Stanislaw Lem is dead!I learned from Mr.Nizz and a BBC report that Stanislaw Lem, the greatest SF writer in the Eastern Bloc besides Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, is dead. I am saddened. For me, Stanislaw Lem has been the science fiction writer as well as a writer for all humanity. A literary giant has died.
Lem is not concerned merely with rocketships and robots, rather, his concerns, in the form of parables and novels are often ontological, universal and philosophical with the New York Times once describing him as 'a polymath and a virtuoso storyteller and stylist'. In some ways, Lem's playful timeless parables can be compared to Jorge Luis Borges.
I recall browsing at a small independent bookstore in Stockton in California one cold, late evening in the mid-eighties and discovering the books of Lem. 'The Cyberiad'*, 'Tales of Pirx the Pilot', 'His Master's Voice', 'The Star Diaries', 'Memoirs of a Space Traveller' and more. They were intriguing books, very much unlike the formulaic trash I was reading then (ie Asimov's Foundation trilogy, Frank Herbert's Dune series...)
This piece of news will take some time to sink in despite the fact that Lem has not produced any work for a decade or so.
*As you can tell, my email address for the last decade is named in honour of this book.
13 comments:
No need to be sad - Revel in his legacy of humour and brilliance!
I think he has a lot to thank his translators for. The wit and characterisation (mostly) survived in the few Lem books I had the pleasure to read.
You are right. Michael Kandel has done him great justice. Kandel has been able to express the difficult philosophical discourses well in his translations. For that, I'm grateful.
As you have mentioned, the wit and characterisation were translated across very well.
There were a few less skilful translators as we know...
I agree with drifand (as I say in my blog, too). I'm coming to a place in my life where many of the relevant inspirations of my youth are dying off. I can either be said about it or celebrate a life lived well.
Walt
aka Mr. Nizz
er... SAD, not said. Curse blogger for not allowing the capability to edit your own comments!
The name is very familiar, but I find that I have not read him (addict of HG Wells instead). Sounds very good - what is your recommend?
Mister Nizz, yes, I think a lot of the writers we have read are either dead or dying. Philip K. Dick, Heinlein and more.
Johnnynorms, it is extremely hard to recommend something as his works are so diverse. In reality, he is hardly science fiction, being mostly of a philosophical bent? I don't know. You would check his website: http://www.lem.pl
If you are looking for something accessible, 'The Cyberiad' may be good. 'The Star Diaries' and 'The Futurological Congress'.
For series SF and sentience, you may want to read 'Solaris' and 'Pirx the Pilot'.
For crime and perhaps philosophy, try 'The Investigation'.
It's really hard to describe Lem. It is akin to reading Jorge Luis Borges or Italo Calvino.
http//www.lem.pl is a good link, I found a useful overview of his works. I think I'll go for the obvious, and get hold of a copy of Solaris.
While Lem is generally popular in Russia and Eastern Europe, I must warn that it is an acquired taste within the Anglo-Saxon world, ie English-speaking world.
The translations do do Lem a lot of justice as he was fortunate to have the services of great translators like Michael Kandel.
Especially when he expressed a lot of ontological and cosmological concepts.
Be warned. Lem is not for everyone.
His work can be an intellectual exercise. A playful at that...
Your comment only intrigues me the more. I've recently finished "If on a Winter's night a traveller..." and loved it. Now might be a good time to get a Lem out of the library. It might have to be "A Perfect Vacuum", and I see it's tr. Kandel. Most of the others in stock are at the library I'm not calling in tomorrow!
ps. Did you ever struggle through any Olaf Stapledon?
Yes, I struggled through Stapledon, thus,I have read parts of 'Starmaker', 'Last and First Men'. I can't claim to have finished them! I haven't had the opportunity to read 'Last Men in London' and 'Sirius'. I am awe-struck by Stapledon. When I was in university in California in the eighties, an Englishman who was the bookseller at a bookstore introduced Stapledon. This concepts, his expression defies belief. Even today, I can't see anything that surpasses him.
Then again, there is the old 'A Voyage to Arcturus' which I have been meaning to read and 'The Night Land'. Both of these promised mind-bending images. And they are books from the same era. 'The Night Land' is 1912 if I recall. The other one is probably 1920s-1930s like Stapledon's works.
I hope you are aware that 'A Perfect Vacuum' are a set of book reviews of nonexistent books, in a way, it is analogous to Calvino's work. They are playful as some of the reviews describe books that cannot conceivably be written. It's an intellectual exercise. Playful...
Lem has another that describes three impossible books. 'A Human Minute'. That thin book is quite clever.
How did you find Stapledon?
I am delaying my sip of Lem until I visit the library with more choice of his works.
Stapledon had me boggled of mind, his concept was enormously huge, but his writing was dry and therefore took ages to consume. I read Last and First Men, and at a time when young enough to obstinately and tenaciously keep reading it, but too young to get enough of the ideas out of it.
I am now very much enjoying "The Cyberiad" - best of the bunch the librarian pulled out of reserve stock for me. 70s edition with whimsical robot illustrations.
Stapledon is mind-blowing. I didn't finish the book. I was too young (as well!) twenty years ago.
The whimsical robot drawings are still present in the current editions.
Oh, you may want to try a short novel like 'The Futurological Congress'.
Post a Comment