Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

9 reviews

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Things don’t have purposes, as if the universe were a machine, where every part has a useful function. What’s the function of a galaxy? I don’t know if our life has a purpose and I don’t see that it matters. What does matter is that we’re a part. Like a thread in a cloth or a grass-blade in a field. It is and we are. What we do is like wind blowing on the grass.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Racism

random19379's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Mental illness, War, Violence, Racial slurs, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Genocide

jdcorley's review against another edition

challenging reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's facile to say this is Le Guin's book about speculative fiction itself.  It runs deeper - about how our desires for comfort, riches, power, or even simple security have endless implications, how the desires themselves are both the danger and the promise.  Lathe is truly one of the few books that truly address themselves to the eternal questions of the individual human and their relationship to the world.  We all feel, after all, entitled to dream, but are we all then held hostage to each other's dreams?  A work that will stay with you your whole life, that you will remember your whole life. It asks a question that you can only answer by living.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, and War

wispy_reviews's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a wonderful surprise!
I had so much fun reading this one; such a unique concept, and it’s so effortlessly cinematic in how it reads.  That’s the only way I can think to describe it; imagining it as a film gives me chills.
A treatise on agency and hubris, what it means to help another person and the fine line where goodwill becomes selfish altruism.   Absolutely worth a try, highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, War, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Racism and Panic attacks/disorders

maziodynes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic friendship

Moderate: War, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

aandromeda's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Genocide and Racism

lipka's review against another edition

challenging hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

        I am deeply attached to the person holding the center, and the person embracing him. The sky-sea space-time matter-energy self-universe center-edge is at stake; the pages too few to cradle all of the implications thereof. But it's as sweet as it is small. And sanguine. And blue. If I dream any dream, I'd be glad of it being a dream as kind as this one was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Mental illness

Moderate: War, Ableism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Murder, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Car accident

mar's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Pedophilia, and Homophobia

keen's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Death, and Child death