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Solaris  By  cover art

Solaris

By: Stanislaw Lem, Bill Johnston - translator
Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
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Editorial reviews

This fine, new, direct-to-English translation of Solaris allows listeners a new opportunity to marvel at the way Stanisław Lem managed to pack so much into such a compact story. As well as being a gripping sci-fi mystery, his novel stands as a profound meditation on the limitations of knowledge and the impossibility of love, of truly knowing another: how a vast, cold galaxy can exist between two people. In how many relationships does the other turn out to be a projected hologram? At the book's heart is the dark and mysterious planet of Solaris: working out what it means is half the fun of the book. One thing is clear: the possibility it offers of alien contact represents "the hope for redemption", a Schopenhauerian longing to be rid of the endless cycle of want, need, and loss. In one passage, the main character notes with a touch of envy that, "automats that do not share mankind's original sin, and are so innocent that they carry out any command, to the point of destroying themselves". The motivating forces that have traditionally sustained mankind - love, relationships, belonging - are exposed as so much space debris. In a book that contains one of the most tragic love stories in modern literature, the idea of a love more powerful than death is "a lie, not ridiculous but futile".

Alessandro Juliani is a veteran of television's Battlestar Galactica, though here it's a young, pre-parody William Shatner-as-Captain Kirk that his performance sometimes evokes: the same cool, clipped delivery and occasional eccentric choice of emphasis. If he occasionally under-serves the book's dread-filled poetry, his character studies clearly carry the wounds of their earlier lives: at first, his Kris is an opaque tough guy, coolly removed from the unfolding, terrible events, until he touchingly gives way in the end to an overwhelming sense of loss. His performance as Snout is a mini-masterpiece in feral intensity, an intelligence crushed by the immense weight of limbo. As Harey, caught in "apathetic, mindless suspension", he manages to make his voice unfocussed and passive, as if distilling the bottomless sadness of her self-awareness of her own unreality. It's also a strong tribute to his performance that he can carry the pages and pages of philosophising, argumentative theology, and semi-parodic scientific reports without coming across as didactic. What could easily drag the story to a standstill is, in this recording, compellingly conveyed as an essential part of Lem's heartfelt investigation into the painful limitations of human knowledge. — Dafydd Phillips

Publisher's summary

At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation - complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.

In Solaris, Kris Kelvin arrives on an orbiting research station to study the remarkable ocean that covers the planet’s surface. But his fellow scientists appear to be losing their grip on reality, plagued by physical manifestations of their repressed memories. When Kelvin’s long-dead wife suddenly reappears, he is forced to confront the pain of his past - while living a future that never was. Can Kelvin unlock the mystery of Solaris? Does he even want to?

©1961 Stanislaw Lem. Translation © 2011 by Barbara and Tomasz Lem (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Few are [Lem's] peers in poetic expression, in word play, and in imaginative and sophisticated sympathy." (Kurt Vonnegut)
"[Lem was] a giant of mid-20th-century science fiction, in a league with Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick." ( The New York Times)
"Juliani transmits Kelvin’s awe at Solaris’s red and blue dawns and makes his confusion palpable when he awakens one morning to find his long-dead wife seated across the room. Juliani’s performance is top-notch." ( AudioFile)

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What listeners say about Solaris

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Zen and the Art of Space Station Maintenance...

Well read. Not a lively tale. Much of the content was dedicated to character and scene development. Had to plod through that to get to the interesting interactions and events.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

interesting

interesting if a bit dated... telefaxes in the future ... well narrated... more words

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great premise, non-ending

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It's prose was artistic without being artsy. The premise was intriguing the right author could do a lot with it.

Any additional comments?

I wish he could have come up with a better ending. Nothing is resolved, not really. The people are damaged, ocean remains as it was. Not very satisfying.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Clogged

As I listened to this story it difficult to understand where it was going. In the end, it was unsatisfying. The story was clogged with psychological ramblings and many unanswered questions. Perhaps it was the translation or the age in which this was written. The concept was solid but the execution was not.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Life is but a dream

A nice sci-fantasy about a planet that is alive and may/not be sentient, but off-handedly plays with your mind. The chapters meander between actions, dreamlike states, and academic minutia, a process rather like switching TV channels to keep your attention, if not your understanding. I particularly liked the planet's own dreamy activities. The reader is good at switching between voices of anxiety, lovers and mad scientists.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too much detail..

As much as I'd love to love it, I wasn't gripped by the detailed descriptions of the ocean and its quirks. Very imaginative, but with too little progress for my taste. Perhaps I'll hear it again in a couple of years and hope to have more stamina in listening to the many objective, scientific descriptions it contains. Actually I really liked the first third or so.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

It wasn't bad, but it didn't captivate me.

It wasn't bad, but it didn't captivate me. Science fiction buffs should still enjoy it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

incredible piece of sci fi literature

sci fi brilliance. honestly not much happens and many questions are unanswered. still very masterful.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, thought provoking science fiction

While some of the language is dated, the ideas remain fresh. The many seminal details help lay foundation for generations of storytelling to come.

For anyone wishing to have a depth of sci-fi knowledge, this tomb is foundational.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting idea

The premise of the book was good one but it was very slow to develop and kept going off on tangents that for me detracted from the story which was a bit confusing, I’m sure others really enjoy it but I wasn’t too impressed.

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