's dreams. And the horrible relationship with the controlling, manipulative, megalomaniac psych is portrayed in terrifyingly vivid detail. There is kind of an upbeat ending with friendly but mysterious aliens, but mostly it's pretty grim.
I enjoyed the portrayal of Orr, as both explicitly an Everyman, and as an interesting individual. And the lawyer is a complex and memorable character, and I enjoyed the development of their relationship in all its alternative branches. That's what kept me reading, that and the fact that even at its most creepy, the skill of the writing was worth admiring. Still, this is never going to be my favourite Le Guin.
Details: (c) Ursula Le Guin 1971; Pub Gollancz SF Masterworks 2001; ISBN 978-1-85798-951-9
Verdict: The lathe of heaven is well-written but creepy and depressing.
Reasons for reading it: It's a classic, and Le Guin is always worth reading.
How it came into my hands: Library.
The premise of The lathe of heaven is that the protagonist has dreams which can alter reality. This is explored really interestingly, principally because the dreams are actual dreams, Orr can't simply decide to dream of the outcome he wants or even really control how his dreams pan out or how they will be reflected in the changed reality when he wakes up. This device is used to portray a bunch of branching and variously dystopian futures, but the focus is really quite narrow and personal, it's the relationship between Orr (who is something of a loner anyway), the psychiatrist who tries to use hynosis to direct his dreams, and the lawyer who falls for Orr while trying to prove that the psych is breaching his human rights.
As dystopias go, it's both very 70s and very contemporary, because a lot of the dystopian background is about global warming and rising sea-levels, with a side of over-population and mass plagues, depending which branch of the timeline is active at any given moment. And the politics is all Orwellian surveillance state stuff. The dystopias are made especially horrifying because they're in some way caused by Orr's dreams. And the horrible relationship with the controlling, manipulative, megalomaniac psych is portrayed in terrifyingly vivid detail. There is kind of an upbeat ending with friendly but mysterious aliens, but mostly it's pretty grim.
I enjoyed the portrayal of Orr, as both explicitly an Everyman, and as an interesting individual. And the lawyer is a complex and memorable character, and I enjoyed the development of their relationship in all its alternative branches. That's what kept me reading, that and the fact that even at its most creepy, the skill of the writing was worth admiring. Still, this is never going to be my favourite Le Guin.
