"Solaris" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come talk about your initial, general impressions!

Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoiler thread.

[Oleksandr]

It is nice to see this famous book as a monthly read, I plan to join by reading the original Polish version, so if there are any translation-related questions I'll try to inform yo what the original says

[Becky]

I read this back in 2009 and sort of "middle-of-the-road" liked it. Back then, I found it dry in places, but really compelling and insightful in others, and I wonder if maybe the I just wasn't the right reader for it at the time. I am almost tempted to re-read it again and see how I feel now.

Even though I have about eleventy-billion books I need to read hanging above my head via fraying rope.

But who doesn't?? :P

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

It is a challenging novel, but I liked it. Eventually.

[JasonReads]

I'm going to give it a try, but egads, my copy has George Clooney and Natascha McElhone smooching on the cover, so I'll have to obtain a better copy at some point during my read.

That, or put brown paper over the cover and just tell people it's because I'm reading Fifty Shades of Grey. 🤣

[Becky]

I hate movie tie-in covers!

[Mikael]

I've read this one along time ago but all I can remember now is the Tarkovsky movie. What differs between them?

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Mikael wrote: "I've read this one along time ago but all I can remember now is the Tarkovsky movie. What differs between them?"

Many many pages of philosophical musings and ideas.

[Gavin]

I have the Bill Johnston 2011 translation. Which Stanislaw's family consider captures the spirit of the original work.

[Ryan]

Do they have an opinion on the 1970 translation? That's the one I read. I was quite disappointed in the book, though I suspect that's less to do with the translation than with the philosophy, which is not my cup of tea.

[J.W.]

I first read this bc of a sci-fi list maybe 6 years ago. I’ve since come to truly love Lem from a small selection of his works. I’m excited to re-read this and also it was and maybe is on kindle unlimited. Still is right now for those looking.

[Gavin]

Ryan wrote: "Do they have an opinion on the 1970 translation? That's the one I read. I was quite disappointed in the book, though I suspect that's less to do with the translation than with the philosophy, which..."

Stanislaw is quoted as saying he was disappointed with the original French and then French-into-English (Kilmartin–Cox) translation.

[Oleksandr]

Mikael wrote: "I've read this one along time ago but all I can remember now is the Tarkovsky movie. What differs between them?"

Tarkovsky made several SF movies, but all authors of the original texts (e.g. Stanisław Lem or Arkady Strugatsky) said these are standalone works, maybe great but not related to their works :)

[Lars]

An all time favourite, not my first sci-fi novel, but the first time I encountered this kind of speculative fiction, I’m ready for a re-read have the Audible version lined up ready to go.

[Gabi]

This one is actually available to me :D - so I can join in the BotM this month!

[Jeff]

Count me in, it's a long time since I read this and still find it haunting and otherworldly like few other books and authors.
Loved the original film but not sure I've seen the Clooney remake, any views?

[Lars]

Jeff wrote: "Count me in, it's a long time since I read this and still find it haunting and otherworldly like few other books and authors.
Loved the original film but not sure I've seen the Clooney remake, any..."

I've seen both movies and while Tarkovsky's is a masterpiece and the one i would return to any day, Soderbergh's is actually quite good, far from the american mainstream you could fear and actually truer to the novel.

[Johannah]

I read this then tried to watch the movie and just couldn't I got really angry at the Clooney remake. I decided to re-read as it was a bit overwhelming in places the first time round. But second time is much better now I know the lingo and I'm not flicking back to remind myself of things. I'm already over half way through. 🤐

[Ines, Resident Vampire]

I read this one as a teenager, so I'm excited to revisit it! Never seen any of the movies, though - that does sound like something for the SFFBC movie club, does it not?

[Brent]

Enjoying it. Hope to watch the Russian film adaptation via YouTube at some point.

[DivaDiane]

I read this so long ago that the only thing I remember about it is that I liked it, but it was kind of hard work. I’ve seen both movies. One or both would make great bookclub movies.

[Oleksandr]

Brent wrote: "Enjoying it. Hope to watch the Russian film adaptation via YouTube at some point."

The movie is quite strange

[D]

I did start reading this, but it just didn't hold my attention!

[Jeff]

About eighty pages in, just as strange and haunting as I remember. Mines a reprint of the 1970s translation.

[Alex]

Read the first two chapters this evening. I'm getting an "Event Horizon" creepy vibe from this story so far.

[Oleksandr]

Nice to see some old tech in this future :) and the story itself is quite good

[Lars]

completed it a couple of days ago, was way shorter and less strange than i remembered.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

just got my heinous kissing covered copy from the library!

[Cynda]

Starting this now. Fortunately I am mostly left handed so I keeping those yucky kissy faced on the table while I flip through the book from the back cover. . . . One of those few times when being predominately left handed serves better.

[Gabi]

I love the somber feeling of the narration, and the fact that the emphasis seems to be on a scientific and psychological basis (not far in yet).
And I'm glad I'm listening to a German.translation cause this doesn't feel like it's gonna be an easy prose read.

[SFF in NH]

I loved this book. It's such a different story-telling mode even decades later. It's moody, contemplative, and psychological. It is every atmospheric despite not having a lot of "traditional" conflict.

