Solaris
The cult-classic by Stanislaw Lem that spawned the movie is now available for your Kindle! Until now the only English edition was a 1970 version, which was translated from French and which Lem himself described as a "poor translation." This wonderful new English translation (by Bill Johnston) of Lem's classic Solaris is a must-have for fans of Lem's classic novel. Telling of humanity's encounter with an alien intelligence on the planet Solaris, the 1961 novel is a cult classic, exploring the ultimate futility of attempting to communicate with extra-terrestrial life. When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.
Where Solaris keeps showing up
Three of our editors' lists feature this novel.
What you might want to know about Solaris
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives at a research station orbiting Solaris, a planet covered by a single sentient ocean. The remaining crew are unraveling, and Kelvin's wife, dead for ten years, is waiting in his room.
Yes. Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 Soviet film and Steven Soderbergh's 2002 American film are both based on Solaris. Stanislaw Lem publicly disliked both adaptations, saying neither captured his philosophical concerns.
Solaris is dense with philosophical reflection on contact with the truly alien. The lecture chapters in the middle of the novel are demanding. Most readers either embrace the meditative sections or skim them.
Solaris was written by Stanisław Lem, published in 1961 by DTV.
Solaris is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Solaris takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Solaris is a standalone novel by Stanisław Lem, not part of a series.
Solaris is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
