The Lathe of Heaven

The Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le Guin

Earthsea is great. Ursula also wrote a lot of amazing science fiction: left hand of darkness, the dispossessed, the lathe of heaven, the word for world is forest etc. All are worth reading.

This is going to be different, and is not intended to be sarcastic. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin First read during my high school years in the Amazing SF magazine; and was later published as a book. The work was criticized by the 'elite' of the SF community at the time. Have recently re-read and got the same impressions of how as both a species and as individuals we are fools that understand very little; that is, we are too stupid to know that we are stupid. Calvin and Hobbs by Bill Waterson. Was my favorite non-mandatory read during my college years. Calvin Ball can teach us much about life, and his snow-men art is the dark that we always be in all of humans. Marine Corps Reference Publication (MCRP) 3 Rifle Marksmanship. [this is the current version, but am not certain of the designation for this manual when I first read it during the late 1970s].…

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar is an amazing charming story of a world deeply steeped old sitting baking world where new things are coming about. It is charm & delight in the purest & simplest. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. "Robert Charles Wilson is a hell of a storyteller," said Stephen King and this wonderful tour through time and space, humanity & people's lives is incredible. The Quantum Thief series by Hannu Rajaniemi is open, scenic, wild, & so so vivid, one of the most beautiful worlds I've ever visited, & it reminds me so much of a joyous wild swashbuckling run. The mystery of the main character is enchanting. Infoquake series by David Louis Edelson is a gripping suspenseful rise of a star entrepreneur that redefines and radically expands the world, amid an already boisterous & full & busy beautiful world already overflowing in seamless technology everywhere. Although the plot line whips along with some suspense & tension, the scenery and the voyage is incredible.…

I recently read The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, and will continue reading her stuff over the summer for sure. It's really great. (HN discussion about her obituary: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16218439) The other day I started Pictures of a Gone City, a book about the Bay Area by critical geographer Richard Walker. It was recently discussed here (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17473141). I'm only about fifty pages in, but I can tell this is going to be worthwhile. I'm also still finishing Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials by Malcolm Harris. It's a very compelling account of the crises and pressures confronting today's young adults (among which I can still, just barely, count myself). Other books I've got lined up for the summer: • The Boy Kings: A Journey Into the Heart of the Social Network, by Kate Losse. This memoir by an early Facebook employee came out a few years ago, and I finally want to read it. • Social Creature, by Tara Isabella Burton. Recently published novel that's been getting rave reviews. It's been described as "a literary novel about social media."…

The Lathe of Heaven (also: The Forever War; The Einstein Intersection). Hmmm. My favs seem to all start with "The."