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Stanisław Lem had a genius for making fun of bureaucracy. I strongly recommend his novel Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. He could not criticize the Communists, so h

Stanisław Lem had a genius for making fun of bureaucracy. I strongly recommend his novel Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. He could not criticize the Communists, so he made it about the USA, but I think it works perfectly well as criticism of any large bureaucracy. The story is about a man who is just joining The Organization and looking for his first assignment, however, everyone he runs into is unsure if they have been told the truth about him, and if they have been lied to about his assignment, and can they trust that he is who he says he is, or they don't know the assignment, but they can not reveal their ignorance, and if they are being kept ignorant, does it mean that they have been marked for elimination? The man spends the novel trying to find out what his assignment is. It's both funny and sad. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Found-Bathtub-Stanislaw-Lem/dp/0156585855 http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Found-Bathtub-Stanislaw-Lem/dp...

stared 12y ago
IMHO it is the best book by Lem (but not the most typical one). In any case, for me it was more cognitive/philosophical: about trying to reach/understand the reality, after passing (yet another) layer of illusion.
- tjradcliffe 12y ago
  It's hard to pin down a "typical" book of Lem's, but there are certain themes he returned to time and again. 1) The role of probability in life: "Chain of Chance" and "The Investigation" (the former is much the better book) 2) The role of scale in our understanding of the universe: "His Master's Voice", "Fiasco" and "Solaris" all touch on this, and are all excellent (I have a special fondness for HMV as a book that describes how scientists actually think and work in a way that nothing else I've encountered does) 3) The role of systems of control in the future of humanity: "Memoirs..." and most of the Ijon Tichy stories fall into this category, and are in my view his weakest work, although "Return from the Stars" is a brilliant book on this theme. 4) The role of cybernetics in the future of evolution: "The Cyberiad" etc. The problem of the "silent universe" (explored mostly deeply in "Fiasco") is also one that comes up repeatedly, including a long and interesting essay in "Imaginary Magnitude".

stared 12y ago

IMHO it is the best book by Lem (but not the most typical one). In any case, for me it was more cognitive/philosophical: about trying to reach/understand the reality, after passing (yet another) layer of illusion.

tjradcliffe 12y ago
It's hard to pin down a "typical" book of Lem's, but there are certain themes he returned to time and again. 1) The role of probability in life: "Chain of Chance" and "The Investigation" (the former is much the better book) 2) The role of scale in our understanding of the universe: "His Master's Voice", "Fiasco" and "Solaris" all touch on this, and are all excellent (I have a special fondness for HMV as a book that describes how scientists actually think and work in a way that nothing else I've encountered does) 3) The role of systems of control in the future of humanity: "Memoirs..." and most of the Ijon Tichy stories fall into this category, and are in my view his weakest work, although "Return from the Stars" is a brilliant book on this theme. 4) The role of cybernetics in the future of evolution: "The Cyberiad" etc. The problem of the "silent universe" (explored mostly deeply in "Fiasco") is also one that comes up repeatedly, including a long and interesting essay in "Imaginary Magnitude".