[Ines, Resident Vampire]

Oleksandr wrote: "It is nice to see this famous book as a monthly read, I plan to join by reading the original Polish version, so if there are any translation-related questions I'll try to inform yo what the origina..."

I have a question. I was reading the German translation from the 60s that had been "slightly updated" (not sure what it means) and the protagonist calls (view spoiler)[Harey (hide spoiler)] "my child" several times. I found this very odd, given the relationship of the characters. Is that a translation thing or is it the same in the original text?

[Oleksandr]

Ines wrote: "I have a question. I was reading the German translation."

Okey, it is always hard to get the translation right for the same word may mean different things in different languages. The literal translation of 'child' is 'Dziecko' and there are several instances where the protagonist uses it. However, in a context and period of writing (1959?) I guess it is closer to 'baby' (at least how it is used in pop music in the 50s-60s regarding an adult love interest irrespective of gender) and also if it is in Chapter (I guess called) Monsters, the protagonist uses it meaning (view spoiler)[do not start a tantrum like a child after she says that she cannot go and she is a bad person because of it (hide spoiler)]

[Cynda]

Yes. In US, "baby" or "babe" still used by people of older generations as endearment for love interest/spouses.

[Ed]

Brent wrote: "Enjoying it. Hope to watch the Russian film adaptation via YouTube at some point."

You don't have to use YouTube. There is a legal collection of Soviet films online. They have the 1972 movie
https://sovietmoviesonline.com/fantas...

And the 1968 TV play
https://sovietmoviesonline.com/fantas...

I agree with the above poster that the George Clooney film is perfectly fine, and certainly shorter!

[Ines, Resident Vampire]

Oleksandr wrote: "Ines wrote: "I have a question. I was reading the German translation."

Okey, it is always hard to get the translation right for the same word may mean different things in different languages. The ..."

Thanks for clarification! It's a translation issue, then, because "child" in German does (and did) not mean "baby" used as an affectionate term for a person of the same age as oneself.

[Bnz]

Ed wrote: "I agree with the above poster that the George Clooney film is perfectly fine"

Yes, Soderbergh's reading of Lem, especially the intentionally "open" ending of the novel, is quite different from Tarkovsky's, but both are fine. I prefer Tarkovsky's version, though.

[Aga]

I’m resurrecting the thread by pasting what I wrote in the VBC thread:

If you are going to read the book in English, remember to look for Bill Johnston‘s translation. The book was translated from French to English (not from Polish oryginal) before that. Lem (fluent in English) was very disappointed with the Kilmartin–Cox translation and pointed out that it twisted meaning of some scenes and dialogues.

The new translation (approved by Lem’s family) is available both in audiobook and paper now.

[CJ]

Ditto what Aga said. The Johnston translation is very good.

[a.g.e. montagner]

I've read about the issue (most recently here) and I'll try to double-check the Italian version.

[Ryan]

How drastically does the translation difference change the book? I read the old one, and I didn't like it at all. Maybe I'd like the Johnston one more, but it's probably not worth rereading a book I hated with improved dressing.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Surprisingly, I've discovered that there have been two Italian translations as well — at least. Both translators were women: Eva Bolzoni published by Mondadori Urania and Vera Verdiani by Sellerio.
https://www.mondourania.com/collezion...
https://www.sellerio.it/it/catalogo/S...

[Cheryl L]

I did not check this thread before reading Solaris last month, and I have read the Kilmartin-Cox translation, unfortunately. I enjoyed the book enough that I might read the Johnston translation at some point.

[Aga]

Ryan wrote: "How drastically does the translation difference change the book? I read the old one, and I didn't like it at all. Maybe I'd like the Johnston one more, but it's probably not worth rereading a book ..."

Some names has been changed, some idioms were wrongly translated and they changed the meaning of the sentence, there were used some words connected to Freudian psychoanalysis instead of some more universal terms. And some of the beauty of the original was lost in the double translation process, because translators didn’t even know the original. Lem wasn’t very happy about it. He really hated if someone twisted his words and hated even more when critics were judging him about some sentence he didn’t even wrote.

[Aga]

I’m going to read I mów, że moja chwała z przyjaciół się bierze. Listy 1972–1984. I hope, I can get it from the library and read before the VBC meeting. The book contains a part of the correspondence between Lem and Le Guin. Perhaps I can find more information about the translation issues there.

[Aga]

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Surprisingly, I've discovered that there have been two Italian translations as well — at least. Both translators were women: Eva Bolzoni published by Mondadori Urania and Vera Verdiani by Sellerio...."

I wonder what are the differences between the translations.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Reminder to all cosmonauts (mostly myself) that our Virtual Book Club on Solaris is this Sunday 3rd August at 11 am Eastern / 4 pm London.

I was planning to finish at least something before plugging Solaris, but I'll have to get a move on if I want to be ready for the end of this week.

[Melanie]

I started Solaris this morning and am already hooked!

[a.g.e. montagner]

(I realise that we're bordering farce, since we've devoted more posts to translations than to the actual novel...)

Complication.
The supposedly better translation (Sellerio) is a nest of thorny constructions that nobody would use in Italian, either written or spoken. Doing worse than an Urania translation is a feat, since they're known for imprecision and unwarranted editing.

The easy way out would be to opt for the Johnston translation, but I'm going to stick with the Italian editions for the sake of diversity: it will be interesting to crowdsource notes on the various versions.