Solaris

by Stanisław Lem

Solaris

book data

1001 ratings, 3.98 average rating, 107 reviews (more data...)

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published

December 2003 by Minotauro

binding

Paperback, 236 pages

isbn

8445073559 (isbn13: 9788445073551)

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1386)

All ratings | 5 stars (348) | 4 stars (344) | 3 stars (227) | 2 stars (43) | 1 star (19) | avg 3.98

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Jeremy

Jeremy rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

10/02/07

Read in October, 2005

recommends it for: People with wandering spirits

I went into the book never having seen the movie (seen it now and I like it - but we're talkin apples and oranges here). To continue my fruit metaphor, the story, once the tough skin was peeled away, was juicy and pleasing (especially with some chilly powder, go figure). Whereas the movie you could bite right into, possibly losing dentures, but ce la vie.

Okay, shut up with the fruit.

I was impressed that a science fiction author could have such tight, pretty sentences (most SF authors...more

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Erik

Erik rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

05/22/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in April, 2007

This is a very creepy book, with philosophical content that is both substantive and well done artistically. In a lot of ways, it's about a breakdown between the scientific project and the natural world it is supposed to study: the biggest scientific debate of the day is over the alleged sentience of a large, planet sized ocean on a world called Solaris. Hopefully, you put the book down unsure of whether you think the ocean is actually alive or not. (And then proceed to feel skeptical of the n...more

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John

John rated it:

(review of isbn 0156837501)

07/13/07

It is unfortunate that Lem is labeled as an author of "science fiction", but really only because of what the american traditions for that genre have imprinted on our culture. Solaris is a deeply philosophical look at the notion of "otherness", a meditation on the hard limits at the edges of human cognition, and science's inability to look outside of problems that science can describe.

Read this book instead of watching either of the films derived from it. Tarkovsky's Sola...more

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Sabrina1984

Sabrina1984 rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

11/28/08

bookshelves: literature

"Noch hatte ich mich zu nichts augerafft, zu keiner Entscheidung, kein Beschluss war gefasst. Ich stand reglos, vertieft in den nachdunkelnden Himmel, in die Sterne, die nur der schemenhafte Schatten irdischer Sterne waren. Und in der Öde, die den Gedankentrubel von vorhin abgelöst hatte, erwuchs ohne Worte die tote, gleichgültige Gewissheit, dass dort, wohin ich nicht reichen konnte, meine Wahl schon getroffen war. Und während ich vorgab, dass nichts geschehen sei, hatte ich nicht einm...more "Noch hatte ich mich zu nichts augerafft, zu keiner Entscheidung, kein Beschluss war gefasst. Ich stand reglos, vertieft in den nachdunkelnden Himmel, in die Sterne, die nur der schemenhafte Schatten irdischer Sterne waren. Und in der Öde, die den Gedankentrubel von vorhin abgelöst hatte, erwuchs ohne Worte die tote, gleichgültige Gewissheit, dass dort, wohin ich nicht reichen konnte, meine Wahl schon getroffen war. Und während ich vorgab, dass nichts geschehen sei, hatte ich nicht einmal Kraft genug, um mich zu verachten."

"Nein - unterbrach ich ihn. - Mir gehts um einen Gott, dessen Unvollkommenheit nicht aus der Schlichtheit seiner menschlichen Schöpfer folgt, sondern seinen wesentlichsten innewohnenden Zug darstellt. Das soll ein Gott sein, der begrenzt ist in seiner Allwissenheit und Allmacht, fehlbar beim Voraussehen der Zukunft seiner Werke, einer, der den Verlauf der von ihm geformten Phänomene in Entsetzen versetzen kann. Das ist ein... krüppelhafter Gott, der immer mehr begehrt, als er kann, und sich das nicht sofort klarmacht. Einer, der die Uhren konstruiert hat, aber nicht die Zeit, die sie abmessen. Naturgefüge oder Mechanismen, die bestimmten Zielen dienen; aber sie wuchsen über diese Ziele hinaus und verrieten sie. Und er hat die Unendlichkeit erschaffen, die von dem Maß seiner Macht, das sie hätte sein sollen, zum Maß seines grenzenlosen Versagens geworden ist.
[...:]
Eine derartige Religion kenne ich nicht - sagt er nach kurzem Schweigen. - So eine war nie... nötig. Wenn ich dich recht verstehe, und ich fürchte, das tue ich, dann denkst du an einen evolvierenden Gott, der sich zeitlich entwickelt und heranreift, sich auf immer höhere Stufen der Macht erhebt, bis zum Bewusstsein ihrer Kraftlosigkeit? Dein Gott da, das ist ein Wesen, das in die Göttlichkeit eintrat wie in eine auswegslose Lage, und als es das begriff, überließ es sich der Verzweiflung. Ja, aber der verzweifelnde Gott, das ist ja der Mensch, mein Bester? Um den Menschen geht es dir... "

