Reviews

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

mrh26's review against another edition

1.0

I couldn’t finish it even though it was a short book. I found myself re reading entire pages, just couldn’t hold my attention.

hausibeitom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

queerginiawolf's review against another edition

5.0

Ho concluso l’anno vecchio (e iniziato quello nuovo) discutendo con un amico dei limiti della scienza. Solaris ha bussato per caso (era nella mia libreria da mesi) per darmi qualche risposta. Anche se alla fine Lem parla di scienziati per parlare di umani. La storia è semplice: degli uomini cercano di comunicare con qualcosa che non possono comprendere perché totalmente diverso da loro. Un qualcosa che sembra cosciente e senziente in un modo incomprensibile. Che fa cose che non comprendiamo. Che ha accesso a quella vastità immensa che è il nostro inconscio, e quindi terribilmente può conoscerci meglio di noi stessi. Una specie di pacioccoso mostro lovecraftiano (merito la morte per questa frase, lo so).
È stato appagante leggerlo perché l’ho trovato un invito all’umiltà, al dover ammettere: ci saranno sempre cose che non capiremo, punto. In noi e fuori di noi.
La sera di Capodanno il fulcro del discorso era nella rischiosa rottura del dialogo tra arti e scienza (la scienza ha bisogno dell’arte per tenere il cuore aperto; l’arte della scienza come trampolino verso nuove possibilità). Non posso che continuare a sperare in un mondo pieno di Lem (e comunque regalerò Solaris a quel mio amico).

j__davis's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

3.75

pocketsknight's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

millaay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

keyhl12's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

emilykarinpeterson's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

brandon_reads's review against another edition

4.0

7/10

Solaris takes an interesting premise but doesn't do much with it. It has really cool horror themes but never goes deep enough into them. The author harps for far too long on the theoretical science of the entity. The absolute worst parts of this book are the seemingly endless pages of scientific descriptions from textbooks the main character reads multiple times. It's filled with scientific jargon and none of it really matters or is even interesting. The book would be better if it was 50 pages shorter, or if those 50 pages of textbook readings were devoted to plot progression instead.

kataninja's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5