Solaris

The Definitive Edition

By: Stanislaw Lem, Bill Johnston - translator

Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

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)

Worth a listen/read

As a sci-fi junky I somehow never got around to reading this but have always seen it recommended and talked about. I love first contact stories and Solaris doesn’t disappoint in delivering that otherworldly unknowable alien that is so different from humans. The concept is genius and overall I enjoyed the story. The only bad thing I can say is there are quite a bit of over drawn out scientific explanations and backstory. If you love first contact books and can get through that then you will enjoy this book.

Classic

Read well. I have always loved this book. Love that I can reread by listening.

Good story

Ending was expected. loved the narrators. not sure if I could have handled all the long narrated sections with out them

Pretty good

The narrator was outstanding!! The story is dated - written by someone taking too much acid.

An interesting book with a terrible ending

This feels like it was the center section of a longer novel. The book jumps right into the meat of everything and ends with no resolution to anything.

Great Translation of an SF Classic

You don't have to be a big SF fan to enjoy this book, but it will certainly help you appreciate how thoughtful it is. Solaris marries an interesting speculative concept--an alien we cannot even begin to understand or communicate with--to an interesting dramatic device, the manifestation of dead loved ones from the traumas in the scientists' memories. The scientists inability to come to terms with their inner torments compliments and amplifies their inability to render the living planet Solaris in terms understandable (and exploitable) to human science and philosophy. There is a genuine tenderness to the book as Kelvin tries to come to grips with how to treat this manifestation of his dead lover: as a hallucination, as a freak, as the real woman, or as someone different entirely? That said, Lem is not much of a romance writer, so that parts lacks some depth, and the prose can drag when Lem has the protagonist pick up a book and give the reader a primer on the scientific literature on Solaris to date. Still, it's core speculative concept and the tension it creates when it is complimented by the more emotional dramatic element is very engaging and well crafted in character-driven scenes that sustain an air of mystery and inner turmoil which keeps the narrative moving. Solaris is a book of its time and its a translation from another language and culture; it drags in places and there are awkward moments, but its got brains and a heart and it's been engaging readers, authors, and critics for over half a century. It's a book that poses an important question: how can we understand what's out there if we can't even understand and deal with our own demons? This translation was clearly done with care and close attentiveness to the author's intent. It's REALLY how Solaris should be experienced. Alessandro Juliani's narration is AMAZING and adds greatly to the overall value of the audiobook. I hope to hear him do more narration in the future.

Interesting companion to Tarkovsky's film

After having seen the film, "Solaris," from Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky several times, I had been looking for the novel upon which it was based. Instead I listened to the Audible version -- only my second audiobook experience. I see now why Lem decried the film (and the subsequent American remake). The story as written is not "love in outer space" (Lem's phrase), as the films (particularly the American version) would have one believe. Instead it is a meditation on how humans try to understand, scientifically, that which cannot be understood.

Not being a big fan of science fiction, I was hesitant to give this title a go. I'm glad I did. Lem has written one of the most intelligent novels in any genre. The narration by Juliani was superb. Even the voice he gives Hari -- the lone female in the story -- is believable and heartfelt.

Overall, "Solaris" is a highly recommended choice for a thought-provoking novel which, despite its setting in deep space, is not your standard science fiction tale.

Amazing & evocative story

What made the experience of listening to Solaris the most enjoyable?

Excellent story - Johnston has done a remarkable job in translating this sci-fi and philosophical masterpiece. The performance is top notch as well, making this easily one of the best and most enjoyable books I've purchased from Audible.

Read this forever ago, you really brought it to li

Love the story, performance, and memories. I do hate to report there was, is a recording glitch early in the story. Not bad enough to take too much away, but I felt I should report it. It's early, maybe 1/2 hour in. Overall 5 stars

Beautiful, haunting, human

If you could sum up Solaris in three words, what would they be?

Psychologically profound sci-fi

Any additional comments?

The perfection of this work lies in its integration of scientific logic with ordinary human feeling. I read this book after seeing the recent film; without expecting to love it, I found I couldn't stop listening. Unlike the film, the book dwells on the mechanics of Solaris as well as the psychology of the station inhabitants, so it's a far richer experience.

Anyone expecting a thrills-per-minute hair-raising ride will be disappointed, but for readers who love genuine exploration, this beautiful novel works on all levels, and is the most seamless integration of the human condition (pain, loss, desire) with the scientific condition (trial, error, knowledge) I've ever found. Strange, haunting, highly recommended.