Age of Harey

[Jaak]

How old was Harey when she started to live with Kris?

[Terminus]

About twenty. I'm not familiar with english translation, but in polish original of the book there is a chapter where Kris sees ''Gibarian'' (a mimoid) , who tells about Harey "She will always be twenty years old".

[dzi]

I'd bet she was 18! But I'm not sure if it was at the time they met or at the time she died. But it was definitelly (well, at least as I remember) said in some place in text that she was 18.

[Terminus]

It's hard to check it in the paper version, but I also own "Solaris" preprint in pdf (guess how I got it), and I performed a search there. Word "eighteen" doesn't occure even one time. Whereas word "twenty" does, and it's exactly in the line that I cited above.
Searching for the word "year(s)" can also give interesting results, such as that Kelvin traveled to Solaris twelve years after Harey's death.

So I welcome the bet, she was 20.

[dzi]

damn, I owe You

[Jaak]

I'd bet she was 18! But I'm not sure if it was at the time they met or at the time she died. But it was definitelly (well, at least as I remember) said in some place in text that she was 18.

I think that in the scene Kris wakes up to describe her, he tells that she should have been 29, but is still 19 because she died at that age. Is it the same in your versions?

[dzi]

I belive it's same... Terminus, could You search the "digital" version for "nineteen"?

[Terminus]

Ok I checked for 'nineteen' and found it.  Jaak is right: there is a scene when Kris recalls Harey before she died; saying that she was nineteen at the time.  I admit I haven't found this scene before.

So she was nineteen. This must be on Gibarian's mind when he says "Twenty".  My mistake. But, to conclude things, 19 and 20 is not that much difference.

Either way we can see, that in Sodenbergh's version Harey looks much older than 19. In Tarkovski's movie she's a bit younger, but still looks older than 19. (I'm not telling that I care about what she looks like in the movies, it's just an interesting fact.)

Cheers

[Jaak]

OK. When did Harey and Kris start to live together?

In a scene where Kris talks to a colleague about their backstory, I think it was Sartorius (Snaut was  the one who did not want to meet, right?), he tells that Harey had implied the threat of suicide, not explicitly, but he understood it because they had lived together for years.

Then how old was Harey when she started to live with Kris?

[Terminus]

Yes, interesting. She must have been even younger than 18... Strange relationship

[Jaak]

This reminded me of another novel. In the Return from the Stars, it is mentioned that women no longer care about successful men - all that matters is youth.

It goes on to mention that the hero, a healthy if tired 40-year-old, looks like a 100-year-old who has ben rejuvenated.

If women go strictly after youth and disregard success and social status, I wonder how young men/boys they go after.

[wetal]

Hari or Harey is just a character of Solaris she loved Kris and commited suicide. She stands out as a recollection of Kris`s mind materialized by RED OCEAN. It doesn`t realy matter how old the characters were cause Shakespeare`s Romeo and Jouliet were beloved children with tragic fate.

[dzi]

Well it does matter for me for example

[Terminus]

If women go strictly after youth and disregard success and social status, I wonder how young men/boys they go after.

Haha, that's good. Probably they prefer ones below 100

[Terminus]

Hari or Harey is just a character of Solaris ...

... and Romeo & Juliet were just characters from Shakespeare's drama; that's no explanation.

We are interested in book's characters not because they are or are not real. We just ask: what would it be like, if it all was for real. From that point of view; Harey's age does count, at least it's not meaningless (of course I understand it's not essential. Nobody claims it is! It's just a curiosity.).