The Lathe of Heaven
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First published in 1971, Ursula K. Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven is a quietly unsettling novel in which dreams become instruments capable of remaking reality. George Orr, an unassuming Portland man, discovers that his dreams can alter the world itself, changing the past and reshaping the lives of those around him. Desperate to escape this power, he seeks treatment from Dr William Haber, a psychiatrist who sees in George's extraordinary ability the means to cure humanity's ills. Yet each attempt to improve the world brings unforeseen consequences, as the boundaries between benevolent ambition, scientific control and catastrophe grow increasingly uncertain.
Drawing on the traditions of speculative fiction while questioning their promise of mastery, Le Guin explores the ethics of power, the instability of reality and the danger of imposing a single vision of perfection upon the world. The novel's dreamlike atmosphere is balanced by a sharp examination of social prejudice, environmental crisis and the seductive logic of technological solutions. Its title, drawn from the imagery of the Tao Te Ching, evokes a cosmos shaped by forces beyond any individual's complete understanding. Among Le Guin's most philosophically daring works, The Lathe of Heaven remains a haunting meditation on the limits of human intention and the possibility that accepting the world's imperfections may be wiser than attempting to remake it.
From the book
“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”
— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
On The Lathe of Heaven
“One of the best novels, and most important to understanding of the nature of our world.”
— Philip K. Dick