Review: The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. LeGuin

If you've read my review of LeGuin's Planet of Exile, then you already know how I feel about this book because you already know how I feel about all of LeGuin's work: it's uniformly smart, sometimes brilliant, always entertaining. Lathe just brings in more evidence in favor of this bias.

In the best tradition of sci-fi, the book begins by asking, What if X happened?--in this case, What if one man's dreams changed reality? This single element leads to dramatic outcomes: after George Orr realizes that his dreams change the substance of reality (but no one other than him notices), he submits to therapy in order to bring himself under control. But when his therapist discovers the power at hand, Dr. Haber decides to play God: he uses Orr's dreams to 'improve' reality.

If you have much background in sci-fi, you'll recognize this as the most basic and venerable plot-device in the genre. For instance: in Arthur C. Clarke's Rama, this was, What if an alien spacecraft passed near Earth? In Flowers for Algernon, it was, What if we could artificially raise someone's IQ? In Asimov's I, Robot, it was, What if we built conscious robot slaves, governed by three rules?

This What If plot-device is the sort of sci-fi corollary to the MacGuffins of mystery-thrillers. With a MacGuffin, several characters all compete to get control of the same object (a suitcase full of gold, a bomb, a diamond, etc.). This competition drives the plot. In What If sci-fi stories, the development of a hypothetical situation drives the plot; the story essentially consists of the author walking us through the implications of her What If.

But sci-fi, as Alan Moore has said, is never really about the future (or the distant past, or the alternate universe, or whatever). With sci-fi and fantasy, you're always writing about our world, right now. The subtext is relevant, however weird and distant the story itself may be. What sci-fi and fantasy elements give you is a bit of elbow room, some space to make the familiar seem unfamiliar to your readers (case in point: Star Trek's 'A Private Little War,' in which American involvement in the Vietnam war gets disguised as a story about Federation and Klingon involvement in a primitive planet's war). This gives the reader a chance to think in new ways, instead of automatically deferring to what they already opine.

Lathe has both the What If-plot and the subtextual-commentary down pat: the worlds through which Orr's power leads are all disturbingly plausible (starting with an overpopulated, resource-strapped planet and leading to a world where having cancer is grounds to be arrested). We can recognize our own possible futures in the worlds Orr creates.

The third and perhaps most important level on which Lathe works is that of a moral tale. Beyond a clever plot, beyond social commentary, The Lathe of Heaven is portrayal of two human tendencies in combat over how to use power. Orr never asked for the power to change reality, and his agenda throughout the novel is simply to refrain from causing harm. He strives for balance and internal control. Dr. Haber, on the other hand, scarcely even believes in subjectivity, much less cosmic balance: for him, concrete improvement in the world is what counts. He is sanctimonious hubris personified:

"To a better world!" Dr. Haber said, raising his glass to his creation, and finished his whisky in a lingering, savoring swallow.

When science fiction is working at the highest level, it consists of interesting, entertaining stories which trick the reader into thinking about 1) the contemporary, political world in which they live, and 2) timeless, human questions about stuff like love and power and death. LeGuin consistently accomplishes all of these goals. And the moral message in all of her work is consistently concerned with issues of balance, humility, and inner (dare I say 'spiritual'?) health or integrity. In an age when we relate to our tools in the way that ancients related to Fate, this message is profoundly relevant.

Fore-Edge Paintings: Beauty on the Edge

Original Article at ABE Books
by Beth Carswell 

Lyrics of the Heart: With Other Poems 

A fore-edge painting is decoration painted on the edges of a book’s pages for beautification. The fore-edge of a book is the fourth edge - not the spine, the top, or the bottom edge, but the outside edge that a reader would use to thumb through the pages. Originally, this edge was only used for identification, to more easily spot a book when the edges faced outward.

Around the 16th century, an Italian artist named Cesare Vecellio (cousin of celebrated Renaissance painter Titian) began to use the fore-edge of books as a canvas, and took the opportunity to make books more beautiful. The first instances of decorative fore-edge paintings were applied outright on the edges of the leaves, easily visible to anyone who cared to look when the book was closed.

In the 17th century, one of the Queen’s Binders (a group of highly skilled English bookbinders during the Restoration period)  took the skill one step further by discovering that if one painted on the slight inner edges of the pages, then gilded or marbled the outside page edges, the scene would be undetectable when the book was closed, and only reveal itself when the pages were fanned slightly, creating a disappearing, re-appearing masterpiece.

Debrett's Book of the Royal Wedding,
fanned to show the hidden fore-edge painting 

These types of fore-edge paintings, only visible when the pages are fanned in a certain way, often require a special stand or press for display that keeps the pages held at the right angle to show the art. Otherwise, when the book is closed, the painting remains undetectable. 
While it’s amazing enough hiding one painting this way (a single fore-edge painting), some artists created the astonishing technique of the double fore-edge painting, in which a book’s fore-edge shows two different scenes when the pages are fanned back to front or front to back. And some artists forgo the usual gilt or marbling on the very edges of the eaves, opting instead to include a third depiction (triple fore-edge-painting), visible when the book is closed.  Most fantastically of all, some painters also embellish the top and bottom edges of the book pages, for an effect known as a panoramic fore-edge painting.

Believed to have originated as long ago as the 10th century, fore-edge paintings first often depicted shields, coats of arms or other insignia. As artists became more interested in beautification, they began to include landscapes, battle scenes, religious iconography, floral designs, and more, sometimes related to the book's subject and sometimes not.

Many of the books sold today with fore-edge paintings are antiquarian volumes to which the edge paintings have been added much later. One of the most widely seen modern-day fore-edge painting artists is Martin Frost, based in the UK, who since 1970 has produced countless fore-edge paintings, including many offered for sale on AbeBooks.

