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snarf137's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was such a subtle and mature read. For some reason, it wasn't as gripping as I expected (given that everything about this story is right up my alley), but the concepts were deft and the writing was beautiful. I still can't quite place why this isn't a full 5/5 stars (perhaps it is, with a little more mental digestion), but suffice to say that this story is technically perfect.
Overall a tragic and mesmerizing account of the undescribeable, where the most intimate chambers of the characters' interior lives are laid bear and blur with something that is completely 'other'. Also one of the best descriptions of the truly Alien that I have encountered: the existence of a reasoning being whose motivations are forever beyond human understanding.
"So one must be resigned to being a clock that measures the passage of time, now out of order, now repaired, and whose mechanism generates despair and love as soon as its maker sets it going? Are we to grow used to the idea that every man relives ancient torments, which are all the more profound because they grow comic with repetition? That human existence should repeat itself, well and good, but that it should repeat itself like a hackneyed tune, or a record a drunkard keeps playing as he feeds coins into the jukebox.."
"The beat of our hearts combines, and all at once, out of the surrounding void where nothing exists or can exist, steals a presence of indefinable, unimaginable cruelty. The caress that created us and which wrapped us in a golden cloak becomes the crawling of innumerable fingers. Our white, naked bodies dissolve into a swarm of black creeping things, and I am – we are – a mass of glutinous coiling worms, endless, and in that infinity, no, I am infinite, and I howl soundlessly, begging for death and for an end. But simultaneously I am dispersed in all directions, and my grief expands in a suffering more acute than any waking state, a pervasive, scattered pain piercing the distant blacks and reds, hard as rock and ever-increasing, a mountain of grief visible in the dazzling light of another world."
Overall a tragic and mesmerizing account of the undescribeable, where the most intimate chambers of the characters' interior lives are laid bear and blur with something that is completely 'other'. Also one of the best descriptions of the truly Alien that I have encountered: the existence of a reasoning being whose motivations are forever beyond human understanding.
"So one must be resigned to being a clock that measures the passage of time, now out of order, now repaired, and whose mechanism generates despair and love as soon as its maker sets it going? Are we to grow used to the idea that every man relives ancient torments, which are all the more profound because they grow comic with repetition? That human existence should repeat itself, well and good, but that it should repeat itself like a hackneyed tune, or a record a drunkard keeps playing as he feeds coins into the jukebox.."
"The beat of our hearts combines, and all at once, out of the surrounding void where nothing exists or can exist, steals a presence of indefinable, unimaginable cruelty. The caress that created us and which wrapped us in a golden cloak becomes the crawling of innumerable fingers. Our white, naked bodies dissolve into a swarm of black creeping things, and I am – we are – a mass of glutinous coiling worms, endless, and in that infinity, no, I am infinite, and I howl soundlessly, begging for death and for an end. But simultaneously I am dispersed in all directions, and my grief expands in a suffering more acute than any waking state, a pervasive, scattered pain piercing the distant blacks and reds, hard as rock and ever-increasing, a mountain of grief visible in the dazzling light of another world."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Racism and Alcohol
delidousias's review against another edition
3.75
The beginning of the book was very horror-movie, mystery type, and then became a very different story as the book went on. Lots of made-up science about the planet, which was interesting to read but not very plot-driven. I mostly liked it, but all the female characters did not age well.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
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: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism and Alcohol
esztertth's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Felt like the Arrival meets Jodie Witthaker's Black Mirror episode, The Entire History of You. Or like Crime and Punishment in space.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
jamie_stbr's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
lxndrw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
velarin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
I may revisit this rating later. I finished this book few hours ago and I'm still unsure of how I feel about it. On one hand it is supposed to be a canon of sci-fi literature and I can certainly see why. But on the other hand it was a tedious read and I don't know if my high praise is not blurred by nostalgia.
About the merits. It's very skilfully crafted speculation on the human condition, on our curiosity, the need to find our place in the universe. The philosophical digressions are the core strength of Lem's book. It's very refreshing to see fiction touching the theme of "first contact", where the alien is not just a human analogue but a being beyond our comprehension. The atmosphere is impeccable, the reader is faced with constant fear, uncertainty and alienation.
BUT
It's just not THAT good. I really wanted this book to be groundbreaking but it was okay, that's it. The pacing is all over the place. Are you enjoying the plot? Here's a whole chapter of lore dump not connected to the narrative whatsoever. Every now and then the main character just mindlessly decides to skim through scientific journals, often without a cause, taking us on a truly soulless pace-destroying journey.
Also the book is casually racist and misogynistic. I am still mesmerised that it was a compulsory read when I was in junior high school.
The idea behind Solaris? Brilliant. I am hesitant about execution.
About the merits. It's very skilfully crafted speculation on the human condition, on our curiosity, the need to find our place in the universe. The philosophical digressions are the core strength of Lem's book. It's very refreshing to see fiction touching the theme of "first contact", where the alien is not just a human analogue but a being beyond our comprehension. The atmosphere is impeccable, the reader is faced with constant fear, uncertainty and alienation.
BUT
It's just not THAT good. I really wanted this book to be groundbreaking but it was okay, that's it. The pacing is all over the place. Are you enjoying the plot? Here's a whole chapter of lore dump not connected to the narrative whatsoever. Every now and then the main character just mindlessly decides to skim through scientific journals, often without a cause, taking us on a truly soulless pace-destroying journey.
Also the book is casually racist and misogynistic. I am still mesmerised that it was a compulsory read when I was in junior high school.
The idea behind Solaris? Brilliant. I am hesitant about execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Misogyny and Racism
owarcher's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Racism
delusion's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Racism