Its central plot surrounds a man whose dreams are able to alter past and present reality and the ramifications of those psychologically derived changes for better and worse.

The title is from the writings of Chuang Tzu (Zhuang Zhou) — specifically a passage from Book XXIII, paragraph 7, quoted as an epigraph to Chapter 3 of the novel: To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment.

[3] In an interview with Bill Moyers for the 2000 DVD release of the 1980 adaptation, Le Guin clarified the issue: ...it's a terrible mis-translation apparently, I didn't know that at the time.

[4]She published her rendition of the Tao Te Ching, The Book of the Way and Its Virtue by Lao Tzu, the traditional founder of Taoism (Daoism).

Years later, Joseph Needham, the great scholar of Chinese science and technology, wrote to tell me in the kindest, most unreproachful fashion Legge was a bit off on that one; when Chuang Tzu was written the lathe hadn't been invented.)

The German and first Portuguese edition titles, Die Geißel des Himmels and O flagelo dos céus, mean literally "the scourge [or whip] of heaven".

The French, Swedish and second Portuguese edition titles, L'autre côté du rêve, På andra sidan drömmen and Do outro lado do sonho, translate as "the other side of the dream".

Under threat of incarceration, Orr undergoes treatment for his addiction, attending therapy sessions with ambitious psychiatrist and sleep researcher William Haber.

She seeks out Orr after he attempts to escape Haber by fleeing to the countryside, where he reveals to her that the world was destroyed by a nuclear war in April 1998.

Theodore Sturgeon, reviewing Lathe for The New York Times, found it to be "a very good book," praising Le Guin for "produc[ing] a rare and powerful synthesis of poetry and science, reason and emotion.

"[7] Lester del Rey, however, faulted the novel for an arbitrary and ineffective second half, saying "with wonder piled on wonder, the plot simply loses credibility.

"[8] "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."

Although technology plays a minor role, the novel is concerned with philosophical questions about our desire to control our destiny, with Haber's positivist approach pitted against a Taoist equanimity.

Due to its portrayal of psychologically derived alternative realities, the story is described as Le Guin's tribute to Philip K.

[9] In his biography of Dick, Lawrence Sutin described Le Guin as having "long been a staunch public advocate of Phil's talent".

[11] Orr, a deceptively mild yet very strong and honest man, is labeled sick because he is immensely frightened by his ability to change reality.

[12] An adaptation titled The Lathe of Heaven, produced by the public television station WNET, and directed by David Loxton and Fred Barzyk, was released in 1980.

Generally faithful to the novel, it stars Bruce Davison as George Orr, Kevin Conway as William Haber, and Margaret Avery as Heather Lelache.