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Title The title is taken from the writings of Chuang Tzu specifically a passage from Book XXIII, paragraph 7, quoted as an epigram to Chapter 3 of the novel: To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven. () Other epigrams from Chuang Tzu appear throughout the novel. Le Guin chose the title because she loved the quotation. However, it seems that the quote is a mistranslation of Chuang Tzu's Chinese text. In an interview with Bill Moyers recorded for the 2000 DVD release of the 1980 adaptation, Le Guin clarified the issue: ...it's a terrible mistranslation apparently, I didn't know that at the time. There were no lathes in China at the time that that was said. Joseph Needham wrote me and said "It's a lovely translation, but it's wrong". She has published her own translations of the Tao Te Ching, The Book of the Way and Its Virtue by Lao Tzu, the traditional founder of Taoism (Daoism). In the notes at the end of this book, she further explains this choice: "The language of some [versions of the Tao Te Ching] was so obscure as to make me feel the book must be beyond Western comprehension. (James Legge's version was one of these, though I did find the title for a book of mine, The Lathe of Heaven, in it. Years later, Joseph Needham, the great scholar of Chinese science and technology, wrote to tell me in the kindest, most unreproachful fashion that Legge was a bit off on that one; when the book [Tao Te Ching] was written the lathe hadn't been invented.)" Translated editions have titled the novel differently. The German title, Die Geiel des Himmels, means literally "the scourge [or whip] of heaven". The French and Swedish titles, L'autre ct du rve and P andra sidan drmmen, translate as "the other side of the dream". Plot summary Modern book cover from Harper Academic The book is set in Portland, Oregon in the year 2002. Portland has three million inhabitants and continuous rain. It is deprived enough for the poorer inhabitants to have kwashiorkor, or protein-deprivation. The culture is much the same as the 1970s in the United States, though impoverished. There is also a massive war in the Middle East, with Egypt and Israel allied against Iran. George Orr, a draftsman, has long been abusing drugs to prevent himself from having "effective" dreams, which retroactively change reality. After having one of these dreams, the new reality is the only reality for everyone else, but George retains memory of the previous reality. Under threat of being placed in an asylum, Orr is forced to undergo "voluntary" psychiatric care for his drug abuse. George begins attending therapy sessions with an ambitious psychiatrist and sleep researcher named William Haber. Orr claims that he has the power to dream "effectively" and Haber seeks to use it to change the world. His experiments with a biofeedback/EEG machine, nicknamed the Augmentor, enhance Orr's abilities and produce a series of increasingly intolerable alternate worlds, based on an assortment of utopian (and dystopian) premises familiar from other science fiction works: When Haber directs George to dream a world without racism, the skin of everyone on the planet becomes a uniform light gray. An attempt to solve the problem of overpopulation proves disastrous when George dreams a devastating plague which wipes out much of humanity and gives the current world a population of one billion rather than seven billion. George attempts to dream into existence "peace on Earth" - resulting in an alien invasion of the Moon which unites all the nations of Earth against the threat. Each effective dream gives Haber more wealth and status, until late in the book where he is effectively ruler of the world. Orr's economic status also improves, but he is unhappy with Haber's meddling and just wants to let things be. Increasingly frightened by Haber's lust for power and delusions of Godhood, Orr seeks out a lawyer named Heather to represent him against Haber. Heather is present at one therapeutic session, and comes to understand George's situation. He falls in love with Heather, and even marries her in one reality; however, he is unsuccessful in getting out of therapy. George tells Heather that the "real world" had been destroyed in a nuclear war in April 1998. George dreamed it back into existence as he lay dying in the ruins. He doubts the reality of what now exists, hence his fear of Haber's efforts to improve it. Portland and Mount Hood play a central role in the setting of the novel Heather has seen one change of reality and has a multiple memory - remembering that her pilot husband either died early in the Middle East War or else died just before the truce that ended the war in the face of the alien threat. She tries to help George but also tries to improve the world, saying that the aliens should no longer be on the Moon. George dreams this, but the result is that they have invaded the Earth instead. In the resultant fighting, Mount Hood is bombed and the dormant volcano starts to erupt again. They go back to Haber, who has George dream another dream in which the aliens are actually peaceful. For a time there is stability, but Haber goes on changing things. His suggestion that George dream away racism results in everyone becoming gray; Heather, whose parents were of different races, never existed in this new reality. George manages to dream up a gray version of her, married to him and with a less prickly personality. Mount Hood continues to erupt and he fears the world is losing coherence. Orr