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Title: The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem ISBN: 0-15-602759-3 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 16 December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.53 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Lem Should Get Nobel for Literature (but won't)
Comment: First, the Cyberiad is an absolute hoot. It works on the highest literary levels with humor and insight. My only complaint is that Lem didn't write more of these cyber fables (I've got almost everything he's written that's been translated over the years and he's written quite a lot in this vein and IT IS NOT ENOUGH - I WANT MORE! ). He's probably most famous for his book Solaris which I found an intriguing bore (personal taste only and could be a bad translation since I don't read in his native Polish). People who read Solaris as their first Lem book will find little in common with the Cyberiad. I avoided Lem for years because I pegged him as the author of Solaris and didn't realize what a virtuoso author he was. He will never win the Nobel because he's been stamped as a "Science Fiction" writer, sort of like Vonnegut, Le Guin, and Philip K. Dick are/were. He's different from all of them ... Read Solaris, The Invincible, and the Cyberiad and you'll see the range of his skills (good and bad). An aside: I was astounded when my 9 year old picked up the Cyberiad and read it (obviously not getting a lot of the finer points) and then asked if he could find more books about Trurl and friends. He thought it was one of the funniest things he's read (and he likes the Harry Potter books also). Now, I wouldn't recommend Lem to most 9 year olds ...
Rating: 4
Summary: Not so much science-fiction as science-satire...
Comment: ...and not so much a novel as a collection of
short stories, but most concerning the same two
characters: rival inventors/scientists Trurl and
Klapaucius. As such, it's a pretty scattershot
collection; some stories being totally compelling,
others leaving me bored and confused. Lem is a
master of satirizing science (and scientific dogma)
in its many forms. He also seems to revel in his
own cleverness sometimes, which can be a bit over-
bearing, but since he really IS clever most of the
time, it's almost justified. Would I re-read it?
Yes, but now I know the parts I'd prefer to skip
over. Would I recommend it to others? Yes, but others
would probably enjoy it more than I did (not that
I didn't enjoy it). A special tip of the hat to
translator Michael Kandel, he did a great job.
Rating: 4
Summary: "Fables for the cybernetic age"
Comment: The Cyberiad is more than just "a brilliantly funny collection of stories for the next age," as the back cover claims. The tales within blend philosophy, mathematics, and computer science with cruel kings, pugnacious pirates, and improbable dragons. They chronicle the exploits of the robots Trurl and Klapaucius, renowned constructors who offer their services to the robot kings that rule the robot kingdoms comprising their universe. So great is their knowledge of the universe that they build a royal advisor that never errs, a perfect mechanical poet, a machine that can model anything in existence, and a machine that can fabricate anything beginning with the letter 'n'. Of course, their creations don't always work out quite the way they hope, but in edifying and entertaining ways. This combination of fanciful adventure and academia, often laced with delightfully clever wordplay, makes the Cyberiad well worth reading.
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Title: The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy by Stanislaw Lem ISBN: 0156340402 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 October, 1985 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem, Michael Kandel ISBN: 0810117312 Publisher: Northwestern University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.37 |
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Title: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, Joanna Kilmartin, Steve Cox ISBN: 0156027607 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem, Christine Rose, Adele Kandel ISBN: 0156585855 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1986 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem ISBN: 0156306301 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1988 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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