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Darwin8u's Reviews > Solaris
Solaris
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“Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed.�
- Stanislaw Lem, Solaris
I'm kinda giddy about both starting and finishing this on June 5, 2012 (Transit of Venus). I figure if I can measure how long it takes me to read this novel in English and French and Polish, I might be able to figure out the exact distance from Solaris to my Brain.
Obviously, this is not science fiction meant to be read by teens/tweens, waiting for the next evolution of the Twilight series or FableHaven or whatever teenagers read now. This is Big Mamma Science Fiction dealing with big issues using philosophy and poetry to communicate both the strangeness of mankind and the gentle waves of the Universe. Being a translation*, the reader (or listener) is only able to capture an incomplete shadow of Lem's original text. However, if the shadow is any indication, the height of Solaris in Polish must have been a mimoid on a grand scale.
* of a translation (see comments below).
- Stanislaw Lem, Solaris
I'm kinda giddy about both starting and finishing this on June 5, 2012 (Transit of Venus). I figure if I can measure how long it takes me to read this novel in English and French and Polish, I might be able to figure out the exact distance from Solaris to my Brain.
Obviously, this is not science fiction meant to be read by teens/tweens, waiting for the next evolution of the Twilight series or FableHaven or whatever teenagers read now. This is Big Mamma Science Fiction dealing with big issues using philosophy and poetry to communicate both the strangeness of mankind and the gentle waves of the Universe. Being a translation*, the reader (or listener) is only able to capture an incomplete shadow of Lem's original text. However, if the shadow is any indication, the height of Solaris in Polish must have been a mimoid on a grand scale.
* of a translation (see comments below).
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by
Shafaat
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rated it 5 stars
Sep 23, 2016 08:59AM
You actually read English translation of a French translation. Lem himself called the French translation 'poor'.
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Yeah, I recall wishing I could have read it more directly.
This audio book notes how "this is a new 'direct to English' translation.
'Direct to English' translation by Bill Johnston 2011, Lem's son and wife view it favourably. (source Wikipedia)
It seems like the 2011 translate is only available as an audiobook or ebook. The print version seems to be held up for legal reasons.
Funny to say, I have read it when I was in my mid twenties ;)Same as:
The Cyberiad by the same Stanislaw Lem :)
Stand on Zanzibar
Starship Troopers
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
...
and nearly all novels and short stories by Philip K. Dick!
Thanks for sharing this review, it drives me to read Fiasco by the same Lem :)
