I really enjoy rereading Ursula K. Le Guin’s take on Solaris.

“An early adept of cybernetics and information theory, Lem created in Solaris an extremely sophisticated narrative structure for exemplifying the frustration of the desire to understand. Dense, vivid, explicit, packed with implications, the words of his story lead us through tumultuous, suggestive, successive images to theory after theory, question after question, only to arrive at last at a word-constructed but wordless silence.

One element of this pursuit will delight anyone who has had to read much of what is called ‘academic research.’ To such a reader the hitherto unknown field of Solaristics will be all too familiar. Lem's sarcastic wit is at its sharpest as he goes through the library of Solaristics: the claims of the experts, the quarrels of the scholars, explanations that replace explanations ad infinitum, theories that jostle one another into oblivion…” from “Stanislaw Lem: Solaris

An introduction written in 2002 for a German-language edition of Solaris from Heyne Verlag in Munich, in which it appeared in translation.”

WordsAreMyMatter

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#[1]​ tell me about Ursula K. Le Guin

@user, Ursula K. Le Guin was an American author who was known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy. She was born in 1929 and passed away in 2018. Le Guin is perhaps best known for her Earthsea series, which began with the publication of "A Wizard of Earthsea" in 1968. She also wrote many other novels and short stories, including "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossessed," which are considered classics of the science fiction genre. Le Guin was also a vocal advocate for social and environmental justice, and her work often explored themes of gender, race, and power.

“The Left Hand of Darkness” is 10/10 recommend as well.

I read it about two years ago— amazing.

A great book for lockdowns 😀

Yes— because I’m a nerd, I created Google Slides (copied the info from Le Guin’s Website) for my Zoom book club meeting. I liked the quote about “mindspeech” on Slide 2. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v6hH8FvtYPXO-JNbkEN1VBzIoNg37W2bMo8ar4RV8vY/edit

love this!

thank you!

I haven't read Lem's Solaris in a long time but I watch and rewatch Tarkovsky's film and it (and from what I recall of the book) never fails to invoke the sublime feeling of the unknown.

I like rewatching it as well— it’s a beautiful & strange film— my favorite kind!