has a conversation with one of the aliens, suddenly comes to understand his situation, and thereby gains the courage to stand up to Haber. Haber, frustrated with Orr's resistance, uses what he has learned from studying George's brain during his sessions of hypnosis and controlled dreaming, and decides to take on effective dreaming himself. Haber's first effective dream represents a significant break with the realities created by Orr, and threatens to destroy reality altogether. Orr is able to shut off the Augmentor - even as coherent existence is dissolving into undifferentiated chaos - reaching the "off" switch through pure force of will. The world is saved, but random bits of the various recent realities are now jumbled together. Haber's mind is left broken. Heather, presumably her original self, exists, though with only a slight memory of George. Viewpoints "One of the best novels, and most important to understanding of the nature of our world, is Ursula Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven, in which the dream universe is articulated in such a striking and compelling way that I hesitate to add any further explanation to it; it requires none." hilip K. Dick Though technology plays a minor role, the novel is largely concerned with philosophical questions about our desire to control our destiny, with Haber's positivist approach pitted against a Taoist equanimity. The beginnings of the chapters also feature quotes from H. G. Wells, Victor Hugo and Taoist sages. Due to its portrayal of psychologically-derived alternate realities, it has often been described as Le Guin's tribute to Philip K. Dick. In his biography of Dick, Lawrence Sutin described Le Guin as having "long been a staunch public advocate of Phil's talent". According to Sutin, "The Lathe of Heaven was, by her own acknowledgment, markedly influenced by his [Dick's] sixties works." The book is critical of behaviorism. Orr, a deceptively mild yet very strong and honest man, is labeled sick because he is immensely frightened by his ability to change reality. He is forced to undergo therapy whether he wants to or not. His efforts to rid himself of Haber are viewed as suspect because he is a psychiatric patient. Haber, meanwhile, is very charming, extroverted, and confident, yet it is he who eventually goes insane and almost destroys reality. He dismisses Orr's qualms about meddling with reality with paternalistic psychobabble, and is more concerned with his machine and Orr's powers than with curing his patient. Adaptations An adaptation entitled The Lathe of Heaven produced by the public television station WNET, and directed by David Loxton and Fred Barzyk, was released in 1980. It was PBS's first direct-to-TV film production and was produced with a budget of $ 250 000. Generally faithful to the novel, it stars Bruce Davison as George Orr, Kevin Conway as William Haber, and Margaret Avery as Heather LeLache. Ursula K. Le Guin herself was heavily involved in the production of the 1980 adaptation, and has several times expressed her satisfaction with it. PBS' rights to rebroadcast the film expired in 1988, and it became the most-requested program in PBS history. Fans were extremely critical of WNET's supposed "warehousing" of the film, but the budgetary barriers to rebroadcast were high: the station needed to pay for and clear rights with all participants in the original program; negotiate a special agreement with the composer of the film's score; and deal with the Beatles recording excerpted in the original soundtrack, "With a Little Help from My Friends", which is an integral plot point in both the novel and the film. A cover version replaces the Beatles' own recording in the home video release. The home video release is remastered from a video tape of the original broadcast; PBS, thinking the rights issues would dog the production forever, did not save a copy of the production in their archives. A second adaptation was released in 2002 and retitled Lathe of Heaven. Produced for the A&E Network and directed by Philip Haas, the film starred James Caan, Lukas Haas, and Lisa Bonet. The 2002 adaptation discards a significant portion of the plot, some essential characters, and much of the philosophical underpinnings of the book and the original PBS production. Ursula K. Le Guin disapproved of the A&E production, and stated that she found it "misguided and uninteresting". Publication history Serialized Amazing Science Fiction Stories, March 1971 and May 1971. Editions in English 1971, US, Charles Scribner's Sons, ISBN 0-684-12529-3, hardcover 1971, US, Avon Books, ISBN 0-380-43547-0, paperback 1972, UK, Victor Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-01385-0, hardcover 1984, US, Avon Books, ISBN 0-380-01320-7, paperback (reprinted 1989) 1984, UK, Granada Publishing, ISBN 0-586-03841-8, paperback 1997, US, Avon Books, ISBN 0-380-79185-4, trade paperback 2001, US, Millennium Books, ISBN 1-85798-951-1, paperback 2003, US, Perennial Classics, ISBN 0-06-051274-1, paperback 2008, US, Scribner, ISBN 1-4165-5696-6, paperback Audio recording in English 1999, US, Blackstone Audio Books, ISBN 0-7861-1471-1 Translations 1971, France: L'autre ct du rve, Marabout; reprinted in 2002 by Le Livre de Poche, ISBN 2-253-07243-5 1974, Germany, Die Geiel des Himmels, Heyne, Mnchen, 1974, ISBN 3-453-30250-8 1979, Sweden: P Andra Sidan Drmmen, Kindbergs Frlag, ISBN 91-85668-01-X 1991, Finland: Taivaan tykalu, Book Studio, ISBN 951-611-408-3 1992, Hungary: gi eszterga, Mra, ISBN 963-11-6867-0 1997, Russia: 