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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I'm not sure what I just read but it was scary, sad, and hauntingly beautiful. I truly haven't been affected by a book on such a human level, in a long time. It's an ideal length, well written, challenging, very nearly perfect.
While the ocean is front, center, and everywhere, the ghosts tell the real story. Solaris station is haunted and there's shit that happens, that would terrify the hell out of me. Footsteps in the hall outside, screaming from the laboratory, and Rehya, the physical manifestation of Kris Kelvin's (the main protagonist) dead lover.
Rehya and Kelvin's history is complicated. She committed suicide because Kelvin spurned her. Kelvin feels pretty shitty about it, obvs. So, Rehya comes back and, well let's just say, it's complicated. It's all very messy and uncomfortable, which is to say, it's basically a toxic relationship. They go all over the place, from one extreme to another and of course, Kris is pretty weirded out that Rehya is there in the first place and he can talk to her and touch her and she's a perfect simulacra of IRL Rehya.
He's weirded out but, he's also like, Rehya, why can't I quit you. There's one scene where Rehya tries (she can't die) to kill herself again (she drinks liquid oxygen, it goes very badly) and it's horrific and wrenching and utterly engrossing. Lem writes Kelvin's terror and anguish and anxiety so well as he tries to save her that you feel locked in there with him.
And that's only a very small part, we haven't even gotten into the freaky red and blue suns, and the ambiguous, unexplainable, sentient, omnipotent(?) ocean that covers the surface of the entire planet.
It's a very alien, very human, scary, sad, strange, creepy little book, and I loved it.
Okay, so remember I said, "nearly" perfect. The writing can be a little dense and plodding in places. It could very well be the translation. There are big, impenetrable infodumps (not the translation, that's all on the author). One goes on for almost an entire chapter where we learn all about the ocean, the theories on the ocean, the history of the theories on the ocean, and how none of the theories on the ocean ever came to explaining what the ocean really is.
Idk, idc, sci-fit writers sometimes tend to go on at length sometimes. I think the infodumps don't necessarily detract from the book. You definitely don't need all that information, but if you can stay awake and soldier through, I promise everything else is amazing.
4.5 stars.
While the ocean is front, center, and everywhere, the ghosts tell the real story. Solaris station is haunted and there's shit that happens, that would terrify the hell out of me. Footsteps in the hall outside, screaming from the laboratory, and Rehya, the physical manifestation of Kris Kelvin's (the main protagonist) dead lover.
Rehya and Kelvin's history is complicated. She committed suicide because Kelvin spurned her. Kelvin feels pretty shitty about it, obvs. So, Rehya comes back and, well let's just say, it's complicated. It's all very messy and uncomfortable, which is to say, it's basically a toxic relationship. They go all over the place, from one extreme to another and of course, Kris is pretty weirded out that Rehya is there in the first place and he can talk to her and touch her and she's a perfect simulacra of IRL Rehya.
He's weirded out but, he's also like, Rehya, why can't I quit you. There's one scene where Rehya tries (she can't die) to kill herself again (she drinks liquid oxygen, it goes very badly) and it's horrific and wrenching and utterly engrossing. Lem writes Kelvin's terror and anguish and anxiety so well as he tries to save her that you feel locked in there with him.
And that's only a very small part, we haven't even gotten into the freaky red and blue suns, and the ambiguous, unexplainable, sentient, omnipotent(?) ocean that covers the surface of the entire planet.
It's a very alien, very human, scary, sad, strange, creepy little book, and I loved it.
Okay, so remember I said, "nearly" perfect. The writing can be a little dense and plodding in places. It could very well be the translation. There are big, impenetrable infodumps (not the translation, that's all on the author). One goes on for almost an entire chapter where we learn all about the ocean, the theories on the ocean, the history of the theories on the ocean, and how none of the theories on the ocean ever came to explaining what the ocean really is.
Idk, idc, sci-fit writers sometimes tend to go on at length sometimes. I think the infodumps don't necessarily detract from the book. You definitely don't need all that information, but if you can stay awake and soldier through, I promise everything else is amazing.
4.5 stars.
La idea de Solaris, un planeta viviente, un organismo líquido de material incomprensible que puede alterar la ruta de traslación de su sistema solar con dos soles y copiar cualquier cosa que entre en sus misteriosas profundidades, me pareció genial. ¿Qué haría la humanidad ante algo que parece tener tanto provecho pero que no tiene ni un indicio de poder aprovecharse? Tal vez se escribirán libros por décadas de teorías sin probar, algunos dirían que el planeta tiene mente propia, que ejerce su identidad en el universo. Otros dirían que sus procesos son orgánicos, como una planta cósmica que sólo se puede apreciar. ¿Y si nos llevara siglos una tarea vacía, y si ese esfuerzo económico, intelectual, no diera frutos o indicios? Quizá el humano es una hormiga para el elefante que es Solaris. No nos nota. Es un vacío infinito e inabarcable que no puede ser explicado. Es un sinsentido más. ¿Qué dice de nosotros, sin decir nada, un lejano planeta que guarda silencio?
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
This is a tough one to rate. It was not bad, it is actually interesting, the whole idea that we are actually trying to find something that resembles us. Just 3 stars for now, might come back later after some sleeping to give it more.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wonderfully written sci-fi. Probably one of my favorite portrayals of ETs I've ever read. The info dump of chapters got a bit tedious but besides that I enjoyed the pace of this book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated