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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Engraçado como o lem é meu autor favorito, principalmente autor favorito de ficção, e eu quase não vinguei o ÚNICO livro dele que foi traduzido pro português. E por engraçado eu quero dizer que é legal perceber que uma das coisas que me fisga na leitura dele em inglês é que ele enche muita linguiça que, por eu estar lendo numa língua que não é minha língua nativa, eu consigo facilmente pular e focar nas histórias fantásticas que ele conta. Agora em portugues, quando me encontro diante do medo abundante de todas as verdades, infelizmente preciso prestar atenção a vada palavra posta e consequentemente perco o fio da meada porque, denovo, ele enche muita linguiça.
Enfim, amá-lo é sofrê-lo e eu faria novamente.
Enfim, amá-lo é sofrê-lo e eu faria novamente.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a disappointment for me. I originally decided to pick it up because I had heard from somewhere that if you were a real Science Fiction fan then you should read Stanislaw Lem; plus the idea of a psychic alien ocean messing with the minds of explorers on a space station sounded pretty amazing.
My main problem with this book was the writing. I think it was a combination of the author's and the translator's fault that this book felt like a clunky mess. The descriptions of the planet and it's oceanic formations were unclear and hard to visualize, the pacing was a disaster, and there were giant info dumps in the disguise of the protagonist reading textbooks that felt unrelated to the rest of the story. There is also zero closure to this story. I get that that was kind of the point and I don't usually mind a mysterious ending but this ending left me floundering and bereft instead of awed and inspired. While the idea is a good one, the wonder and the science just weren't there.
Plus the treatment of women in this book is really quite terrible. You can tell that this book was written in the '60s, because all of the chauvinist baggage that that era had and apparently the author had is pretty clear in the writing. There are no female scientists in this book, Rheya is portrayed as a needy woman who literally can't be separated from her husband or she starts to have a mental breakdown and who, out of the entire Solaris library, decides to read interstellar cookbooks, even though she's NEVER hungry. And don't even get me started on the the descriptions of the black female aboard the station. Lem calls her a "giant negress" and a "monstrous Aphrodite" which is pretty fucking offensive, even for the 1960's.
Oh, and I pretty much hated the moody and whiny main character, what a waste of air. In fact all the characters in this book were pretty damn terrible. They were basically cardboard cut-outs of real people that had no reason behind their actions, feelings, or reactions to things. Just stupid, GAH!
While writing this review I realized that my original 2 star rating for this book was generous, I have lowered it to one, because I just really didn't like it. I can appreciate the idea behind this book, but the execution was a huge negative.
My main problem with this book was the writing. I think it was a combination of the author's and the translator's fault that this book felt like a clunky mess. The descriptions of the planet and it's oceanic formations were unclear and hard to visualize, the pacing was a disaster, and there were giant info dumps in the disguise of the protagonist reading textbooks that felt unrelated to the rest of the story. There is also zero closure to this story. I get that that was kind of the point and I don't usually mind a mysterious ending but this ending left me floundering and bereft instead of awed and inspired. While the idea is a good one, the wonder and the science just weren't there.
Plus the treatment of women in this book is really quite terrible. You can tell that this book was written in the '60s, because all of the chauvinist baggage that that era had and apparently the author had is pretty clear in the writing. There are no female scientists in this book, Rheya is portrayed as a needy woman who literally can't be separated from her husband or she starts to have a mental breakdown and who, out of the entire Solaris library, decides to read interstellar cookbooks, even though she's NEVER hungry. And don't even get me started on the the descriptions of the black female aboard the station. Lem calls her a "giant negress" and a "monstrous Aphrodite" which is pretty fucking offensive, even for the 1960's.
Oh, and I pretty much hated the moody and whiny main character, what a waste of air. In fact all the characters in this book were pretty damn terrible. They were basically cardboard cut-outs of real people that had no reason behind their actions, feelings, or reactions to things. Just stupid, GAH!
While writing this review I realized that my original 2 star rating for this book was generous, I have lowered it to one, because I just really didn't like it. I can appreciate the idea behind this book, but the execution was a huge negative.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I liked the concept of the book much more than the execution. The question of how we might even begin to communicate with a truly alien being, or even attempt such a thing, is a fascinating one. And the being here is far more enigmatic then your typical Star Trek humanoid species.
But, the story is not engaging. The characters are paper thin, more like outlines than real people. And every time I began to be interested in the story, there would be another long, dry, section, outlining various theories about the planet. While some discussion of the history of and theories surrounding the planet was necessary, pages and pages of scientific in-fighting makes for a dull reading experience.
It's worth reading for it's place in sci-fi history. But if that's not something your interested in, I couldn't really recommend it.
But, the story is not engaging. The characters are paper thin, more like outlines than real people. And every time I began to be interested in the story, there would be another long, dry, section, outlining various theories about the planet. While some discussion of the history of and theories surrounding the planet was necessary, pages and pages of scientific in-fighting makes for a dull reading experience.
It's worth reading for it's place in sci-fi history. But if that's not something your interested in, I couldn't really recommend it.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Terror cósmico del bueno. La cuestión no es si Dios existe, ni siquiera si nos ama nos odia. La cuestión es si le importamos lo más mínimo.
Y la posibilidad de que la respuesta sea incognoscible resulta aterradora.
Y la posibilidad de que la respuesta sea incognoscible resulta aterradora.
challenging
mysterious
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt
Here be spoilers.
So the "contact" is like looking for something like us in something alien. If they are bug-eyed monsters, well at least they have eyes. So they see us looking at them. They might see as as food, or as hosts for their larva, but at least we are sharing a verb.
The "contact" attempt with Solaris gets really desperate really quick though. We don't share much, but we want to very hard. Could it maybe have "consciousness"? We might disagree among ourselves what the word means, if anything, but at least the concept feels flexible enough that we could stretch it onto the ocean of Kandinsky-like goo. (If only the Solaristics Institute had an art department: they could have sent an actual expert to the planet, someone trained in seeing meaning in dripping fluids)
The ocean feels sorry for the desperate researchers. You want to find something we share? You want to recognize something familiar in me? Here you go. Reflect.
Or maybe it doesn't feel nothing. Maybe reflection is just what you happen to see when you gaze into its abyss long enough.
So the "contact" is like looking for something like us in something alien. If they are bug-eyed monsters, well at least they have eyes. So they see us looking at them. They might see as as food, or as hosts for their larva, but at least we are sharing a verb.
The "contact" attempt with Solaris gets really desperate really quick though. We don't share much, but we want to very hard. Could it maybe have "consciousness"? We might disagree among ourselves what the word means, if anything, but at least the concept feels flexible enough that we could stretch it onto the ocean of Kandinsky-like goo. (If only the Solaristics Institute had an art department: they could have sent an actual expert to the planet, someone trained in seeing meaning in dripping fluids)
The ocean feels sorry for the desperate researchers. You want to find something we share? You want to recognize something familiar in me? Here you go. Reflect.
Or maybe it doesn't feel nothing. Maybe reflection is just what you happen to see when you gaze into its abyss long enough.