Sci Fi Audiobooks: Ongoing column reviewing classics of sci fi and fantasy as well as current works available in audio format.
Book Summary:
Set in the near future, the story revolves around one man, George Orr, whose dreams can affect reality. He is greatly troubled by this because he feels he has no control, thus he tries to stop himself from dreaming through misuse of prescription drugs. He is sent to counseling with a dream therapist, Dr. William Haber, who quickly learns the truth about George’s “effective” dreaming. George just wants to be cured of this ability, but Haber sees its potential and decides to manipulate it to turn their troubled world into a better place. But as Haber tries harder and harder to manipulate George’s uncooperative subconscious, he becomes the victim of his own good intentions as he tries to bring about “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number”. This leads him down a dark road where he eventually discovers the truth of “the world after April”.
Originally Published: 1971
Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Audiobook Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Bottom Line:
This book proved to be an important work of science fiction at a time when the genre was going through many changes, and it still holds up today. It focuses more on psychological and sociological themes rather than technology and science, but it has a strong story at its core that continues to resonate.
Historical Context:
The Lathe of Heaven arrived at an interesting turning point for both science fiction and American culture. Published in 1971, the novel emerged during a period when the genre was moving away from the gadget-focused “hard sci fi” traditions of earlier decades and toward more philosophical, psychological, and socially conscious storytelling. This shift was often referred to as the “New Wave” movement in science fiction, and Le Guin was one of the major voices helping redefine the genre during that era. Rather than focusing primarily on technology or space adventure, she explored anthropology, psychology, politics, gender, ecology, and spirituality. By the time this book was published, she had already gained major recognition for works like The Left Hand of Darkness, which challenged ideas about gender and society. The Lathe of Heaven continued that trend by asking profound questions about reality, power, and humanity’s attempts to engineer a “perfect” world.
The novel was heavily influenced by the cultural atmosphere of the late 1960s and early 1970s. America was dealing with the Vietnam War, political unrest, environmental fears, racial tensions, and anxieties about overpopulation. All of those concerns appear in the book in one form or another. George Orr’s reality-altering dreams repeatedly create supposed utopias that quickly turn dystopian, reflecting widespread skepticism toward grand political or technological solutions during that era.
A Closer Look:
Ursula K. Le Guin’s body of work has included space opera (the Hainish books), fantasy (the Earthsea stories), as well as science fiction (The Left Hand of Darkness). And while The Lathe of Heaven falls more into the science fiction realm, it is probably more accurately described as psychological fiction with strong social overtones.
The Lathe of Heaven works on many levels. Simply as a story of a man wrestling with his therapist to find a cure for his ills, it is an engaging tale. But it is more interesting as a parable of how one person’s attempts to do good can go awry. Dr. Haber sees the power that George Orr possesses and understands the good it can do. The world they live in is plagued by war and overpopulation, and he believes that he can use George’s power to rid the world of its ills. The problems with this become apparent early on, however. When Haber has George dream of a less crowded world, he conjures up a plague that wipes out billions. Thus the problem of overpopulation is solved, but with terrible consequences. And the implications of George’s dreaming as directed by Haber only compound from there.
It is important to understand that Haber has only the best of intentions: “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number” is his motto. The stumbling block comes in the near impossibility of controlling the subconscious mind. Almost every time Haber tries to do good, it has devastating consequences. And this is the strength of the story. It is not about a nefarious character causing evil in the world, but a good person bringing ill fortune through his inability to control the power he has tapped into. This should be required reading for all politicians (with explicit instructions that Haber is not a role model).
At only 175 pages (six and a half hours for the audiobook), this is a relatively quick read (or listen) compared to the thousand-page tomes of today. Le Guin’s writing is accessible and fast-paced, and there are only three main characters in the story—George Orr, Dr. Haber, and the social worker Heather Lelache—so she does a good job of developing each of them fully. This book is considered a science fiction classic, and rightfully so, but it also has broader appeal because of its social and political implications and ranks as an important work of literature in my opinion. I give The Lathe of Heaven the highest of recommendations and rank it right up there among my other favorites such as Dune, Fahrenheit 451, Ender’s Game, and War of the Worlds. The book also enjoyed an excellent adaptation with the 1980 TV movie produced by PBS, and you can read more about that at Cult-SciFi.com.
Comments on the Audiobook:
The audiobook version of The Lathe of Heaven is read by Susan O’Mally, and she does a decent enough job with the material, distinguishing between the different characters and bringing each of them to life. It is a fairly straightforward reading of the book without much in the way of performance, but it serves the source material well. My only complaint—and it’s just a silly nitpick—is that she pronounces Heather Lelache’s name as “Lee-lock” instead of “Lay-lash”. The latter is how it was pronounced in the movie version mentioned above, and that’s what I expected. It may very well be that she is pronouncing it the way Le Guin intended, but not the way I know it. Again, though, this is just a stupid nitpick on my part. It appears that a newer audio adaptation has been released since this version, and that one is currently available on Audible.com. But either should serve for the book (and you can likely find O’Mally’s reading for free at your local library).
