Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
The novel is a psychological exploration of human limitations and failures set against the backdrop of space exploration. When a psychologist arrives at a research station orbiting a distant planet covered entirely by a sentient ocean, he discovers the crew in disarray, haunted by physical manifestations of their subconscious fears and desires. As he grapples with the ocean's inscrutable nature and its unsettling ability to materialize human thoughts, he is forced to confront his own guilt and regret, embodied by the apparition of his deceased wife. The story is a philosophical meditation on the impossibility of truly understanding alien intelligence and the painful isolation of the human condition.
The 424th greatest book of all time
- Published
- 1961
- Nationality
- Polish
- Type
- Fiction
- Pages
- 190-300
- Words
- 72,000
- Original Language
- Polish
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This book is on the following lists:
- 53rd on Top 200 Science Fiction Books (Pre-2000) (Sci-Fi Lists)
- 72nd on 100 Best Novels, in Translation, Since 1900 (CounterPunch)
- 154th on Our Users' Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- The 50 Best Sci-Fi Books for Every Kind of Reader (Men's Health)
- 100 Main Fantasy and Science-Fiction Books (www.mirf.ru (Russian))
- 50 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels That Everyone Should Read (Flavor Wire)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- The 100 Best Science Fiction Books of All Time (Tor)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- Zeit Literaturkanon (https://www.librarything.com/award/335/ZEIT-Literaturkanon)