Reviews

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

nongshaw's review against another edition

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4.0

ah yeah

bperl's review against another edition

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4.0

Peak Le Guin, a great sci-fi premise, and CLEARLY an inspiration for Inception. Read it.

ubisunt's review against another edition

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

monkeydlucy's review against another edition

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2.0

Only rating 2 star as I have read this author before and I enjoy her writing style. I also thought the premise was interesting. Unfortunately, this book was a major disappointment. I believe the premise would have been more enjoyable if it went another direction. I was very bored with the book, halfway through I had to switch to the audiobook. Even still, I could only listen to a chapter or 2 a day, as the book never succeeded in grabbing my attention.

Most likely would not have finished the book if I wasn't reading for a book club.

crockpothead's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bauery's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

alicevoyager's review against another edition

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dark reflective

5.0

apathetic_teapot's review against another edition

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3.0

This story reminded me of the genie in the bottle. It was a quick, thought provoking read.

jayneejohnson's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

youraveragedave's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I can see why this is a classic the the sci-fi and dystopian future genres.  George Orr has the ability to affect reality through his dreams (called Effective Dreaming).  He wrestles with his responsibility to humanity with this power and it leads him to drugs to try to stop dreaming.  He shares this with his psychiatrist, Dr Haber, who offers to help, but end up using George to change reality for himself (making Haber the head of the top government run psychological institute).  

Le Guin uses these two characters to look at different type of utopian societies and the unintended consequences that happen, either from a top down approach (Haber) or a for-the-benefit-of-all (Orr).