tearex_readsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jameshaus's review against another edition
5.0
Had never read it before. Loved it. Didn't even know it was set in Portland!
squaricalness's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
interrowhimper's review against another edition
5.0
Really entertaining. Some startlingly evocative descriptions in dream descriptions.
yvarg's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is the first work of Le Guin's that I've properly enjoyed.
caitdanger's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
toriniedzi's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
4.5
terrahome's review against another edition
5.0
"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."
A prophetic text. Ursula K. Le Guin explores the conceptual ideas about dreams and human nature she presents through a humanistic and moralist lens. The three central characters each act as side in a philosophical debate, but not none of them come across as one dimensional. Rather, their personalities feed into this conflict, and their motivations determine the philosophical direction of the narrative's themes and conflicts.
From the beginning, I was struck by just how many things Le Guin has predicted/understood about our modern capitalist society during this book's initial publication in the 1970's. The future inevitable effects of climate change and pollution are pivotal in the opening sections of this book and from there the book continues to be eerily prescient. There's a passage describing how war moving into space has made it feel distant and less personal, calling into mind the effects of drone warfare on the US' public perception of wars in the Middle East. Hell, the book even predicts the modern day wars in the Middle East! Dr. Haber can be seen as representative of capitalist ideas of "growth" and "innovation." He believes that George's ability to alter reality through his dreams is a tool. Narrowing Haber's role in the text down to that level of specificity feels reductive though. What he represents are the forces throughout human history that have sought to disrupt the flow of nature in favor of viewing everything--from the earth to humanity itself--as something merely to be controlled and harnessed. George then is the counterpoint: a man who believes in the flow of things, the importance of connection, of being one with nature and the world. The novel is at once simple and elegant, but grandiose and layered. At a mere 184 pages, I feel like I only really scratched the surface of what this novel has to offer. There are many breathtaking moments here that I will never forget, moments of conceptual brilliance that made me stop and take a breath as a I read through the book. Le Guin was a genuis and I think time will only further enhance the riches hidden within her texts.
A prophetic text. Ursula K. Le Guin explores the conceptual ideas about dreams and human nature she presents through a humanistic and moralist lens. The three central characters each act as side in a philosophical debate, but not none of them come across as one dimensional. Rather, their personalities feed into this conflict, and their motivations determine the philosophical direction of the narrative's themes and conflicts.
From the beginning, I was struck by just how many things Le Guin has predicted/understood about our modern capitalist society during this book's initial publication in the 1970's. The future inevitable effects of climate change and pollution are pivotal in the opening sections of this book and from there the book continues to be eerily prescient. There's a passage describing how war moving into space has made it feel distant and less personal, calling into mind the effects of drone warfare on the US' public perception of wars in the Middle East. Hell, the book even predicts the modern day wars in the Middle East! Dr. Haber can be seen as representative of capitalist ideas of "growth" and "innovation." He believes that George's ability to alter reality through his dreams is a tool. Narrowing Haber's role in the text down to that level of specificity feels reductive though. What he represents are the forces throughout human history that have sought to disrupt the flow of nature in favor of viewing everything--from the earth to humanity itself--as something merely to be controlled and harnessed. George then is the counterpoint: a man who believes in the flow of things, the importance of connection, of being one with nature and the world. The novel is at once simple and elegant, but grandiose and layered. At a mere 184 pages, I feel like I only really scratched the surface of what this novel has to offer. There are many breathtaking moments here that I will never forget, moments of conceptual brilliance that made me stop and take a breath as a I read through the book. Le Guin was a genuis and I think time will only further enhance the riches hidden within her texts.