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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.5
I started listening to this audiobook alongside the paperback that I was given by my brother about 20 years ago. The translation is different and it was kind of fun until I gave up because my eyes were causing me issues (the reason I predominantly listen to Audiobooks). Each paragraph meant basically the same thing, but the wording was slightly different, which felt a bit like reading subtitles when they don't quite match how I interpret the original language. Fun.. but a bit exhausting.
Out in the vastness of space there is most likely intelligent life, and this is the story of what happens when humans encounter alien life so vast and different to our own that communicating with it, or even being noticed by it, becomes a spur for entirely new fields of science and philosophy. The premise of the plot is that instead of life developing, pluralising, and leaving the ocean, it has stayed in the ocean and become it, organising into what appears to act like one ever-seething organism. This organism extrudes matter from itself in forms that scientists have been observing for decades, trying to make sense of the ever changing landscape.
When Kris Kelvin lands on Solaris, only to be told that his once mentor has recently died, he has to figure out what is going on. When he runs into another person, who should not be there, walking in the corridor, he starts to understand the warning of his fellow who begged him not to engage with any strangers.
This story is at times spooky, horrific and maddening, and lumbers at a frustrating pace through hypotheses and tests, as the scientists try to figure out the shapes and human forms that the planet is making for them, that (in Bradbury-esque fashion) seem to be patterned on their own deepest memories. Together they try to overcome their own stress and cabin-fever, and strive to understand the nature of, and perhaps communicate with, the life-form of the planet.
In the discussion of morality, spirituality and godforms, it doesn't escape me that they speak of humans being limited by our animal perceptions of the environment around us, so that perhaps the only type of life we can truly communicate with has to be human-like. Is the life on Solaris trying to interact with humans by sending humanlike synthetic things, or are we again in a trap of anthropomorphising and presuming that our own mythologies are fact?..
Out in the vastness of space there is most likely intelligent life, and this is the story of what happens when humans encounter alien life so vast and different to our own that communicating with it, or even being noticed by it, becomes a spur for entirely new fields of science and philosophy. The premise of the plot is that instead of life developing, pluralising, and leaving the ocean, it has stayed in the ocean and become it, organising into what appears to act like one ever-seething organism. This organism extrudes matter from itself in forms that scientists have been observing for decades, trying to make sense of the ever changing landscape.
When Kris Kelvin lands on Solaris, only to be told that his once mentor has recently died, he has to figure out what is going on. When he runs into another person, who should not be there, walking in the corridor, he starts to understand the warning of his fellow who begged him not to engage with any strangers.
This story is at times spooky, horrific and maddening, and lumbers at a frustrating pace through hypotheses and tests, as the scientists try to figure out the shapes and human forms that the planet is making for them, that (in Bradbury-esque fashion) seem to be patterned on their own deepest memories. Together they try to overcome their own stress and cabin-fever, and strive to understand the nature of, and perhaps communicate with, the life-form of the planet.
In the discussion of morality, spirituality and godforms, it doesn't escape me that they speak of humans being limited by our animal perceptions of the environment around us, so that perhaps the only type of life we can truly communicate with has to be human-like. Is the life on Solaris trying to interact with humans by sending humanlike synthetic things, or are we again in a trap of anthropomorphising and presuming that our own mythologies are fact?..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol and Sexism
petitemass15's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death
nere's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Monday, August 1, 2022 (reread)
"We see ourselves as Knights of the Holy Contact. That’s another falsity. We’re not searching for anything except people. We don’t need other worlds. We need mirrors.”
Summary & a note on translation
Solaris is as much psychological horror as it is science fiction and an introspective look at human space colonization. It’s claustrophobic, engrossing, and poetic. I can see why many might trifle or even outright dislike this book if it’s picked up with the wrong expectations. Full disclosure, despite this being science fiction this is not an explosive, action-packed, robot-fighting novel brought to an earth-shattering climax. This is a simmering slow-burn of a thing, that starts slow and only gets slower. (Despite this, I still cling to every word.) Kris Kelvin is a psychologist who lands on the fictional planet of Solaris from Earth. He arrives to a sparse crew and an eerie situation—the mystery of which the reader, as well as Kelvin, are left to uncover in tandem. I won’t say much else since I feel it is better to discover it on your own.
Translations, I think, are only as good as their translators and unfortunately, the only English translation that is widely available for Solaris at the moment was translated from Polish to French and then English. As you can imagine, it results in a very stunted work losing much of the poeticism and linguistic intent of the original. If you can manage to get your hands on it, I highly suggest the only other English translation in existence currently: Solaris by Stanisław Lem, translated by Bill Johnston (2011). It’s a direct-to-English translation and though I don’t know a lick of Polish, in the brief comparison I did between the French translation and the Johnston one, the difference is stark. And for the better.
“Much is lost when a book is re-translated from an intermediary translation into English, but I’m shocked at the number of places where text was omitted, added, or changed in the 1970 version,” said Johnston. “Lem’s characteristic semi-philosophical, semi-technical language is also capable of flights of poetic fancy and brilliant linguistic creativity, for example in the names of the structures that arise on the surface of Solaris. I believe this new translation restores Lem’s original meaning to his seminal work.” (source: The Guardian)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Death
trazac's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I very much liked this book. I loved the madness of the conversations and the human like reactions to what was happening. It's hard to get into, and the middle of the book is very dense, but it's an interesting view of humanity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Medical content
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