What would you say is Ursula Le Guin's best novel and short story in her long and reasonably prolific career?
I incline more towards sf, so even though the Earthsea books are a truly excellent read, I'd have to choose my favourite from her sf works.
While there are many contenders, my personal favourite here is The Lathe of Heaven. It's a book about a man in a near future dystopian earth who realises that he can re-shape reality through his dreams. Terrified, he attempts to squash this ability by taking drugs that keep him from dreaming. Instead, he is sent to a psychiatrist for treatment for drugh abuse. The psychiatrist learns of hius powers, and starts using them to reshape the world into a better sate - or so he thinks. Instead, each of his changes, while dealing with real-life problems have often terrifying unexcpected consequences. The dreamer attempts to run away from the docotr, is re-captured, and watches helpless as this monomaniac creates one false utopia after another. The dreamer finally takes matters back into his own hands ands re-establishes a non-ideal (but immensely changed) status quo with the aid of aliens who were created by one of his dream-revisions.
It is mildly Philip K Dick-ian in its subversion of surface reality, but it also deals with LeGUin's recurring theme of the perils of Utopia-building.
Other notable novels are The Disposessed, the Word for World is Forest and The Left Hand of Darkness - each one is a deserved classic, but Lathe is just my personal favourite.
I think the best short story LeGuin has ever written is the Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, a tale that responds to the classic dillema, 'would you be willing to let one person live in total misery so that millions could have a good life?' with a passionate and resounding 'NO!'.
WHat about you? What do you think are LeGuin's best works, and why?
Here is her bibliography:
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Bibliography-Plain.html