Solaris

published	November 20th 2002 by Harvest Books
first published	2003
binding	Paperback
isbn	0156027607 (isbn13: 9780156027601)
ebook
pages	204
description	Who's testing whom? When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he is forced to confront a painful, hit...more [close] Who's testing whom? When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he is forced to confront a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. Scientists speculate that the Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, its purpose in doing so unknown. The first of Lem's novels to be published in America and now considered a classic, SOLARIS raises a question: Can we truly understand the universe around us without first understanding what lies within? [close]
date added	02-12-07 edit book

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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.
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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.
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Núria rated it:

(review of isbn 8445073559)

10/12/07

bookshelves: 2006, borrowed

Read in May, 2006

No son prejuicios, pero me cuesta digerir las obras de género. No me va ni la ciencia ficción, ni el fantástico, ni el terror, ni el western, ni los musicales, ni el cine negro. Si me sacan del drama y la comedia ya estoy agotada antes de que la cosa empiece. Me encantan las mezclas de géneros y las relecturas de género, pero el género puro y duro no es para mí. Aún así me leí 'Solaris'. Tampoco está tan mal. Sé que el género es sólo el envoltorio, que lo que importa es lo que se c...more No son prejuicios, pero me cuesta digerir las obras de género. No me va ni la ciencia ficción, ni el fantástico, ni el terror, ni el western, ni los musicales, ni el cine negro. Si me sacan del drama y la comedia ya estoy agotada antes de que la cosa empiece. Me encantan las mezclas de géneros y las relecturas de género, pero el género puro y duro no es para mí. Aún así me leí 'Solaris'. Tampoco está tan mal. Sé que el género es sólo el envoltorio, que lo que importa es lo que se cuenta. En este caso, lo que se cuenta me ha gustado mucho, pero no me han gustado los peajes (es decir los tópicos) por los que se tiene que pasar porque la obra pueda entrar dentro de la ciencia ficción. Me ha encantado la interacción entre los personajes y cómo los principales están traumatizados por cierto sentido de culpa y marcados por algo del pasado, pero me he aburrido soberanamente con las narraciones de la historia de las exploraciones del planeta Solaris y las investigaciones y teorías acerca de su naturaleza física, y con la descripción de todos los cachivaches y aparatos que salen.

El protagonista de 'Solaris' es Kris Kelvin, un tipo que es enviado en misión al planeta Solaris, donde hay un océano gigante que no se sabe si puede tener inteligencia y conciencia, o no. Me encanta el ambiente de misterio que hay al principio en la estación espacial, cuando Kelvin llega y nota que allí está pasando algo muy raro, pero aún no sabemos qué. Lem maneja perfectamente el suspense y, una vez sabemos qué es lo que realmente está pasando, las escenas que se suceden tienen algo de acojonante, porque lo que sucede escapa totalmente de lo racional y lo lógico. Estas escenas se leen con un nudo en el estómago, pero luego vienen tediosas disquisiciones acerca de qué es lo que está pasando que hacen que, aunque pueda sentir una profunda empatía por los personajes, nunca pueda implicarme del todo en el libro. Sin embargo, me hizo mucha gracia cuando los tres científicos empiezan a hablar en clave, para que los que no se deben enterar de lo que están hablando no se enteren, como si no quisieran spoilearlos (tal y como yo estoy haciendo ahora).

Pero algo de lo que más me ha encantado ha sido el discurso postcolonial que articula Lem. Habla de que el deseo de explorar y conocer el espacio exterior no es nada más que vanidad y narcisismo. Los hombres buscan en el otro un espejo en el que puedan reconocerse ellos mismos. Sólo interpretan y juzgan al otro a través de su mentalidad. Por esto, cuando se encuentran con algo tan distinto como el océano de Solaris sólo aciertan a interpretarlo comparándolo con lo que ellos son, y por lo tanto, así nunca llegarán a comprenderlo, porque son incapaces de ver una cosa diferente por sí misma. También me pareció muy interesante que las creaciones F no supieran que eran creaciones F, lo cual puede abrir la puerta a pensar si nosotros no lo somos también, y le da a la obra una dimensión trágica aún mayor, porque para mí la obra acaba hablando de los límites de todos nosotros como seres humanos mortales que somos, de nuestra condena a repetir una y otra vez los mismos errores y de llevar una existencia monótona, que nunca podrá ser del todo completa, precisamente por culpa de nuestras limitaciones: no podemos controlarlo todo, no podemos saberlo todo; todo lo contrario: no podemos controlar nada ni saber nada, por más que progresemos científicamente. A pesar de todo, nada de esto me enganchó durante suficiente rato como para involucrarme de verdad en el libro, demasiados paréntesis con cosas que no me interesaban.
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