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Terminus:
If you want linguistically contrived, you should go for Cyberiad or Robot Tales, that's hardcore without limit:)
Honest Annihilator:
That's interesting... I haven't come across Robot Tales before, and can't find anything of that title under a Search. Do you happen to know if that a whole new collection or some alternative name for Cyberiad?
Terminus:
Hi, well sorry for stirring it up to much 8), there's a small mess when communicating Lem books' titles around... So, I meant Bajki Robotów, which I believe is Fables for Robots precisely. See English wiki about this here. It seems that M. Kandel translated most of that little cycle to what had later appeared as Mortal Engines.
It breaks my heart, that speaking different languages, we seem to be doomed to forever remain divided by the barriers of the untranslatable. I get this on a daily basis speaking to Americans, French, Germans, Arabs... Even the Russians, which should be a bit closer to the Polish being Slavic as us:) But no, some tricks do not transport between slangs...
Sufficient to say, that Lem has created in both Cyberiad and Fables a universe of verbal delight, inducing a pure orgy of double- and triple- meanings... in both names, verbs and situational humour. And above all, he has (ab)used to incredible extent the archaic, almost antique-Polish forms of language, mostly used in XVIII century, and mixed it with techno-cyber terminology.
So I'm nut sure what part of it you've already read, but I wholeheartedly advise to read all you can, these books are to kill for.
Honest Annihilator:
Aha! Well, that seems to clear up that little mystery, thanks very much Terminus. I have Mortal Engines, although after reading your enclosure I rather incline towards preferring the title “The Cosmic Carnival of Stanislaw Lem”, also mentioned…
It is interesting that, on top of all the other little nuances which we (English readers) may be missing out on from the original Polish, there are also subtle XVIIIth century derivations of the language also. My, he seems to have been a veritable James Joyce! Michael Kandel seems to be the best of the translators I have come across, but I don’t know whether even he would have taken this factor you mention into account.
--- Cytuj ---It breaks my heart, that speaking different languages, we seem to be doomed to forever remain divided by the barriers of the untranslatable.
--- Koniec cytatu ---
I suppose one day in the future it may get arranged, and we will just have to wait until then (unless we die in the meantime of course). It would be helpful if a Lem aficionado of decades further ahead would read this and step into a time machine s/he may have just invented or is otherwise available, and do something to assist us Here and Now. In Stanislaw’s universe this would be somehow possible, like everything else. (Forget all about time-space continuum paradoxes for the moment - S.L. would have had an answer, I'm sure.) But, till then...
Ritch:
Hi, everybody
Sorry to pump up this old thread but I like to ask something about it.
HAL 9000 dixit: "Do you know only Lem's books, or do you read also other Polish sf-writers? Lem is of course the best one, but we have more writers than one :) Russian writers are also good in sf."
While Lem is my very favorite author, he is the only Polish writer I am familiar with; I would like to know other Polish or Russian authors you can recommend; if possible with works translated to English.
Thank you beforehand, and sorry for my bad English.
Ritch
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