Solaris is a 1961 Polish philosophical science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem.
The book centers upon the themes of the nature of human memory, experience and
the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species.
In probing and examining the oceanic surface of the planet Solaris from a
hovering research station the human scientists are, in turn, being studied
by the sentient planet itself, which probes for and examines the thoughts of
the human beings who are analyzing it. Solaris has the ability to manifest
their secret, guilty concerns in human form, for each scientist to personally
confront. Solaris is one of Lem’s philosophic
explorations of man’s anthropomorphic limitations. First published in Warsaw
in 1961, the 1970 Polish-to-French-to-English translation
of Solaris is the best-known of Lem's English-translated works.
Plot summary Solaris chronicles the ultimate futility
of attempted communications with the extraterrestrial life on a far-distant
planet. Solaris is almost completely covered with an ocean that is revealed
to be a single, planet-encompassing organism, with whom Terran scientists
are attempting communication. What appear to be waves on its surface are
later revealed to be the equivalents of muscle contractions.
Kris Kelvin arrives aboard Solaris Station, a scientific research station
hovering near the oceanic surface of the planet Solaris. The scientists there
have studied the planet and its ocean for many decades, a scientific
discipline known as Solaristics, which over the years has degenerated to simply
observing, recording and categorizing the complex phenomena that occur upon
the surface of the ocean. Thus far, they have only achieved the formal
classification of the phenomena with an elaborate nomenclature — yet do not
understand what such activities really mean. Shortly before psychologist
Kelvin's arrival, the crew has exposed the ocean to a more aggressive and
unauthorized experimentation with a high-energy X-ray bombardment. Their
experimentation gives unexpected results and becomes psychologically traumatic
for them as individually flawed humans. The ocean's response to their aggression
exposes the deeper, hidden aspects of the personalities of the human
scientists — while revealing nothing of the ocean’s nature itself. To the extent
that the ocean’s actions can be understood, the ocean then seems to test
the minds of the scientists by confronting them with their most painful
and repressed thoughts and memories. It does this via the materialization of
physical human simulacra; Kelvin confronts memories of his dead lover and
guilt about her suicide. The torments of the other researchers are only alluded
to but seem even worse than Kelvin’s personal ordeal.
The ocean’s intelligence expresses physical phenomena in ways difficult for
the protagonists to explain using conventional scientific method, deeply
upsetting the scientists. The alien mind of Solaris is so greatly different from
the human mind of consciousness that attempts at inter-species communications
are a dismal failure. Characters
The protagonist, Dr. Kris Kelvin, is a psychologist recently arrived from Earth
to the space station studying the planet Solaris. He was married to Harey, who
committed suicide when he abandoned their marriage. Her exact double is his
visitor aboard the space station and becomes an important character.
Snaut is the first person Kelvin meets aboard the station, and his visitor is
not shown. The last inhabitant Kelvin meets is Sartorius, the most reclusive
member of the crew. He shows up only intermittently and is always suspicious
of the other crewmembers. His visitor remains anonymous, yet there are
indications it might be a child with a straw hat.
Until recently, there was also another member of the crew, Gibarian, who had
been an instructor of Kelvin's at university, and who committed suicide
just hours before Kelvin came to the station. Gibarian's visitor was a "giant
Negress" who twice appears to Kelvin; first in a hallway soon after his
arrival, and then while he is examining Gibarian's cadaver. She seems to be
unaware of the other humans she meets, or she simply chooses to ignore them.
Harey, who killed herself with a lethal injection after quarreling with Kelvin,
returns as his visitor. Overwhelmed with conflicting emotions after confronting
her, Kelvin lures the first Harey visitor into a shuttle and launches it
into outer space to be rid of her. Her fate is unknown to the other scientists.
Snaut suggests hailing Harey's shuttle to learn her condition, but Kelvin
objects. Harey soon reappears but with no memory of the shuttle incident.
Moreover, the second Harey becomes aware of her transient nature and is haunted
by being Solaris's means-to-an-end, affecting Kelvin in unknown ways. After
listening to a tape recording by Gibarian, and so learning her true
nature, she attempts suicide by drinking liquid oxygen. This fails because her
body is made of neutrinos, stabilized by some unknown force field, and has both
incredible strength and the ability to quickly regenerate from all injuries.
She subsequently convinces Snaut to destroy her with a Sartorius-developed
device that disrupts the sub-atomic structure of the constructs.
Cinematic adaptations Solaris has been filmed three times:
Solaris, directed by Boris Nirenburg. Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.
The film loosely follows the novel's plot, emphasizing the human
relationships instead of Lem's astrobiology theories — especially
Kelvin's Earth life, before his space travel to the planet. The film won the
Grand Prix at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.
Solaris, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney and produced by
James Cameron, also emphasizing the human relationships — and again
excluding Lem's scientific and philosophical themes.
Lem himself observed that none of the film versions depict much of the
extraordinary physical and psychological "alienness" of the Solaris ocean:
Cultural allusions The Austrian opera Solaris by Detlev
Glanert. The Italian opera Solaris by Henry
Correggia. The German opera Solaris by Michael
Obst. The British stage production Solaris by
Dimitry Devdariani. The Polish stage production Solaris: The
Report. The Macedonian multimedia project
Solaris by Zlatko Slavenski. The British BBC Radio 4 version Solaris
by Hattie Naylor. The Hungarian rock band Solaris named
themselves after the novel. Space rock band Failure's album,
Fantastic Planet, Track 9, summarizes some events in the novel.
Musician Photek's album, Solaris, Track 7.
Musician Tomita's album, Kosmos, Track, is based on the music by Bach featured
in Tarkovsky's film. Solaris Computer operating system
developed by Sun Microsystems, now owned by Oracle Corporation.
Funny Games film by Michael Haneke, in the movies conclusion, Peter discusses
with Paul the philophical implications of Solaris
English translation Both the original Polish version of the
novel and its original English translation are titled Solaris.
Jean-Michel Jasiensko published his French translation in 1964 and that
version was the basis of Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox's English
translation of 1970. Lem himself, who read English fluently,
repeatedly voiced his disappointment about the Kilmartin–Cox version, and it
has generally been considered second-rate. Since Lem sold his rights
to the book to his Polish publishers, an improved English book translation seemed
unlikely. Always remaining in print, the rights to it never reverted to the
author. Reprints:
ISBN 0-8027-5526-7 ISBN 0-15-683750-1
ISBN 0-15-602760-7 ISBN 0-571-21972-1
On 7 June 2011, Audible.com released the first direct Polish-to-English
translation as an audiobook download narrated by Alessandro Juliani. The
original Polish text was translated into English by Bill Johnston, with the
approval of Lem's estate. An ebook edition of the Johnston translation
followed. See also
Fiasco, His Master's Voice, The Invincible - other novels by Lem with a
similar theme Ocean planet
References External links
Solaris - Book Page on Stanisław Lem's Official Site.
Solaris - Essay by Stanisław Lem. Solaris - Review/GioiaT.
Solaris - Study Guide/BriansS. Solaris - Study Guide/HughesC.
Video - Solaris Opera. +. Video - Solaris Opera.