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midgardener 's review for:
Solaris
by Stanisław Lem
3.5, rounded up.
At times beautifully mad, at others maddeningly obscure, this slim volume contains far more substance than one might think by looking. Kris, our protagonist, is an apt conduit for our journey into the surreality of Solaris; and while I found some of his choices and loyalties logically questionable, none of them felt ridiculous. When in an isolated whirlpool of interstellar mental breakdown, one tends to do things perhaps a little differently.
What could have improved this classic space/contact tale is a culling of Kris’s reading habits. I can recall two lengthy sections wherein we’re treated to the narrator summarizing whole works on the planet Solaris—books by previous voyagers and theorists, all with their own desperate ideas for what the heck might be going on. It all rang very dull to me, and had me skimming like I was back in school. Related to this was the author’s habit of trying to describe seemingly indescribable formations on the surface of Solaris: great towers and trees, “mimoids,” funnels, etc. were common finds here. Yet all of these highly visual entities repeatedly struggled to translate well onto the written page, leaving my mind blundering about as it tried to form a picture.
Additionally, I feel that the tale of Solaris (the planet and entity) was left far from finished. The book simply... ends, with events ahead and an awful lot of questions yet to answer. I don’t think that every mystery presented in a story should be answered, as there can be more power in suggestion than revelation; but here, I was left genuinely in need of explanations. Beyond the mysteries, the longterm experience of Humans and Solaris clearly had much left to accomplish, and it would have been fascinating to see what that might entail.
Finally, there are doses of racism and sexism here. The only person of color (a woman) is referred to with an awfully outdated and offensive term, and is described in a “tribal” manner. The only other woman, who is presumed white, is all wrapped up in an inseparable patriarchal bond, and is repeatedly presented as beautiful/pure/dumb/useless/tragic. Good to know going in, I’d think.
I’m glad I read this but don’t see myself returning to it. At times very enjoyable, at others as thick as the sludge on Solaris itself, it was a mixed bag with mixed returns. Still, it did its job in making me wonder at the stars a little longer every time I look up.
At times beautifully mad, at others maddeningly obscure, this slim volume contains far more substance than one might think by looking. Kris, our protagonist, is an apt conduit for our journey into the surreality of Solaris; and while I found some of his choices and loyalties logically questionable, none of them felt ridiculous. When in an isolated whirlpool of interstellar mental breakdown, one tends to do things perhaps a little differently.
What could have improved this classic space/contact tale is a culling of Kris’s reading habits. I can recall two lengthy sections wherein we’re treated to the narrator summarizing whole works on the planet Solaris—books by previous voyagers and theorists, all with their own desperate ideas for what the heck might be going on. It all rang very dull to me, and had me skimming like I was back in school. Related to this was the author’s habit of trying to describe seemingly indescribable formations on the surface of Solaris: great towers and trees, “mimoids,” funnels, etc. were common finds here. Yet all of these highly visual entities repeatedly struggled to translate well onto the written page, leaving my mind blundering about as it tried to form a picture.
Additionally, I feel that the tale of Solaris (the planet and entity) was left far from finished. The book simply... ends, with events ahead and an awful lot of questions yet to answer. I don’t think that every mystery presented in a story should be answered, as there can be more power in suggestion than revelation; but here, I was left genuinely in need of explanations. Beyond the mysteries, the longterm experience of Humans and Solaris clearly had much left to accomplish, and it would have been fascinating to see what that might entail.
Finally, there are doses of racism and sexism here. The only person of color (a woman) is referred to with an awfully outdated and offensive term, and is described in a “tribal” manner. The only other woman, who is presumed white, is all wrapped up in an inseparable patriarchal bond, and is repeatedly presented as beautiful/pure/dumb/useless/tragic. Good to know going in, I’d think.
I’m glad I read this but don’t see myself returning to it. At times very enjoyable, at others as thick as the sludge on Solaris itself, it was a mixed bag with mixed returns. Still, it did its job in making me wonder at the stars a little longer every time I look up.