Reviews

Aden by Stanisław Lem

valodniece's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to love this. And the last quarter of the book, I think I did, because there they finally started getting into the socio-cultural context of the world they were on. But I felt nothing for the main characters - heck, we don't even know most of their names - because we know nothing about them as people. We only know how they react on this new planet, Eden, but that's all. It is really just a glorified scenery description with some observation of native sapiens.

misanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

An adventure story with political overtones. A bit long I’m description and short on action. An interesting story with big ideas. I am going to read more from this author.

witchuniverse's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

leesmyth's review against another edition

3.0

I liked it both as a time capsule of ideas of space travel and technology, and as an exploration of encounters with the truly alien Other. Don't know that I'd read it again though.

knockingonheavansbookstore's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

3.5

gavgav's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

davidet's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

shane_tiernan's review against another edition

3.0

Kind of funny that I read this only a couple months after reading [b:The Invincible|251633|The Invincible|Stanisław Lem|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441700738l/251633._SY75_.jpg|983629], since they're almost the same book. Humans come to unexplored planet and then wonder what the hell is going on exactly.

I found it interesting that he decided to use the character's titles instead of names, so you had "the Captain", "the Doctor" etc... Only once (as far as I remember) did he use a name (one of the guys was named "Henry") and that was only because another character was calling out for him and it would have sounded funny if he was yelling, "Chemist, are you there?" It did help to keep things straight, but removing that extra, "Which one is Henry?" type thing that happens when reading other books with 5 or 6 main characters. Especially since Lem's forte is definitely not characterization.

I'm really hoping the next Lem book I read is totally crazy, because that's what got me reading his stuff in the first place. Though this wasn't bad at all.

tomasz99's review against another edition

4.0

Czytałem ją po Solaris, które bardziej mi się podobało.
Na plus:
➕ 6 bohaterów, ich działania, współpraca
➕ trochę archaiczna-nowoczesna technologia i taki sam język
➕ ogólne przesłanie powieści
➕ brak antropocentryzmu
➕ jak zauważyłem po przeczytaniu posłowia - zaradni naukowcy nie radzą sobie z Kontaktem
➕ zakończenie ❤️
Na minus:
➖ rozwlekłość. Nie zrozumcie mnie źle - w Solaris też były długie opisy, ale tutaj wynudziłem się niemiara. I nawet liczne nowe obiekty odkrywane przez podróżników nie zachęcały do zbytniego wyobrażania ich sobie
➖ obcy i trochę "geocentryzm"(?) - po wspaniałym Obcym w Solaris (i stacji kosmicznej, układzie dwóch gwiazd) miałem nadzieję na kontynuację tego w Edenie. Jak się okazuje Eden zupełnie przypadkowo jest Ziemią. To znaczy jest tam tlen, więc bohaterowie radośnie (jak w "Prometeuszu") paradują bez ograniczeń, wodę czerpią z jakichś źródełek, w drugiej połowie autor przyznaje, że dzień jest krótszy niż na Ziemi. Mimo to bohaterowie używają normalnie zegarków i normalnie 24-godzinnego czasu (co w sumie można jakoś racjonalnie wyjaśnić, ale przez pierwszą połowę raziło).
➖ film w aparacie - jak pisałem wyżej, zaliczyłbym to do plusów, ale jednak trochę rzuca się w oczy ;)
➖ nudny środek - jak ktoś pisał wcześniej - wystarczyłby sam początek i wspaniały koniec.
Podsumowując - warto się "przemęczyć" przez środek choćby po to, by poznać zakończenie :) No i jednak to jest Lem!

angie_t's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0