"Wir wollen gar nicht den Kosmos erobern, wir wollen nur die Erde bis an ihre Grenzen erweitern. Die einen Planeten haben voll Wüste zu sein, wie die Sahara, die anderen eisig wie der Pol oder tropisch wie der brasilianische Urwald. Wir sind humanitär und edel, wir wollen die anderen Rassen nicht unterwerfen, wir wollen ihnen nur unsere Werte übermitteln und, als Gegengabe, ihrer aller Erbe annehmen. Wir halten uns für die Ritter vom heiligen Kontrakt. Das ist die zweite Lüge. Menschen suchen wir, niemanden sonst. Wir brauchen keine anderen Welten. Wir brauchen Spiegel. Mit anderen Welten wissen wir nichts anzufangen. Es genügt unsere eine, und schon ersticken wir an ihr. Wir wollen das eigene idealisierte Bild finden; diese Globen, diese Zivilisationen haben volkommener zu sein als die unsere, in anderen wiederum hoffen wir das Abbild unserer primitiven Vergangenheit zu finden. Indessen ist auf der anderen Seite etwas, was wir nicht akzeptieren, wogegen wir uns wehren, und schließlich haben wir von der Erde nicht das pure Destillat aus lauter Tugenden mitgebracht, das heroische Standbild des Menschen! Wir sind so hierhergeflogen, wie wir wirklich sind, und wenn die andere Seite uns diese Wahrheit zeigt, diesen Teil von ihr, den wir verschweigen, dann können wir das nicht hinnehmen!
- Also was ist das? - fragte ich, nachdem ich ihn geduldig angehört hatte.
- Das, was wir gewollt haben: der Kontakt mit einer anderen Zivilisation. Da haben wir den Kontakt! Übersteigert, wie unter dem Mikroskop - unsere eigene monströse Häßlichkeit, unsere Albernheit und Schande!!!"...less

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Lucie

Lucie rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

08/15/07

I think i enjoyed this book overall. I quite liked the philosophical discussion going on here, but... Being no fan of sci-fi, i found this book quite boring in places. There are several chapters that are so tedious I had to struggle very hard not to skip (the ones describing the physical parameters of the planet etc.... well you know which ones) . And having finished the book and looking back, I might have quite easily done it without ruining the experience.

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Schuyler

Schuyler rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

09/21/08

I haven't seen the movie and was thoroughly embarrassed when I picked it up from the library and it had George Cloony makin out on the cover. Despite that I thought this was an amazing book and SF at its best. Even the fact that this was translated from polish to french to english doesn't take away from the reading. To all those people out there that really want to get into SF(ha) but just haven't found the right book....

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Paul

Paul rated it:

(review of isbn 0156837501)

08/24/07

"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."

Much more than a science fiction novel. Interesting questions and ideas. Great writing.

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Matthew

Matthew rated it:

(review of isbn 3423101776)

08/17/07

bookshelves: readandrecommended

Read in April, 2006

Wow! The movie, by Tarkovsky, is totally different- and I hear they did not get along over the film interpretation- totally different philosophies. see and read both!!!

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Karl

Karl rated it:

(review of isbn 0156837501)

05/17/07

I like Andrei Tarkovsky's film version of the story with its crazy screenplay by Fridrikh Gorenshtein better, but the book was still a good read.

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Joey

Joey rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

08/03/07

A fascinating piece of sci-fi about the impossibility of communication, whether it is between alien life forms or a man and a woman.

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Rob

Rob rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

08/23/07

Strange, rewarding book. Not an easy read, but worth it if you like powerful metaphysical sci-fi.

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Nate

Nate rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

09/19/08

This book is one of several examples of Lem doing what no one does better: writing science fiction that's also fiction about science. Sometimes philosophy is best portrayed by art. But I wonder about those out there who watch the films before reading the novel. Tarkovsky's film is an incredible work that can stand entirely on its own, and Soderbergh's George Clooney movie is also very entertaining. The problem, however, is that priming the mind with the themes of the films, even the valuable...more

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Jukka

Jukka added it (review of isbn 0156027607)

09/06/08

Solaris (1961) - Stanislaw Lem
Granted you probably need to have a thing for eastern european sci-fi, as i do, to connect. This is literature, which imo great amounts of western sci-fi is not. But that's my conceit.
The book is easier read than comprehended, it combines many themes, ideas and styles. The novel explores things like the inseperability of thought and emotion, the experience of love, grief, and denial, the limits of human knowledge, the human and scientific reactions to th...more

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Inder

Inder rated it:

(review of isbn 0156027607)

08/02/08

bookshelves: 1001-books, 20th-century, fiction, read-2008, science

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Inder by: Mike (Krishna's)

This was very, very interesting, at times quite profound, but a bit uneven overall.

