Reading

External Since: Jan 22, 2004 Posts: 8

Just a little hello...and...
To tell that I'm reading a great book (surely famous)
following a praising suggestion by Phil himself
in one of his writings:
it is The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin (famous).
This stroy, writen in 1971, about a guy whose dreams can affect the world,
alter reality, install another reality, and he still save memories from the
realities erased by the new one.
He wants to stop dreaming because he feels the danger. He visits a Doctor,
who use is "power" to change the world, suppositely in a positive way (but
things never happen like we planned them). Fortunately, our lost dreamer
will not be alone.

I read it in French,
it's called De L'autre Coté du Reve (not a great translation)
Livre de Poche, Hachette

Bye everyone,

Syl

External Since: Aug 31, 2003 Posts: 3

"Syl" <sylvanis.DeleteThis@club-internet.fr> wrote in
news:3fb3f7e6$0$6982$7a628cd7@news.club-internet.fr:

>
> Just a little hello...and...
> To tell that I'm reading a great book (surely famous)
> following a praising suggestion by Phil himself
> in one of his writings:
> it is The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin (famous).
> This stroy, writen in 1971, about a guy whose dreams can affect
> the world, alter reality, install another reality, and he still
> save memories from the realities erased by the new one.
> He wants to stop dreaming because he feels the danger. He visits
> a Doctor, who use is "power" to change the world, suppositely in
> a positive way (but things never happen like we planned them).
> Fortunately, our lost dreamer will not be alone.
>
>
> I read it in French,
> it's called De L'autre Coté du Reve (not a great translation)
> Livre de Poche, Hachette
>
>
> Bye everyone,
>
> Syl

The book surely *is* famous -- so much so, that PBS made it into a
riveting film. The contrast between the Doctor, a cerebral,
hearless, dominating SOB who believes in almost limitless improvement
to *everything* a lá the young HG Wells, vs. George Orr, a
protagonist who feels and just simply *is*, is one of the things that
led LeGuin to characterize the novel as 'Taoist'.

Together with _The Left Hand of Darkness_, (Hugo 1969, Nebula 1970)
and _The Disposessed_, (Hugo & Nebula et al 1975), it confirmed the
author as a major light of science fiction. (Not to mention as a
writer of literary quality.)

Enjoy!

Mike Rey