Psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives on a research station orbiting Solaris to study an extraterrestrial intelligence, which takes the form of a vast ocean. But his fellow scientists appear to be losing their grip on reality, plagued by physical manifestations of their repressed memories. When Kelvin’s long-dead girlfriend suddenly reappears, he is forced to confront the pain of his past while living a future that never was.
Is this sentient ocean a massive neural center seeing into the deepest recesses of human minds and then bringing their dreams to life? If so, why?
Long considered a classic, Solaris serves as a canvas for discussion of our mind’s limitations and the nature of cognition.
“A virtuoso storyteller… Stanisław Lem’s imagination is so powerful and pure that no matter what world he creates it is immediately convincing because of its concreteness and plentitude, the intimacy and authority with which it is occupied... read Lem for yourself. He is a major writer, and one of the deep spirits of our age.” —The NY Times
“A fantastic book.” —Steven Soderbergh, filmmaker
“[Lem’s] writing [has] a unique place on a Venn diagram in which the natural sciences, philosophy, and literature shade into one another with mutually intensifying vividness and fascination.” —The New Yorker
“A novel that makes you reevaluate the nature of intelligence itself.” —Anne McCaffrey, noted author
Note: The direct Polish-to-English translation by Bill Johnston is the one that is recommended. The Kilmartin-Cox translation which was translated into English from a French translation is generally considered second-rate. Even the author himself, who read English fluently, repeatedly voiced his disappointment about the Kilmartin-Cox translation.
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