Solaris (2002)

Solaris by Stanisław Lem


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is very powerful story.It is beyond science fiction.It includes some psychological insights and philosophical remarks.It is frightening because you encounter someone/something in the body of someone you lost.These visitors are most likely connected to your guilt or regret.Somehow you do not want others to see them or at least to know the story between you and visitor.It is very big threat to someone.it is like you do not have secrets with yourself,you are totally naked and your memory, your life, your guilt is sitting next to you.If you d had strong connection to your loved one it is more difficult for you to face the truth that she is not truly your loved one.And she comes back again and again with your shared memories.

Lem is also querying the existence of God.When I listened to solaris on bbc7 it was asking whether Solaris is a hevan or death.From one angel for Kris it is a heaven because Ryae comes back all the time.On the other hand it is death because there is not reality.Your thoughts and dreams get mixed up.

This is not a regular alien scienfiction story there is more psychological materials in it.It's more frightening ,you do not know what happened exactly to Gibarian,you donot get suprised if Kris loses his mind.

--some quotes from the book.

"That appearance is a transparent window to the ocean. It introduces itself directly into the brain"

"because it is able to read us like a book"

"Tell me something. Do you believe in God?"
Snow darted an apprehensive glance in my direction:
"What? Who still believes nowadays…"
"It isn't that simple. I don't mean the traditional God of Earth religion. I'm no expert in the history of religions, and perhaps this is nothing new—do you happen to know if there was ever a belief in an…imperfect god?"
"What do you mean by imperfect?" Snow frowned. "In a way all the gods of the old religions were imperfect, considering that their attributes were amplified human ones. The God of the Old Testament, for instance, required humble submission and sacrifices, and was jealous of other gods. The Greek gods had fits of sulks and family quarrels, and they were just as imperfect as mortals…"

"one whose imperfection represents his essential characteristic: a god limited in his omniscience and power, fallible, incapable of foreseeing the consequences of his acts, and creating things that lead to horror. He is a…sick god, whose ambitions exceed his powers and who does not realize it at first. A god who has created clocks, but not the time they measure. He has created systems or mechanisms that served specific ends but have now overstepped and betrayed them. And he has created eternity, which was to have measured his power, and which measures his unending defeat"

"what you have in mind is an evolving god, who develops in the course of time, grows, and keeps increasing in power while remaining aware of his powerlessness. For your god, the divine condition is a situation without a goal. And understanding that, he despairs. But isn't this despairing god of yours mankind, Kelvin? It is man you are talking about, and that is a fallacy, not just philosophically but also mystically speaking."
I kept on"

"Solaris could be the first phase of the despairing God"


Stanislaw Lem interviews.You can find how he had written Solaris on his official website

One quote from his interview above
"The thing is that I do not possess a finished picture of the whole piece. When I led Kelvin to the Solaris station and made him see the frightened, drunken Snaut, I did not know myself what made him so anxious. I had no idea why Snaut was so afraid of a totally innocent stranger. At that time I didn't know - but soon I was to find out, because I kept on writing"



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