Although Solaris is science fiction, and mainly psychological, it is a beautifully written love story.
Kris Kelvin has gone to station Solaris to find out why there has been no communication from the three scientists working there. When he arrives, one scientist is dead, one won’t leave his room and the other is a paranoid mess.
The ocean of Solaris has created near perfected images from the subconscious of the sleeping scientists and these ‘visitors’ won’t leave them alone.
Kelvin’s visitor is his dead wife Rheya, who had committed suicide a few years before, but as Rheya begins to question her own existence, Kelvin finds himself falling in love with her.
The landscape of Solaris which Lem has created is fascinating, with Symmetriods and Assymetriods, Mimoids etc it’s all very believable and you almost wish it all really did exist.
Translated from the original Polish, I really enjoyed it. I just wish there could be a faithful translation to the screen. One that would focus on the science fiction as well as the love story.
Didn't you like Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris?
ReplyDeleteI saw it many years ago and it didn't do much for me, but now I have read the book and I really should give it another go,now I'm older I may feel differently about it :)
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