Solaris (1961) By Stanisław Lem

"Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed."

In truth, I had little knowledge of what to expect from this Stanisław Lem classic of mid-20th Century sci-fi. I knew of cinematic adaptations and relative praise of its contents, but that was all. I was compelled to read it by its intriguing blurb, more than anything else.

"We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is."

It has elements of hard science fiction, which give the effect of realism, mixed in with the fantastical, which creates true mystery and suspense for the reader, although it does so in a more ambient, atmospheric way, rather than of abject horror, for example. On the contrary, it was a rather peaceful read.

"It was not possible to think except with one’s brain, no one could stand outside himself in order to check the functioning of his inner processes."

It was also, by my standards, a fairly quick and easy read. I am certainly a sloe reader, but I was able to traverse the pages of this book in a matter of days. The aforementioned elements of hard sci-fi were the only aspects which slowed me down at all, and only due to the scientific nature of the relevant chapters, which read as a thesis or essay does, which is not to imply disinterest, far from it; it was fascinating.

"We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there are times when we think pretty well of ourselves. And yet, if we examine it more closely, our enthusiasm turns out to be all a sham. We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos."

The science and worldbuilding Lem provides is magnificently compelling and complex. He postulates believable and enthralling hypotheses, and prolificates theories of physiological, psychological and philosophical origins - blending scientific jesticulations with his own unique concoction of mystical fantasy.

"The fate of a single man can be rich with significance, that of a few hundred less so, but the history of thousands and millions of men does not mean anything at all, in any adequate sense of the word."

I was absorbed into Lem's thought provoking and enigmatic story. His ability to encapsulate so much personality and peculiarity into his chosen setting was marvellous - it became a character in its own right, as I'm sure he intended. It has a familiarity and a complete alienness to it that is remarkably alluring.

"The night stared me in the face, amorphous, blind, infinite, without frontiers. Not a single start relieved the darkness behind the glass."

Solaris is an engrossing and mysterious story, which endeavours to explore the nature of humanity, trauma, philosophy, space travel, exploration, identity, reality, science and even religion. It is as conceptually well-formed as it is written, and provides readers with reams of thought and theory to explore at their leisure.

"I did not know what achievements, what mockery, even what tortures still awaited me. I knew nothing, and I persisted in the faith that the time of cruel miracles was not past."