Book cover
Ages:
14
+
Engagement:
Author:
Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre:
Science Fiction
Published:
1971
Page Count:
184
Where to Buy:
Ages:
14
+

The Lathe of Heaven

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Content Ratings

Mild Romance
George's growing romantic attachment to his lawyer Heather is a quiet emotional thread through the novel; their relationship is warm and important to the story but not physically detailed.
Moderate Themes
The novel explores the ethics of imposed utopia, the arrogance of believing one can improve reality by force of will, and the value of accepting the world's complexity and impermanence.
Mild Violence
Reality-altering events produce apocalyptic changes including a pandemic and alien invasion, depicted more through their aftermath than direct violent action.
Synopsis

In a near-future Portland overwhelmed by ecological crisis, a man named George Orr discovers that his dreams literally change reality, and a psychiatrist begins exploiting this ability to try to reshape the world according to his own utopian vision—with increasingly catastrophic and unintended consequences. A tightly plotted philosophical novel drawing on Taoist thought, the story meditates on the dangers of imposing one's will on a complex reality. Unsettling, elegant, and deeply wise.