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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Classic. Pero no debo tener yo demasiada mentalidad soviética: el personaje más interesante, el océano de Solaris.
De Lem, me sigo quedando con "El congreso de futurología".
De Lem, me sigo quedando con "El congreso de futurología".
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
when i first started reading, i was genuinely engrossed in the mystery of what happened on the station. everything happens so quickly, and the reader gets absolutely no information. it is a genuine mystery, and there is the impression that something horrific has happened, and that it will happen again.
solaris is told in very close first person, so when things start happening on the station, you find out as soon as the narrator, kris kelvin, does. however, every so often the book decides to 'pull the camera back,' as it were, and look at the greater physics and history of the planet, also named solaris. and the descriptions are beautiful, if not a little purple for my taste, but god does it ever get tedious as all hell. i dont think the rest of the book lived up to the first few chapters. there is considerable action and narrative happening until around the middle third of the book, when suddenly things come to a grinding fucking halt.
although, while i wasnt a big fan of the lengthy talks on (pseudo?)science and endless backstory, i also kind of loved how little the book cared whether or not the reader knew anything about that particular universe. the author expected you to keep up with him, which for some reason made solaris feel like it had far more depth than the usual pulpy scifi fare (which i also love dont get me wrong). yes we're dealing with these mysterious events in the present timeline but stanislaw lem has to segue into 40 pages on solaris' history all of a sudden, and youd better fucking read the whole thing or youll miss out on something.
after the initial intensity of the first third or so, solaris becomes this nearly unbearably slow-paced space drama. the pacing, too, i believe is deliberate. kelvin reads endless tomes on solarian history with the intent of enlightening the audience through exposition, although as i said earlier, at some point the book is ONLY exposition and stays that way for an excruciatingly long time. it also needs to be said that most of the exposition doesnt really enlighten anything at all.
i also loved the characters even though they ended up grating on me, which i feel was the intended effect. there are times when characters end up angering or annoying you and you can tell the author didnt intend to do so. but everyone on the station has seen some shit, and as a direct result theyre manifesting some really intense psychological baggage. of course theyre obnoxious. theyre isolated and thus they feel as if theyre going mad for one reason or another. madness never made for pleasant company.
also i just have to mention this even though its got no bearing on the narrative whatsoever, but i found the anachronistic references to microfilm technology in a future where humanity has landed on an alien planet to be utterly adorable. there are no touch screens. this is late 50s to mid 60s space age eastern bloc tech. the calculator on the station is fucking huge. theres a scene thats supposed to be really dramatic and kelvins typing away on this big ass calculator and im imagining it in my mind and i burst out laughing on the train while im reading it cuz like, holy shit, stanislaw lem could not have possibly foreseen that even calculators would become so small.
thats not the point of the book, of course, and yet i found the weird anachronisms oddly endearing. its one of my favorite things about scifi in general, specifically because we as a species rarely consider that our speculative fiction rapidly becomes outdated. and we especially did not consider this possibility of becoming vastly outdated and outmoded within months in the 50s and 60s. today we are all living this period of intense revolution of productive processes, so what is considered 'future tech' more and more becomes 'present' and 'quotidian' technology. (examples include wifi and touch screens, just to name a few.)
anyway, what IS the point of the book? solaris touches on technology but not specifically what ive outlined here. its more a quiet reflection of humanitys desire to reach out to the stars using this alien planet as a framing device. its quite clever and effective. honestly i have to recommend this despite my misgivings about halfway through, where the book comes to a screeching halt in terms of narrative. its one of the masterworks of science fiction, and i genuinely cant wait to watch the movie.
tl;dr i came for the alien world, i stayed for the psychological drama.
I feel I got into the book with the wrong expectations (plot, character development, etc.).
It's certainly a unique book with an interesting message despite all and I will have to read the author's other works to form a proper opinion on the matter.
It's certainly a unique book with an interesting message despite all and I will have to read the author's other works to form a proper opinion on the matter.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was kind of crazy. It was on my 'want to read' list for awhile because I had a feeling I would really enjoy it. And I did enjoy it. I don't typically lean towards science fiction or anything similar, just because it hasn't really historically been my cup of tea to read. I way prefer watching it. But this book was good. The world building and character description/behavior as well as the concept they were interacting with were good bones for what can correctly be considered a classic. I'm glad I spent the time I did checking it out, though I probably won't pick it up again.
Recommended this book to my boyfriend and their first question was something like "" Which... yeah, it is, but So like. Put some respect on it.
Recommended this book to my boyfriend and their first question was something like "
Spoiler
Isn't that the book where the guy fucks a planet?Spoiler
she's more like a physical embodiment of a piece of the consciousness on the planet. And it's not like she's some random chick, it's his DEAD lover. Which he feels insane guilt over what he perceives to be his fault.
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Evokes a sense of the sublime necessary for a good first encounter science fiction story