The narrator's voice ranges between that of a cowboy or noir detective and a philosopher or theologian, and neither is quite convincing. The scientific descriptions of the intelligent ocean are long and skim-worthy. The characters are one-dimensional. It's carelessly sexist - Kelvin's wife has no personality beyond being submissive and suicidally depressed, and yet, with little explanation, he loves her? That...more

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Jeff Scott

Jeff rated it:

(review of isbn 3353002537)

08/31/08

bookshelves: 1001books, sony-reader

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

A mysterious ocean studied for years yields no mysteries. The planet, solaris has been studied for hundreds of years, but scientists have discovered nothing more. The theories are diverse. A scientist goes to the space station to explore the planet. In the end he learns more about the nature of love and himself.

It's a sad and melancholy story. The study of the planet frustrates all involved. Kelvin and others on the station begin to see people from their past. Most notably Kelvin s...more
A mysterious ocean studied for years yields no mysteries. The planet, solaris has been studied for hundreds of years, but scientists have discovered nothing more. The theories are diverse. A scientist goes to the space station to explore the planet. In the end he learns more about the nature of love and himself.

It's a sad and melancholy story. The study of the planet frustrates all involved. Kelvin and others on the station begin to see people from their past. Most notably Kelvin sees his long dead wife, dead from a suicide. All the characters despise these creation and seek to get rid of them. They discover they are manifestations of the ocean. Kelvin is different he begins to love this creation, even if it is a mainestation of his own mind made physical by the oceans powers. The others find a way to destroy these manifestations. Kelvin's wife asks to be destroyed. He is then faced with the reality that he will never see her again. Even when he visits the ocean its waves divert away from him. Love lost is lost forever.

Last passage:
We all know we are material creatures, subject to the laws of physiology and physics, and not even the power of all of our feelings combined can defeat those laws. All we can do is dtest them. The age-old faith of lovers and poets in the power of love, stronger than death, that finis via sex non armoris, is a lie, useless and not even funny. So must one be resigned to being a clock that measures the passage of time, now out of order, now repaired, and whose mechanism generates despair and love as soon as its maker sets it going? Are we to grow used to the idea that every man relives ancient torments, which are all the more profound because they grow comic with repetition? That human existence should repeat itself, well and good, but that it should repeat itself like a hackneyed tune, or a record a drunkard keeps playing as he feeds coins into a jukebox...

Must I go on living here then, among the objects we both had touched, in the air that she breathed? In the name of what? In the hope of her return? I hope for nothing. And yet I lived in expectation. Since she had gone, that was all that had remained. I did not know what acheivements, what mockery, even what tortures still awaited me. I knew nothing, and I persisted in the faith that the time of cruel miracles was not passed....less

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Nathan

Nathan rated it:

(review of isbn 3353002537)

06/08/08

Read in November, 2005

Solaris is the kind of novel that makes me question why some critics insist that all sci-fi is mere escapism. I thought this book was a great examination of humanity's resistance to admit the limits of our knowledge or capabilities. The notion that scientific societies might discover something that eludes all of their attempts to understand it is quite uncomfortable to those who adhere to the modernist paradigm. And the idea that that discovery could in return manipulate its discovers while of...more

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Jonathan

Jonathan rated it:

(review of isbn 3746401496)

02/27/08

I'm not sure, really, what I think. The plot itself is rather interesting - in the future mankind has the opportunity to study a different planet while actually on that planet, as opposed to from another location (ie. our study of Mars would be far different if a human being could actually live on Mars). It also delves into the idea of a human being's acceptance and understanding of oneself, and how that is necessary in order to understand another being (human or non-human). These two parts o...more

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D_Davis

D_Davis rated it:

(review of isbn 3746401496)

04/27/08

bookshelves: science-speculative-fiction

Read in February, 2008

Solaris chronicles humanity's futile attempts at understanding a totally alien entity. Often, in science fiction stories, an author introduces an alien race, has mankind make contact with it, and then by the end of the book there is a general sense of understanding between the two. It is often assumed that the alien races have evolved and developed in a fashion similar to mankind, so that we are able to comprehend their physiological and psychological make-up. This is not so in Lem's book.
...more

Solaris chronicles humanity's futile attempts at understanding a totally alien entity. Often, in science fiction stories, an author introduces an alien race, has mankind make contact with it, and then by the end of the book there is a general sense of understanding between the two. It is often assumed that the alien races have evolved and developed in a fashion similar to mankind, so that we are able to comprehend their physiological and psychological make-up. This is not so in Lem's book.

