A review by firstwords
Return From the Stars by Stanisław Lem

2.0

Man, these Slavic writers take existentialism and suffering to strange places. Good SF, not too hard, but may be unlikeable to some readers of American SF. Lots of questions left unanswered (for the reader to ponder, no doubt), and more observations and complaints than there is narrative.

The storyline ends up unimportant, and none of the characters other than the protagonist "grow" or change in any way. I can see this being a bleak read for some. He introduces sociological concepts without (in the book) debating them or going into thought exercises about them.

Still good to read as part of the canon, though.