I've never read the Lathe of Heaven, but after reading this review, I will. Le Guin lived in Portland of course and I met her once at a bookstore there where she was perusing the shelves as a customer. I recognized her and rudely interrupted her browsing to blather about how much I had enjoyed her Earthsea books. She endured the fanboy adulation diplomatically...
My brother in law really esteemed her novel, the Left Hand of Darkness which I had never read. Still haven't. Reading hard Sci-fi was always more my métier.
Thank you for this thoughtful post. I found “Lathe of Heaven” almost by accident at my local library, searching the stacks for a Le Guin book. Loved it! So imaginative. I even found a VHS tape at my local video store — PBS made a film of it. And on that tape is an interview with her, where she talks about the genders of her protagonists. She says women readers have no trouble inhabiting protagonists of either gender, but that men tend to want to read only other men. She was intentional about that.
Also read the “Catwings” series with my son. She’s brilliant.
Comforting reading, but how do things like the release of methane from thawing tundra, a truly horrific positive feedback mechanism, complicate our efforts to fight climate change?
I've never read the Lathe of Heaven, but after reading this review, I will. Le Guin lived in Portland of course and I met her once at a bookstore there where she was perusing the shelves as a customer. I recognized her and rudely interrupted her browsing to blather about how much I had enjoyed her Earthsea books. She endured the fanboy adulation diplomatically...
My brother in law really esteemed her novel, the Left Hand of Darkness which I had never read. Still haven't. Reading hard Sci-fi was always more my métier.
I'm glad you liked the review. It's so cool that you got to meet Le Guin in person!
Loved this book and this post! You caught things I missed from the book. It’s nice to be reminded of hope in a big picture way too.
Thank you!
Thank you for this thoughtful post. I found “Lathe of Heaven” almost by accident at my local library, searching the stacks for a Le Guin book. Loved it! So imaginative. I even found a VHS tape at my local video store — PBS made a film of it. And on that tape is an interview with her, where she talks about the genders of her protagonists. She says women readers have no trouble inhabiting protagonists of either gender, but that men tend to want to read only other men. She was intentional about that.
Also read the “Catwings” series with my son. She’s brilliant.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
Love this review and your reminders. Very inspiring. Thanks for your thoughts
Thank you so much!
Comforting reading, but how do things like the release of methane from thawing tundra, a truly horrific positive feedback mechanism, complicate our efforts to fight climate change?
It’s another big problem that we need to deal with! Personally, I’m hoping that megafauna rewilding in tundra habitat can help reduce methane emissions from melting permafrost — one of the reasons I’m positive on Colossal biotech. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-bringing-back-mammoths-stop-climate-change-180969072/