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A review by trilbynorton
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
He reached the conclusion that there cannot now, nor in the future could there ever be, talk of "contact" between human beings and any non-humanoid civilization. In this satire against the entire species the thinking ocean is not mentioned once, but its presence, in the shape of a contemptuously triumphal silence, could be sensed underlying virtually every sentence.
Solaris is clearly about the impossibility of communication between human and totally alien intelligence (bringing to mind Wittgenstein's talking lion). A planet-covering ocean moves with seeming purpose, produces complex structures, and sometimes even appears aware of the human scientists studying it, and yet the question of its own consciousness is never satisfyingly answered. What struck me most about Lem's novel, however, is his fabrication from whole cloth an entire academic field surrounding the "thinking ocean". Protagonist Kris Kelvin muses occasionally on the study of the planet Solaris and details a whole history of scientific endeavor, complete with orthodoxies, schisms, and fringe pseudosciences.
Solaris is clearly about the impossibility of communication between human and totally alien intelligence (bringing to mind Wittgenstein's talking lion). A planet-covering ocean moves with seeming purpose, produces complex structures, and sometimes even appears aware of the human scientists studying it, and yet the question of its own consciousness is never satisfyingly answered. What struck me most about Lem's novel, however, is his fabrication from whole cloth an entire academic field surrounding the "thinking ocean". Protagonist Kris Kelvin muses occasionally on the study of the planet Solaris and details a whole history of scientific endeavor, complete with orthodoxies, schisms, and fringe pseudosciences.