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The Lathe of Heaven

  • Ursula K. Le Guin

4.09

45 ratings

“The Lathe of Heaven” ; 1971 ( Ursula Le Guin received the 1973 Locus Award for this story) George Orr has a gift – he is an effective dreamer: his dreams become reality when he wakes up. He is aware of his past and present, two or more sets of memories, although the people around him are only aware of the current reality. This science fiction story is set in Portland, Oregon, in/around the late 1990s - early 2000s. Orr begins to take drugs to suppress dreams but eventually he is sent to a psychotherapist, Dr. William Haber, who has developed an electronic machine, the Augmentor, which records the brain patterns of a person as they dream. When Haber realizes that he can use Orr's unique ability to change their world, the consequences are both beneficial and frightening, both locally and globally. Orr seeks out the help of a civil rights lawyer, Heather Lelache, who attends a treatment session, and sees Portland change before her very eyes as Orr awakens. In a strange turn of events, Heather helps Orr by putting him in a dream state where Orr can undo some of Haber's actions. The result – Aliens on the Moon land on Earth ! A special affinity exists between George Orr and the Aliens, who seem to understand his unique gift. Ultimately Haber decides to impose Orr's brain patterns on his own, so that he can bring about world-wide changes. Orr and Heather feel the chaos and a sense of a void as Haber dreams. Orr rushes back to Haber's office and turns off the Augmentor. The world returns to April 1998.

Genres

  • Dreams
  • Fiction
  • Fiction in English
  • Science fiction
  • Dystopian fiction
  • Nature
  • Psychotherapist and patient
  • Social change
  • Effect of human beings on
  • Dreams -- Fiction
  • Fiction, science fiction, general
  • American literature
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About the author

  • Ursula K. Le Guin

    21 October 1929 - 22 January 2018

    4.04

    545 ratings · 292 works

Editions

  • Edition cover

    Mondadori

    2025

  • Edition cover

    Lgf

    September 18, 2002

  • Edition cover

    Edhasa

    1987

  • Edition cover

    Minotauro, MINOTAURO

    Feb 21, 2017

Edition cover

Booket

May 14, 2019

  • Edition cover

    Booket

    May 14, 2019

  • Edition cover

    Minotauro, MINOTAURO

    Feb 21, 2017

  • Edition cover

    Metis

    Nov 04, 2011

  • Edition cover

    Edition Phantasia

    Apr 01, 2006

  • Edition cover

    Blackstone Pub

    Mar 01, 2013

  • Edition cover

    Avon Books

    Jun 22, 1973

  • Edition cover

    Orion Publishing Group, Limited

    2021

  • Edition cover

    Recorded Books, Inc. and Blackstone Publishing

    Oct 15, 2016

  • Edition cover

    Panther

    1974

  • Edition cover

    Gollancz

    2001

  • Edition cover

    1st Perennial Classics ed.

    Perennial Classics

    2003

  • Edition cover

    Eos

    April 1, 1997

  • Edition cover

    Avon

    1973

  • Edition cover

    Avon Books

    February 1995

  • Edition cover

    Phantom Press International

    1991

  • Edition cover

    Book-of-the-Month Club

    1991

  • Edition cover

    Reef Audio

    February 1999

  • Edition cover

    Scribner

    1971

  • Edition cover

    Scribner

    May 20, 2008

  • Edition cover

    北京日报出版社

    2024

  • Edition cover

    北京日报出版社

    2024

  • Edition cover

    Keter

    1980

  • Edition cover

    Editorial Presenca

    Apr 10, 2004

  • Edition cover

    Orion Publishing Group, Limited

    2015

  • Edition cover

    Scribner

    2022

  • Edition cover

    Scribner

    2023

  • Edition cover

    Diversion Publishing Corp.

    2014

  • Edition cover

    avon books

    1971

  • Edition cover

    Scribner

    1971

  • Edition cover

    Blackstone Audiobooks

    April 1998

  • Edition cover

    Gollancz, Orion Publishing Group, Limited

    1972

  • Edition cover

    R. Bentley

    1982

  • Edition cover

    Rebound by Sagebrush

    April 1997

  • Edition cover

    Avon

    February 1995

  • Edition cover

    Gollancz

    1979