Wikipedia

Stanisław Lem

Stanisław Herman Lem(Polish:[staˈɲiswafˈlɛm]ⓘ;12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of Jewish descent. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy,futurology,andliterary criticism.Many of his science fiction stories are ofsatiricaland humorous character. Lem's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold more than 45 million copies.[2][3][4]Worldwide, he is best known as the author of the 1961 novelSolaris.In 1976Theodore Sturgeonwrote that Lem was the most widely read science fiction writer in the world.[5]

Stanisław Lem
Lem in 1966
Lem in 1966
BornStanisław Herman Lem[1]
12 September 1921
Lwów,Poland
Died27 March 2006(2006-03-27)(aged 84)
Kraków,Poland
OccupationWriter
Period1946–2005
GenreHard science fiction,philosophy, satire,futurology
Spouse
Barbara Leśniak
​
(m.1953)​
Children1
Signature
Philosophy career
Notable workFull list
School
Main interests
Website
lem.pl

Lem was the author of the fundamental philosophical workSumma Technologiae,in which he anticipated the creation ofvirtual reality,artificial intelligence,and also developed the ideas of human autoevolution, the creation ofartificial worlds,and many others. Lem's science fiction works explore philosophical themes through speculations on technology, the nature ofintelligence,the impossibility of communication with and understanding ofalien intelligence,despair about human limitations, and humanity's place in the universe. His essays and philosophical books cover these and many other topics. Translating his works is difficult due toLem's elaborate neologismsand idiomatic wordplay.

TheSejm(the lower house of thePolish Parliament) declared 2021Stanisław Lem Year.[6]

Life

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Early life

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House No. 4 onBohdan LepkyStreet in Lviv, where, according to his autobiographyHighcastle,Lem spent his childhood

Lem was born in 1921 in Lwów,interwar Poland(nowLviv,Ukraine). According to his own account, he was actually born on 13 September, but the date was changed to the 12th on his birth certificatebecause of superstition.[7]He was the son of Sabina née Woller (1892–1979) and Samuel Lem[note 1](1879–1954), a wealthylaryngologistand former physician in theAustro-Hungarian Army,[9][10]and first cousin to Polish poetMarian Hemar(Lem's father's sister's son).[11]In later years Lem sometimes claimed to have been raisedRoman Catholic,but he went to Jewish religious lessons during his school years.[1]He later became anatheist"for moral reasons... the world appears to me to be put together in such a painful way that I prefer to believe that it was not created... intentionally".[12][13]In later years he would call himself both an agnostic[14]and an atheist.[15]

After the 1939Soviet occupation of westernUkraine and Belarus, he was not allowed to study atLwów Polytechnicas he wished because of his "bourgeoisorigin ", and only due to his father's connections he was accepted to study medicine atLwów Universityin 1940.[16]During the subsequentNazi occupation(1941–1944), Lem's Jewish family avoided placement in the NaziLwów Ghetto,surviving with false papers.[10]He would later recall:[10][17]

During that period, I learned in a very personal, practical way that I was no "Aryan".I knew that my ancestors were Jews, but I knew nothing of theMosaic faithand, regrettably, nothing at all ofJewish culture.So it was, strictly speaking, only theNazi legislationthat brought home to me the realization that I had Jewish blood in my veins.

During that time, Lem earned a living as a car mechanic and welder,[10]and occasionally stole munitions from storehouses (to which he had access as an employee of a German company) to pass them on to thePolish resistance.[18]

In 1945, Lwów was annexed into theSoviet Ukraine,and the family, along with many other Polish citizens,was resettledtoKraków,where Lem, at his father's insistence, took up medical studies at theJagiellonian University.[10]He did not take his final examinations on purpose, to avoid the career of military doctor, which he suspected could have become lifelong.[19][16][note 2]After receivingabsolutorium(Latin term for the evidence of completion of the studies without diploma), he did an obligatory monthly work at a hospital, at a maternity ward, where he assisted at a number of childbirths and acaesarean section.Lem said that the sight of blood was one of the reasons he decided to drop medicine.[20]

Rise to fame

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Stanisław Lem and toycosmonaut,1966

Lem started his literary work in 1946 with a number of publications in different genres, including poetry, as well as his first science fiction novel,The Man from Mars,serialized inNowy Świat Przygód[pl](New World of Adventures).[10]Between 1948 and 1950 Lem was working as a scientific research assistant at theJagiellonian University,and published a number of short stories, poems, reviews, etc., particularly in the magazineTygodnik Powszechny.[21]In 1951, he published his first book,The Astronauts.[10][22]In 1954, he published a short story collection,Sezam i inne opowiadania[pl][Sesame and Other Stories].[10]The following year, 1955, saw the publication of another science fiction novel,The Magellanic Cloud.[10]

