Stanislaw Lem: Difference between revisions

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Lem had [[Sturgeon's Law|a low opinion of most of science fiction]], and thought that the existence of the [[Sci Fi Ghetto]] was justified, not because the genre is inherently worthless, but because the authors haven't used the possibilities in it. The only contemporary author he considered worthwhile was [[Philip K. Dick]]; Dick did not return his respect, but considered Lem's attacks on American science fiction to be unjustified and insulting. At the same time, he also became a target of Dick's increasing paranoia.<ref>It stemmed from a series of publishings of foreign science-fiction in communist Poland, signatured by Lem - Dick received payment, but in Polish złotys, which he couldn't exchange to dollars. He was already super paranoid, so it added fuel to the fire.</ref> Despite Lem's views, he was defended by [[Ursula K. Le Guin|Ursula LeGuin]] in his conflict with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

==== His works include: ====

=== His works include ===

* ''[[The Astronauts]]'' (Astronauci, 1951)

* ''Eden'' (1959)

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* ''Peace on Earth'' (Pokój na Ziemi, 1987; transl. 1994)

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=== His work includes examples of: ===

== His work includes examples of ==

* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: Quite a lot in his less serious works. Especially ''[[The Star Diaries]]''.

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* [[Crapsack World]]

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: ''Return from the Stars''. And ''The Futurological Congress'' even more so {{spoiler|but it was all a dream.}}

* [[Crazy Cultural Comparison]]: ''Wizja Lokalna'' (''Observation on the Spot'') is a veritable fest of complex and multilevel cultural jokes and comparisons. Craziest of which is the discussion of the mating rituals during his visit to some ~~university -- both~~ sides are thorougly baffled by the experience: locals by the closed and intimate nature of Earthlings reproduction (for them it's [[Bizarre Alien Biology|the most public thing possible]]), and Tichy by the outlandish theories they invent to give this behavior a logical explanation.

* [[Crazy Cultural Comparison]]: ''Wizja Lokalna'' (''Observation on the Spot'') is a veritable fest of complex and multilevel cultural jokes and comparisons. Craziest of which is the discussion of the mating rituals during his visit to some university—both sides are thorougly baffled by the experience: locals by the closed and intimate nature of Earthlings reproduction (for them it's [[Bizarre Alien Biology|the most public thing possible]]), and Tichy by the outlandish theories they invent to give this behavior a logical explanation.

* [[Creator Backlash]]: Against his first published novel ''The Astronauts'' and his even earlier short story "Man from Mars".

* [[Deus Est Machina]]: Golem XIV in the book of the same name.

** Golem ~~XIV--despite~~ expressing itself in human ~~language--experiences~~ a rarified world of pure intellect, so far above and beyond human concerns, it has become a [[Starfish Alien]] in every sense except the physical. One wonders the extent to which the almost painfully-rigorous Lem felt similarly alienated from his fellow human beings (and, therefore, was an ideal writer to depict what a [[Deus Est Machina]] might think about).

** Golem XIV—despite expressing itself in human language—experiences a rarified world of pure intellect, so far above and beyond human concerns, it has become a [[Starfish Alien]] in every sense except the physical. One wonders the extent to which the almost painfully-rigorous Lem felt similarly alienated from his fellow human beings (and, therefore, was an ideal writer to depict what a [[Deus Est Machina]] might think about).

*** In the US, "Golem XIV" appears as a "story" in Lem's [[Real Trailer, Fake Movie|anthology]] ''Imaginary Magnitude''; it takes the form of an article from an academic journal, albeit one eventually given over entirely to the title AI, reproducing its attempt to communicate with humanity. All of the book's contents are in peculiar formats with which Lem was experimenting: such as [[Fictional Document~~|Fictional Documents~~]], or prefaces which can only hint at the nature of the as-yet-unrealized media they purport to be introducing.

*** In the US, "Golem XIV" appears as a "story" in Lem's [[Real Trailer, Fake Movie|anthology]] ''Imaginary Magnitude''; it takes the form of an article from an academic journal, albeit one eventually given over entirely to the title AI, reproducing its attempt to communicate with humanity. All of the book's contents are in peculiar formats with which Lem was experimenting: such as [[Fictional Document]]s, or prefaces which can only hint at the nature of the as-yet-unrealized media they purport to be introducing.

** Also the [[Fun with Acronyms|Digital Engrammic Universal System]] (called the General Operational Device in the original) from ''Fiasco''. [[Lampshade Hanging|One character notes that the acronym was probably intentional]].

* [[Dystopia]]: He portrayed many dystopian societies, and wrote about the impossibility of creating an [[Utopia]].

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** In the twenty-first voyage, Lem creates an alien species having the exact appearance of humans for speculating on the future of bioengineering; throughout the story, [[Lampshade Hanging|he even calls them humans "for convenience"]].

** At the end of the twenty-fifth voyage {{spoiler|a group of [[Starfish Aliens]] living on an extremely hot planet discuss a possibility of an intelligent species living in a lower temperature; the oldest one explains that the existence of such creatures is impossible, and any other sapient species must be exactly like them.}}

* [[Humans Are ~~Bastards~~]]: A recurring theme in his work.

* [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]]: A recurring theme in his work.

** "It's comforting to know, when you think about it, that only man can be a bastard."

* [[Humans Are Cthulhu]]: ''Robot Tales'' treats humans like this.

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* [[Sex Is Evil]]: One of Ijon Tichy's ancestors created a substance that made sex painful, so humanity wouldn't be controlled by carnal desires anymore. When he put it into the water supply of his city, he was lynched.

* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: ''Fiasco''. With a title like that, it's pretty much unavoidable.

** The novel can be described as an in-depth exploration of the concept of "epic fail" ~~-- so~~ many completely avoidable and generally meaningless failures happen there.

** The novel can be described as an in-depth exploration of the concept of "epic fail"—so many completely avoidable and generally meaningless failures happen there.

* [[Space Pirates]]: Ijon Tichy mentions that [[Black Sheep|his grandfather made a committed attempt]], but it didn't pay off.

* [[Starfish Aliens]]: A recurring theme in his works is the portrayal of profoundly alien civilizations, and the impossibility of understanding them.