Quickly finished up another novel today by the late Ursula K. Le Guin. A short one titled “The Lathe Of Heaven”.
Set on an Earth that is consumed by war and environmental disaster this is the story of one George Orr who discovers that his own dreams can alter reality.
George is terrified of this ability and he seeks help from an ambitious psychiatrist named Dr. William Haber who soon has a complete grasp on George’s power. When Haber becomes adept at controlling and manipulating George’s dreams, which he uses to reshape the world, he soon begins to seek that power for himself.
So now it’s up to George, with some really surprising help, must resist Dr. Haber’s attempts that are threatening the very fabric of reality itself.
This is really one of Le Guin’s most hallucinogenic novels that I’ve read so far. It’s so much like what you read in a Philip K. Dick novel (and I love Philip K. Dick!). Of course, as stated in the introduction of my Scribner edition of my copy, both Philip and Le Guin were both admirers of their work and ha corresponded with each other on occasion.
The idea of altering reality via dreaming is, as George himself had found it, very terrifying. Can you imagine a person having that kind of power and using it to change every aspect of world, only to destroy reality itself? I certainly can’t! Certainly not, even if it was with the best of intentions. Still this is a great read, regardless of its short length.
by i-the-muso-1968