2005, Italy: La Falce dei cieli, Editrice Nord, ISBN 88-429-1360-X See also The Man in the High Castle The Futurological Congress The Tombs of Atuan The Word for World is Forest Psychokinesis Utopian and dystopian fiction References ^ a b "1972 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1972. Retrieved 2009-07-28. ^ "1971 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1971. Retrieved 2009-07-28. ^ a b Issued as bonus material on New Video's 2000 release of The Lathe of Heaven, ISBN 0-7670-2696-9. The "lathe" discussion appears at 8:079:05. ^ Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, A book about the Way and the power of the Way, Ursula Le Guin, p. 108 of the version edited by Shambhala Publications, Inc., 9/97 ^ Dick, Philip K. (1988) . "Man, Android and Machine". The Dark Haired Girl. Willimantic, CT: Mark V. Ziesing. ISBN 0929480031. http://www.philipkdickfans.com/pkdweb/Man,%20Android%20and%20Machine.htm. ^ Watson, Ian (Mar., 1975). "Le Guin's Lathe of Heaven and the Role of Dick: The False Reality as Mediator". Science Fiction Studies (SF-TH Inc.) 2 (5): 6775. http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/watson5art.htm. See also: Ashley, Michael (2000). Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines, 1970-1980 (2nd ed.). Liverpool University Press. pp. 7577. ISBN 1846310024. ^ Sutin, Lawrence (2005) . Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 276. ISBN 0786716231. ^ Bucknall 1981, p.90 ^ a b "Ursula K Le Guin.com: The Lathe of Heaven". ursulakleguin.com. http://www.ursulakleguin.com/AE-Lathe.html. Retrieved 2009-02-25. Further reading Barbour, Douglas (Nov., 1973). "The Lathe of Heaven: Taoist Dream". Algol (Andrew I. Porter) (21): 2224. Bloom, Harold, ed (1986). Ursula K. Le Guin. Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 0-8775-4659-2. Bucknall, Barbara J. (1981). Ursula K. Le Guin. Recognitions. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8044-2085-8. Cummins, Elizabeth (Jul., 1990). "The Land-Lady's Homebirth: Revisiting Ursula K. Le Guin's Worlds". Science Fiction Studies (SF-TH Inc.) 17 (51): 153166. Cummins, Elizabeth (1993). Understanding Ursula K. Le Guin (2nd ed.). University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0872498697. Franko, Carol S. (1996). "The I-We Dilemma and a "Utopian Unconscious" in Well's When the Sleeper Wakes and Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven". Political Science Fiction. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 7698. ISBN 1570031134. Huang, Betsy (Winter 2008). "Premodern Orientalist Science Fictions". MELUS (University of Connecticut) 33 (4): 2343. ISSN 0163-755X. Jameson, Fredric (Jul., 1982). "Progress Versus Utopia; or, Can We Imagine the Future?". Science Fiction Studies (SF-TH Inc.) 9 (27): 147158. Jameson, Fredric (2005). Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions. Verso. ISBN 1844670333. Malmgren, Carl D. (1998). "Orr Else? The Protagonists of Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (Idaho State University: International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts) 9 (4): 5969. ISSN 0897-0521. External links Review by Science Fiction Weekly The Lathe of Heaven, reviewed by Ted Gioia (Conceptual Fiction) The Lathe of Heaven at Worlds Without End v d e Works by Ursula K. Le Guin (bibliography) Earthsea "The Word of Unbinding" (1964) "The Finder" (2001) "Darkrose and Diamond" (1999) "The Rule of Names" (1964) "The Bones of the Earth" (2001) A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) The Tombs of Atuan (1971) "On the High Marsh" (2001) The Farthest Shore (1972) Tehanu (1990) "Dragonfly" (1997) Tales from Earthsea (coll 2001) The Other Wind (2001) Hainish Cycle "Dowry of the Angyar" (1964) Rocannon's World (1966) Planet of Exile (1966) City of Illusions (1967) The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) "Winter's King" (1969) "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow" (1971) The Dispossessed (1974) "The Day Before the Revolution" (1974) The Word for World is Forest (1976) "The Shobies' Story" (1990) "Dancing to Ganam" (1993) "Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea" (1994) "The Matter of Seggri" (1994) "Unchosen Love" (1994) "Solitude" (1994) Four Ways to Forgiveness (1995) "Coming of Age in Karhide" (1995) "Mountain Ways" (1996) "Old Music and the Slave Women" (1999) The Telling (2000) Other fiction (novels bold) The Lathe of Heaven (1971) The Wind's Twelve Quarters (1975) Orsinian Tales (1976) The Eye of the Heron (1978) Malafrena (1979) The Beginning Place (1980) The Compass Rose (1982) Always Coming Home (1985) Buffalo Gals, and Other Animal Presences (1987) Searoad (1991) A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (1991) Unlocking the Air and Other Stories (1996) The Birthday of the World (2002) Changing Planes (2003) Lavinia (2008) Nonfiction The Language of the Night (1979) Dancing at the Edge of the World (1982) "Revisioning Earthsea" (1992 published lecture) Steering the Craft (1998) The Wave in the Mind (2004) Categories: 1971 novels Dystopian novels Science fiction novels Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin Post-apocalyptic novels Oregon in fiction Dreaming and fictionHidden categories: Articles containing Russian language text We are high quality suppliers, our products such as ladies skeleton watch Manufacturer , mechanical automatic watch for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits accuracy mechanical watch.
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