The Lathe of Heaven (1971)
By Ursula le Guin
Hugo and Nebula Awards Winner
Rating : 5/5 🎉
196 pages [Kindle Digital Edition]
Genres : Science Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, 2022-read.
Wow. What did I just read? This is a close your eyes and give it the best rating there is kind of a read. I haven't found myself so engrossed in a while. I couldn't put the book down. Found myself getting up early in the morning and reading to find out what comes next. Great stuff! 🥂
This also brought to mind another book I read recently which is along the lines of altering reality .. Recursion by Blake Crouch .. though in Recursion, where technology is used to navigate between different lines of reality of existence .. in this book, it is the fantasy of a man's dreaming that gets the state of reality altered between different lines. And someone even tries to apply that through technology and it backfires big time! I liked Recursion but I just love The Lathe Of Heaven which duly deserves to be one of the best SFF classics of all time. I felt true horror take over me towards the end like I am watching an episode of Doctor Who where things are just spiraling out of control and there could be no salvaging the situation. But the author cleverly averts it.
Coming to the story, a man has the ability to dream things and reality changes to meet his wishes/desires. Confounded and afraid of this taking over him, he uses drugs to suppress dreams. He over does his prescription and gets caught. He is assigned to a psychotherapist/psychoanalyst Dr. Haber who understands what's happening with George Orr. He realizes the potential of such a power. He being a man of sociopathic, self serving and mad scientist orientation, he starts putting Orr under hypnotic sleep and suggests him to dream on altering the problems of the world. Through this, they cut down population from 7 billion to 1 billion, remove race issues, cancer problems, mental health issues etc .. while also propelling the doctor to great scientific heights. Orr causes for turtle like aliens from some unknown world to land in Portland in a bid to remove war like contingencies between countries and these new creatures learn to peacefully coexist with humans(one of the most brilliant aspects of the book). They have a big and pivotal role to play in setting things right with both Orr and Haber who has no satisfaction with anything changed/achieved. There is no way a human could decide what's right and what's the way of things to be .. to be playing God and altering things whimsically. 😒 And who is to tell where it would have lead the Doctor if not into prison?!
The love track between Orr and Ms. Heather is also very wholesome. Different alternative timelines..continuums.. and they are both there to be wooed by the other all fresh again. Its very lovely to have someone through all times of crisis. 💜💜
Can't recommend this book more !! Do check it out! 🤘
Comments
Post a Comment