4 ms·

Stanislaw Lem deserves a much wider readership. Well, I say that but actually he has a wide readership, just not so much in English-language markets. Besides

Stanislaw Lem deserves a much wider readership. Well, I say that but actually he has a wide readership, just not so much in English-language markets. Besides Solaris, his meditations on life and society in The Cyberiad remain some of my favourite science fiction of all time.

abetusk 9y ago
And "His Master's Voice" is one of my favorite books. I totally agree, Lem deserves a place right along Gibson.
- cpeterso 9y ago
  I'm reading The Star Diaries, a collection of Lem's short stories from the 1950s. Their absurdity reminds me of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I just discovered that there was a 2007 German TV series based on the stories, too: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978537/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978537/
- boondaburrah 9y ago
  If Lem deserves a place among Gibson, I guess I gotta pick some up
  - lobster_johnson 9y ago
    I recommend starting with Solaris. The Futurological Congress is also a lot of fun; it's one of his comedies, a satiric look at futurism. His Master's Voice is advanced level Lem. It's less a novel than a fictional autobiography of a scientist, and while the subject matter is fascinating, it's a bit dry. The Cyberiad is a classic, but very different and not really sci-fi. It's a collection of absurd, surreal fairytales about a pair of robots. It contains math puzzles and rhymes and lots of weird stuff. Fiasco, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, Tales of Pirx the Pilot and Star Diaries are supposed to be good. I found Eden (one of his early works) to be a little juvenile and poorly written. It, too, is about first contact gone wrong.
    - trashtoss 9y ago
      Fiasco is also first contact gone wrong and is quite something...like almost an anti-star-trek episode. It may be an easier entrypoint than Solaris, at cost of arguably not being as "deep" in its reflections.
    - DonHopkins 9y ago
      I really loved the movie The Congress, directed by Ari Folman, an adaptation of The Futurological Congress. Like Blade Runner's relationship to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, it was a lot different than the book, but shares some deep ideas, and stands on its own as a great movie. The scene in the USC ICT's motion capture studio was riveting, with Robin Wright playing a partly fictionalized version of herself, and Harvey Keitel playing her agent, baring their souls to the giant emotion capturing machine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Congress_(2013_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Congress_(2013_film) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNSTizOsws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNSTizOsws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPAl5GwvdY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPAl5GwvdY8
      - lobster_johnson 9y ago
        Hmm. I watched about 15 minutes of it, and thought it was very amateurish, and the reviews aren't great. From the clips I've seen, the animation is also pretty terrible. As far as I've read, plot has absolutely zero to do with The Futurological Congress. The only similarity is that there's something in the movie called the "Futurological Congress" and that there's some kind of attack on it. If you think it's worth seeing, maybe I'll give it another go.
        DonHopkins 9y ago
        Something happens later that I'm not going to say anything about. ;) Give it another try!
DonHopkins 9y ago
Thanks for such an interesting discussion! The Cyberiad is one of my favorites, a great way to get started, and very re-readable. Michael Kandel was Lem's translator for many books including The Cyberiad -- including some brilliant poetry and plays on words! He's such an excellent translator, it would be interesting to read other stuff he's translated! Any recommendations? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kandel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kandel Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of Stanisław Lem from Polish to English. Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Marek Huberath and Andrzej Sapkowski. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent; his skill is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices. http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/HorriblePoems.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/HorribleP... Oft, in that wickless chalet all begorn, Where whilom soughed the mossy sappertort And you were wont to bong -- http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/WonderfulPoems.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Wonderful... A love poem, lyrical, pastoral, and expressed in the language of pure mathematics. Tensor algebra mainly, with a little topology and higher calculus, if need be. But with feeling, you understand, and in the cybernetic spirit. http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Femfatalatron.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Femfatala... http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Lem.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Lem.html

abetusk 9y ago

And "His Master's Voice" is one of my favorite books. I totally agree, Lem deserves a place right along Gibson.

cpeterso 9y ago
I'm reading The Star Diaries, a collection of Lem's short stories from the 1950s. Their absurdity reminds me of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I just discovered that there was a 2007 German TV series based on the stories, too: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978537/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978537/
boondaburrah 9y ago
If Lem deserves a place among Gibson, I guess I gotta pick some up
- lobster_johnson 9y ago
  I recommend starting with Solaris. The Futurological Congress is also a lot of fun; it's one of his comedies, a satiric look at futurism. His Master's Voice is advanced level Lem. It's less a novel than a fictional autobiography of a scientist, and while the subject matter is fascinating, it's a bit dry. The Cyberiad is a classic, but very different and not really sci-fi. It's a collection of absurd, surreal fairytales about a pair of robots. It contains math puzzles and rhymes and lots of weird stuff. Fiasco, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, Tales of Pirx the Pilot and Star Diaries are supposed to be good. I found Eden (one of his early works) to be a little juvenile and poorly written. It, too, is about first contact gone wrong.
  - trashtoss 9y ago
    Fiasco is also first contact gone wrong and is quite something...like almost an anti-star-trek episode. It may be an easier entrypoint than Solaris, at cost of arguably not being as "deep" in its reflections.
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    I really loved the movie The Congress, directed by Ari Folman, an adaptation of The Futurological Congress. Like Blade Runner's relationship to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, it was a lot different than the book, but shares some deep ideas, and stands on its own as a great movie. The scene in the USC ICT's motion capture studio was riveting, with Robin Wright playing a partly fictionalized version of herself, and Harvey Keitel playing her agent, baring their souls to the giant emotion capturing machine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Congress_(2013_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Congress_(2013_film) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNSTizOsws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNSTizOsws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPAl5GwvdY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPAl5GwvdY8
    - lobster_johnson 9y ago
      Hmm. I watched about 15 minutes of it, and thought it was very amateurish, and the reviews aren't great. From the clips I've seen, the animation is also pretty terrible. As far as I've read, plot has absolutely zero to do with The Futurological Congress. The only similarity is that there's something in the movie called the "Futurological Congress" and that there's some kind of attack on it. If you think it's worth seeing, maybe I'll give it another go.
      - DonHopkins 9y ago
        Something happens later that I'm not going to say anything about. ;) Give it another try!

DonHopkins 9y ago

Thanks for such an interesting discussion! The Cyberiad is one of my favorites, a great way to get started, and very re-readable. Michael Kandel was Lem's translator for many books including The Cyberiad -- including some brilliant poetry and plays on words! He's such an excellent translator, it would be interesting to read other stuff he's translated! Any recommendations? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kandel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kandel Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of Stanisław Lem from Polish to English. Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Marek Huberath and Andrzej Sapkowski. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent; his skill is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices. http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/HorriblePoems.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/HorribleP... Oft, in that wickless chalet all begorn, Where whilom soughed the mossy sappertort And you were wont to bong -- http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/WonderfulPoems.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Wonderful... A love poem, lyrical, pastoral, and expressed in the language of pure mathematics. Tensor algebra mainly, with a little topology and higher calculus, if need be. But with feeling, you understand, and in the cybernetic spirit. http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Femfatalatron.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Femfatala... http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Lem.html http://www.art.net/Studios/Hackers/Hopkins/Don/lem/Lem.html