Stanisław Lem - Forum
English => Forum in English => Wątek zaczęty przez: def w Grudnia 08, 2005, 12:55:21 am
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I need something good to read does anyone know any good books by Stanislaw Lem.
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Every one of them is good. You only get to distinguish between good and even better ones.
Tell us what you've already read, then we talk business... :-X
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I've read 'His masters voice', 'Solaris' and 'The Futurological congress; from the memoirs of Ijon Titchy'.
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Well then, try Star Diaries, it's a collection of Ijon Tichy's adventures. Fantastic book, and it is widely available in English.
Cheers.
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Alright thanks very much
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I would suggest starting with the 'Invincible' and then the stories about Pirx and only then 'Solaris'.
Starting with 'Solaris' may be too abrupt for people who have never read Lem.
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Well but as we can see, def has already had Solaris breakfast-style.
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What preparation is needed to read Solaris? Why not read it for breakfast and start with one of the best?
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Well I think that to truly appreciate Lem's genious you should gradually get used to his style.
Of course, this is just a thought, as I proceeded this way (accidently not by an advice) and I was greatly impressed by 'Solaris'.
After reading Lem's fiction a read his philosophy essays. I have come to admire Stanislaw Lem, and I think that it wouln't have come to be so, had I not read the works in this graduate order.
I may be wrong, but why experiment? :)
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Uhm I take it that You just giving an advice, and that's cool.
I myself can't deny that I've read Lem's books in order that is a realisation of a pure chaos, and honestly, it's not such a big loss as long as You're trying to understand what You read and stuff.
But then of course people who are only at the beginning of their Lem adventure would somehow benefit from applying the order You're advertising... I guess.
And to sum it up: why not experiment, man !
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Though I have usually argued for starting with The Cyberiad, I was rereading Mortal Engines recently and I now think that's a good starting point for people reading in English. (it has the non-Cyberiada Bajki Robotów stories, a Pirx tale, a Tichy reminiscence, and "The Mask". I really admired "The Mask" this time...)
[but possibly I'd think differently if we had Summa!]
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If you don`t realy understand SF stories but good at electronics,mechanics etc., you may start reading S.Lem from "The Cyberiad" and end with"Summa Technologiae".
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Yes, I suppose reading solaris one of the first was a bit arogant. I am going to read some more of Stanislaw Lem before re-reading it.
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As I was a child when I had my first acquaintance with Lem, I was read Ciberiada and Robots's tales by my father.
ha-ha-ha
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All the suggestions above are great. The only thing I would add is try to find English translations by Michael Kandel. He wonderfully translated Cyberiad amongst several others. Unfortunately, many of lems books were translated into English rather poorly.