We experience the story through the eyes of Kris Kelvin. Kelvin is a scientist sent to a research station on Solaris, a planet naturally inhabited by a vast, sentient ocean. When he arrives at the station, he is immediately bombarded by a set of bizarre situations. He first meets (in a round about way) Dr. Snow, and also discovers his first inclination that something is amiss. Snow acts paranoid and afraid, and avoids direct communication, offering obtuse answers to Kelvin's inquires. Soon, Kelvin learns of Dr. Sartorius, the other scientist at the base. But what he learns doesn't answer a single question - it only raises more concern about the exasperating occurrences seemingly birthed from the planet itself.

As the story progresses, things go from strange to totally messed up. Corporeal entities begin to appear before the small crew, each one conjured directly from the minds of the scientists. Kelvin soon finds himself haunted by a simulacrum of his dead wife. Down to the smallest detail, she is an exact copy. But what is she, really? Where does she come from? Where does she go? Is she really a fake? Does she know she is a fake? Can Kelvin have emotions for her even though he knows what happened to his real wife? And, most importantly, why is she here? Here lies the main drive of the narrative. At its heart, Solaris is a scientific mystery novel to be solved through a biological and scientific investigation.

Time after time, Kelvin retreats to the station's library and hides his nose in the books and records. Lem illustrates two important factors through this character's actions. First, I found it interesting that Kelvin and the other scientists chose to stay inside and learn about the planet through books and second hand experience. It is odd that they would do this. It's almost as if they were afraid to have a real, personal experience with the planet, and so they chose to learn from the safety and comfort of the station. Kelvin reads, and reads, and reads some more about people who have had experiences with the sentient ocean, and with this knowledge he tries to synthesize a hypothesis. However, without real experience, what kind of insight can he possibly gain?

The second factor is directly related to the first. Kelvin, and those who have come before him, cannot possibly understand this planet or the entities it has sent as emissaries. The sentient ocean is so vastly different than humankind, and so far beyond the realms of human comprehension, that it exists completely outside of humankind's jurisdiction. No matter how much they discover, and no matter how much minutia they parse through, without the proper frame of reference, and without the proper language to even begin to formulate the right questions, Kelvin and the other scientists don't stand a chance at comprehending what is going on, or why.

And this is why Solaris is so interesting. Nothing is ever solved; this is a mystery without a solution, because the detectives don't even know what it is they are really looking for. Imagine being on a scavenger hunt without a list, in another country, blind folded, and gagged. Through his wonderfully written prose, thick with detail and nuanced character interactions, Lem presents to his readers a world that is totally inhuman. In most other science fiction novels, the author would have his characters reach a mutual understanding with the aliens; human ingenuity would prevail, there would be a scientific breakthrough, and enough would be known to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

But Lem keeps us, and his characters, in the dark. He doesn't do so to frustrate, although I am sure some readers might disagree; he does so to illustrate a fascinating detail about humanity. For all that we are, we are only human, and there may be some things out there that we will never understand - and this is okay.
...less

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6 comments

Stevelvis

Stevelvis rated it:

(review of isbn 5170117744)

02/19/08

There are 3 different versions of Solaris. There is the 2002 American film starring George Clooney which I never saw (which is where this particular book cover is derived). There is the 1972 Russian film which is almost 3 hours long and is considered by some to be a work of genius (I have seen this version of the film and despite the gruelingly slow pace would agree that it is a masterpiece in the art of film). And there is the book released in 1961 by the world famous Polish author Stanislaw...more

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Steve

Steve rated it:

(review of isbn 0156837501)

12/24/07

bookshelves: sci-fi

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007

I've seen the two movies made from this book, but the book seems to have an entirely different sensibility. It's the story of human attempts to comprehend the nature of the planet Solaris and its plasmic, seemingly alive oceans. Another phenomenon "visitors," physically real phantoms from the crew's memories/subconscious, appear inexplicably--do they represent an attempt by the planet to explore their guests or is there no intelligence/will to it at all? Kris Kelvin, the narrator, m...more

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