Solaris [Kindle Edition]

As the story begins, Kris Kelvin, a psychologist, is headed to the planet Solaris, a planet that he has studied before. He is to dock with the 3-man orbiting space station above the planet. The unique thing about Solaris is that it appears sentient, but not in any way that human beings can understand. At one time it was a pressing issue to make contact with this planet organism but after decades of trying no real success has been achieved and most scientists have given up. Solaris has shown no response to repeated efforts to communicate with it. Kris doesn't expect that anything has changed but he soon finds out that contact has been made.

When he arrives he soon learns that one of the crew members has died and that another has locked himself in his room and refuses to come out and the other speaks in riddles. Then, his dead wife shows up, as real and material as the flesh and blood he remembers. Somehow, Solaris is dragging figures from their memory and making simulations that come to life in the real world. The question is why?

I loved this book. It was one of the best science fiction books that I have ever read and the first book in a long time that I have given 5 stars to. Much as the novel of 2001 gave a better understanding of its own movie experience, so too does this novel. There is much more of a history to the planet in the novel of Solaris than they had time to cover in the movie, which seemed to be trapped into making a romance. The simulated human beings in the novel are much more dangerous because they have super human strength and at one point, Kris' wife rips a locked metal door off its hinges in an effort to get to him. In the book, there was a lot more sense of suspense and menace lurking throughout. The writing in this translation is beautiful, ranging from the philosophical to the purely expositioning, and all points in between, from love to fear to wonder.

One of the things that Lem puts forth in the book is that Mankind does not TRULY want to find any aliens in the universe. He wants to see only reflections of himself because if aliens are really "alien" how could we comprehend them? Therefore, Lem sees the scientists in the book as failures in that they try to comprehend the behavior of Solaris by comparing it to humanity. If something is truly alien, we cannot predict or hypothesize why it acts the way it does. It is alien. I think this was probably the reason why the movie did so bad. Humans want explanation. They want to be able to go, "Solaris is doing that because it is lonely. It has emotions just like me" or something to this effect.

Another theme taken up by the book is the nature of identity. What really makes us a person, a human being? Kris' wife at the start does not know that she is an alien construct. If she thinks she is his wife, does that make her that person, even if she only has the memories? This becomes a mighty struggle in that Kris begins to believe he is being given a second chance to make the relationship work.

Once again, this was a great novel, and should be sought whether you have seen the movie or not. It will be a great experience either way.

This is science-fiction at it's best, boundary exploration. Epistemological and metaphysical inquiry in the guise of fiction. The beauty of Lem's work is in his thorough exploration of profound questions like, "What does it mean to be human?". He works from an oblique angle by plumbing the depths of premises like, "What if a planet were actually a giant alien living being that wished to communicate with humans who landed on it?", and, "How do two completely different life forms actually go about communicating?" He asserts that perhaps man doesn't really want to explore the universe and communicate with other life forms so much as he simply wants to expand "humanity" out to the cosmos indefinitely. A narcissistic solipsism at the level of species. Wow.

Consider this: At one point, the planet Solaris creates a living being from the memory of the protagonist, a psychologist, for the purpose of communicating with him. That the being is his dead wife who committed suicide years earlier and that he feels responsible for not being able to save her only serves to complicate things wonderfully. It brings about even more profound questions. Are we more than just our memory? And if so, when does a being created by another being become truly autonomous? There are only a small number of science-fiction writers capable of tackling this kind of material, and fewer still that do it well.

Lem is Polish with an IQ purportedly in the 180's. Apparently, he doesn't write his novels in his native tongue, but in French and German. His material is then translated into English, and there's the rub that explains only four stars. At times, the translation can be stiff. Think stereo instructions. But the sheer originality and weight of ideas largely overcomes the problem.

This novel stimulated tremendous introspection and reflection in me. IMO that's what the best of the best fiction does. It makes you think and experience a genuine sense of Wonder again.
Enjoy!