Please see Bromer Booksellers at http://www.bromer.com/books_foreedge.html and The Boston Public Library at http://foreedge.bpl.org/articles

Related Video

See our video on What is a Fore-Edge Painting on a Book. › Play Video

Fore-edge Painted Books

The Book of Common Prayer and the Administrations of The Sacraments

1864. This is a fabulously old book with a beautiful hidden split fore-edge. When the book is open in half, the edges display beautifully.

The Art of England by John Ruskin

1887. Scene with hunters on horseback chasing a fox. On the top edge you can see the artist's sense of humor as the man is falling off the horse.

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

1883. Under the gilt is a fore-edge by Martin Frost of a Mark Twain in the center, and in the background are the paddle boats on the Mississippi.

The Poetical Works of Lord Byron 

1883. Under the gilt is a fabulous fore-edge painting done by Martin Frost, which is signed. It is of "The Time Machine".

Select Orations of M. T. Cicero by Sir Charles Whitworth

1777. Rare two-volume set of Duncan & Whitworth “Cicero” with original Edward of Halifax bindings. Also, each book has a fore-edge scene, likely contemporary to the book itself.

The Works of the British Poets, Vol II 

1856. Hidden under the gilt is a fore-edge painting of the “Elephant Man” painted and signed by Martin Frost. Volume two.

Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson

1901. Magnificent fore-edge painting executed by Martin Frost after famous Edward Burne-Jones painting, "Songs of Praise".

The Holy Bible

1883. Hidden under the gold gilt is a fabulous fore-edge painting by Martin Frost depicting a barber's shop with monkeys as the barbers and customers.

Lectures on Painting by Esquire John Opie

1809. The lovely fore-edge painting is of "The Death of Procris" after Piero di Cosimo and is in excellent condition.

Watership Down by Richard Adams 

1976. This fore-edge painting was one of 10 specially commissioned for Chas. J. Sawyer in 1976 by Don Noble - a contemporary of Martin Frost.

The Faerie Queen: The Shepheard's Calendar by Edmund Spenser

1617. John T. Beer, a successful clothier and avid book collector, turned to fore-edge painting in his retirement; his paintings were produced 1884-1900.

Caesar - A Sketch by James Anthony Froude, M.A. 

1879. Has a hidden fore-edge painting of Julius Caesar with Roman warriors, in full uniform, with weapons on foot, going to battle.

Divozione Pratica Ai Santi Angeli Custodi 

1776. Devotional work on guardian angels; unusual fore-edge painting shows three scenes of guardian angels warding off the devil.

Glenfinlas, and Other Ballads Etc. by Walter Scott

1812. Lovely fore-edge painting, showing a London view with River Thames and Blackfriars' Bridge, with the cupola of St. Paul's towering in the background.

The Poems of Gray by Thomas Gray

1800. Rare original Edwards of Halifax binding and fore-edge painting. The scene shows an English country town.

Cardiphonia: or, the Utterance of the Heart by John Newton 

1822. With an attractive and detailed contemporary fore-edge painting depicting Douglas, Isle of Man, the harbor ringed in hills, and more.

The Jerusalem Delivered of Torquato Tasso by J.H. Wiffin 

1869. Fore-edge painting done by and signed by Martin Frost. It is an edge of a Jerusalem scene with horses, soldiers in armor, and more.

The Giaour, Fragment of Turkish Tale by Lord Byron

1813. With an especially fine fore-edge painting of the Castle of Chillon and 11 works, including five firsts, by Byron.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

1905. Handsomely bound in a fine signed leather binding by Bumpus Ltd., Oxford. Enhanced with a charming full color fore-edge painting.

The Works of the British Poets, Vol. I 

1856. There is a full face portrait of Hare on the left and on the right is a full front portrait of Burke, and in the middle is a cemetery scene. Fantastic edge for any collector.

San cai tu hui
Siyi Wang

No date. This book was sold to raise funds for Dr. William Pettus' Chinese language school in Beijing in the late 1930s to early 1940s.

The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens

1837. Chapman and Hall, London. First edition of this title. Lovely vertical fore-edge painting, all edges gilt.

Lady Chatterley's Lover 
D.H. Lawrence

1928. Rebound in full morocco by Temple Bookbinders, this copy also has a fore edge painting by Martin Frost of Lady Chatterley and Mellors.

Stories for the Household 
Hans Christian Andersen

No date. With an excellent vertical fore-edge painting, surrounded by a leafy border, of three children on a sled with dog romping along beside.

Chefs-d'oeuvres du roman contemporain

1900. Each of the volumes is in full morocco gilt extra in various colors, some with inlays to bindings and each has an original fore-edge painting.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. W. Somerset Maugham

from Wikipedia's entry:

William Somerset Maugham (/ˈmɔːm/ mawm), CH (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.

You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from. Cormac McCarthy

Who's an Illegal Immigrant?

'Found' Poem from the Web

Submitted by Judith Cosby, discovered on June 23rd, in the A.M.



ENENEWS                                                                                         
Energy News  


news item:  
Tsunami shoes...Canadian island    

(Haida Gwaii)



COMMENTS:



Tacomagroove                          



I've sent samples to a lab.  

Soon we will have proof of the derbies showing levels of radioactive contamination.



Flapdoodle                                                                                   

  

Is it supposed to read "debris"?



Richard                      Given time, derbies too, sure.



Tacomagroove                                            I hate  iPhone's auto-correct.



Flapdoodle                 

I can understand your frustration.  I designed a time travel app for the iPhone--
and because of auto-correct it only lets you travel into the furniture! 

Open a book this minute and start reading. Don’t move until you’ve reached page fifty. Until you’ve buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve. Carol Shields