The Bare Bones of…”Solaris” (novel)

What: “Solaris” by Stanislav Lem.

Why: It’s intelligent, it’s surreal, it’s about the human psyche, and it’s philosophical sci-fi What’s not to love?

Spoiler Alert: Low | Medium | HIGH!

Summary:

Psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives in his spacecraft at the research station Solaris, which hovers over the massive ocean that covers this distant planet.

From the very moment he arrives, it becomes clear to Kelvin that all is not well on board. He meets Snow, one of the three crew members on board, and asks where the team leader Gibarian is. The answer is confused an paranoid. With effort, Kelvin learns that the third man, Sartorius, has locked himself up elsewhere in the station, and that Gibarian is dead.

But research does not brake for death. Kelvin searches Gibarian’s quarters to find out what happened and what the ‘Solarists’ have been doing recently. It is Solaris’ task to research the ocean below, which is believed to be sentient. Originally the goal was to learn to communicate with the ocean entity, but all attempts so far have failed. Even the latest experiment, a bold and banned X-ray bombardment, has not yielded the desired results. But since that bombardment, things have gone wrong and the crew all have the feeling they are being watched. Kelvin, too.

With good reason: he sees someone in the corridors of the station. Someone who cannot possibly be there. He learns Snow and Sartorius have seen apparitions, too, and that the same effect drove Gibarian to commit suicide. And the apparitions are real, even to the touch. As real as they are inexplicable.

Soon Kelvin finds Rheya in his room: his wife who died ten years ago. Little things she says suggest that she is not real, but she speaks and she is solid. Kelvin accepts this vision with little resistance, but when he gets the chance, he locks the apparition into one of the shuttles on board and launches it.

After that incident, Snow is more forthcoming. They have all had such ‘visitors’, significant people from their past. To Kelvin, Rheya was not just his wife: she committed suicide after a messy argument in which he said thing he didn’t mean. Snow warns Kelvin that Rheya will come back, unaware of what he has done to get rid of her. The ocean does this, he says. They have what they wanted: contact with the alien lifeform.

Indeed, Rheya comes back. After an small accident that leaves her injured, Kelvin analyses her tissue under a microscope and finds she is not human, but a copy of that is better than the original. In a video conference between the three scientists, Sartorius argues that the ‘visitors’ are a materialised projection of from their minds, but all conclusions they draw are vastly premature.

Unfortunately Rheya overheard what Kelvin about her being a copy. She is confused an insecure, but so are Kelvin and Snow. Sartorius is isolating himself more and more, both physically, socially and professionally: each of the three scientists has his own ideas about how to prevent the ‘visitors’ from manifesting, but they differ greatly on what the effects of the various possibilities will be. What risks are they taking, not just with the alien entity, but with themselves as well? And if the projections are part of the ocean and the ocean is a living being, how moral are their plans?

The next night, Kelvin is visited by an apparition of Gibarian, who warns him that Snow and Sartorius do not trust him. Kelvin cares little, but is apprehensive of what their plans will do to Rheya. But Rheya shows more of her awareness that she ‘isn’t real’. After an argument, she tries to take her life and Kelvin tries to save her. After what seems a long death struggle, however, she fails to die. Both she and Kelvin realise that despite her appearance, she is not human.

Even so, Kelvin wants to leave with this new version of Rheya. Snow encourages him, but warns that the manifestation will disappear with distance from the planet. It is speculation, so he tell Kelvin they can bring back the vessel which took off with Rheya’s previous manifestation – see if she still exists or not. Kelvin cannot stomach the thought. He has fallen in love with this version of Rheya and he doesn’t want to harm her. But if he and Snow are right, that is exactly what the experiment Sartorius is preparing will do.

They do run the experiment. Nothing happens. For weeks they wait, but find no change. If the ocean responds to the experiment, that response mingles with their dreams and nightmares. The ‘visitors are still there’. Snow is breaking and locked in his lab, so is Sartorius. The nightmares grow worse, until…

…one morning Rheya is gone. Truly gone. Kelvin panics, but Snow, much more calm than before, explains that Sartorius tried another way and doing so managed to destroy the manifestation. Kelvin is beside himself with anger and grief for losing Rheya all over again. He hates the planet and what it has done, accusing the entity of experimenting on them, regardless of the hypocrisy.

Yet he turns down the chance to evacuate and stays on the station until his allotted time to return to Earth.  Before he leaves, he makes a trip to the surface of the planet. He contemplates whether gods evolve and learn, and what makes a god in the first place. He has lost all hope of ever seeing Rheya again, or whatever version of her. But he continues to live with a sense of expectation that even he cannot define.

Story Skeleton:

Unlike the typical ‘Western’ sci-fi, which thrives on action and technology, the Eastern European and Russian tradition in this genre is far more concerned with human nature and philosophy.

As such, “Solaris” has no adrenaline-fuelled tension arc to the story. It is a calm read, where after the initial strangeness of the visitors, the complications are introduced and explored gradually and without pomp. Lem also made plenty of space to provide historical background, inside jokes and different philosophical theories, saving what is often considered the ultimate one – what is a god? – for last.

The story doesn’t have the urge to explain everything, either. The nature of the ocean entity is never defined, and humans must be content to live with this uncertainty. In this, the story is much truer to life than most space adventures meant for entertainment. There is no quick fix, no matter how much we want there to be one.

For that reason, it is not a casual read: “Solaris” requires close reading to grasp when the author has written between the lines, and it requires the reader to reflect and form his own opinion. Most of the time, several theories are suggested, but a final answer does not exist.

Lesson learnt:

Like all good literature, “Solaris” is a vehicle for profound thoughts and concepts first and entertainment second. It does not need to employ cheap emotions to draw a reader in, or ready-made conclusions to deliver a sense of satisfaction. Such stories are rare, but all the more precious for it.

This book a gem to whoever loves stories that encourage its reader to think, and a deliciously wry love story in space for those who don’t want to delve that deep.