During the era ofStalinism in Poland,which had begun in the late 1940s, all published works had to be directly approved by the state.[23]ThusThe Astronautswas not, in fact, the first novel Lem finished, just the first that made it past the state censors.[10]Going by the date of the finished manuscript, Lem's first book was a partly autobiographical novelHospital of the Transfiguration,finished in 1948.[10]It would be published seven years later, in 1955, as a part of the trilogyCzas nieutracony(Time Not Lost).[10]The experience of trying to pushCzas nieutraconythrough the censors was one of the major reasons Lem decided to focus on the less-censored genre of science fiction.[21]Nonetheless, most of Lem's works published in the 1950s also contain various elements ofsocialist realismas well as of the "glorious future of communism" forced upon him by the censors and editors.[21][24]Lem later criticized several of his early pieces as compromised by the ideological pressure.[10]

Lem became truly productive after 1956, when thede-Stalinization periodin theSoviet Unionled to the "Polish October",when Poland experienced an increase infreedom of speech.[10][21][24]Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored seventeen books.[24]His writing over the next three decades or so was split between science fiction and essays about science and culture.[21]

In 1957, he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book,Dialogs,as well as a science fiction anthology,The Star Diaries,[10]collecting short stories about one of his most popular characters,Ijon Tichy.[25]1959 saw the publication of three books: the novelsEdenandThe Investigation,and the short story anthologyAn Invasion from Aldebaran(Inwazja z Aldebarana).[10]1961 saw the novelsMemoirs Found in a Bathtub,Solaris,andReturn from the Stars,withSolarisbeing among his top works.[10]This was followed by a collection of his essays and non-fiction prose,Wejście na orbitę(1962), and a short story anthologyNoc księżycowa(1963).[10]In 1964, Lem published a large work on the border of philosophy and sociology of science and futurology,Summa Technologiae,as well as a novel,The Invincible.[10][24]

Lem signing inKraków,30 October 2005

1965 saw the publication ofThe Cyberiadand of a short story collection,The Hunt(Polowanie[pl]).[10]1966 was the year ofHighcastle,followed in 1968 byHis Master's VoiceandTales of Pirx the Pilot.[10][24]Highcastlewas another of Lem's autobiographical works, and touched upon a theme that usually was not favored by the censors: Lem's youth in the pre-war, then-Polish, Lviv.[10]1968 and 1970 saw two more non-fiction treatises,The Philosophy of ChanceandScience Fiction and Futurology.[10]Ijon Tichy returned in 1971'sThe Futurological Congress;in the same year Lem released a genre-mi xing experiment,A Perfect Vacuum,acollection of reviews of non-existent books.[10]In 1973 a similar work,Imaginary Magnitude,was published.[10]In 1976, Lem published two works: "The Mask"andThe Chain of Chance.[10]In 1980, he published another set of reviews of non-existent works,Provocation.[10]The following year saw another Tichy novel,Observation on the Spot,[10]andGolem XIV.Later in that decade, Lem publishedPeace on Earth(1984) andFiasco(1986), his last science fiction novel.[10]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lem cautiously supported thePolish dissident movement,and started publishing essays in the Paris-based magazineKultura.[10]In 1982, withmartial law in Polanddeclared, Lem moved toWest Berlin,where he became a fellow of theInstitute for Advanced Study, Berlin(Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).[10]After that, he settled inVienna.He returned to Poland in 1988.[10]

Final years

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From the late 1980s onwards, Lem tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays, published in Polish magazines includingTygodnik Powszechny,Odra,andPrzegląd.[10][21]These were later collected in a number of anthologies.[10]

In early 1980s literary critic and historianStanisław Bereśconducted a lengthy interview with Lem, which was published in book format in 1987 asRozmowy ze Stanisławem Lemem(Conversations with Stanisław Lem).That edition was subject to censorship. A revised, complete edition was published in 2002 asTako rzecze… Lem(Thus spoke... Lem).[26]

In the early 1990s, Lem met with the literary critic and scholarPeter Swirskifor a series of extensive interviews, published together with other critical materials and translations asA Stanislaw Lem Reader(1997). In these interviews Lem speaks about a range of issues he rarely discussed previously. The book also includes Swirski's translation of Lem's retrospective essay "Thirty Years Later", devoted to Lem's nonfictional treatiseSumma Technologiae.During later interviews in 2005, Lem expressed his disappointment with the genre of science fiction, and his general pessimism regarding technical progress. He viewed the human body as unsuitable for space travel, held that information technologydrowns people in a glut of low-quality information,and considered truly intelligent robots as both undesirable and impossible to construct.[27]

Writings

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Main articles:List of works by Stanisław Lem and their adaptationsandList of works about Stanisław Lem

Science fiction

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Lem's prose shows a mastery of numerous genres and themes.[10]

Recurring themes

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One of Lem's major recurring themes, beginning from his very first novel,The Man from Mars,was the impossibility ofcommunication between profoundly alien beings,which may have no common ground with human intelligence, and humans.[28]The best known example is the living planetary ocean inSolaris.Other examples include the intelligent swarms of mechanical insect-likemicromachinesinThe Invincible,and strangely ordered societies of more human-like beings inFiascoandEden,describing the failure offirst contact.

Another key recurring theme is the shortcomings of humans. InHis Master's Voice,Lem describes the failure of humanity's intelligence to decipher and truly comprehend an apparent message from space.[29][30][31][32]Two overlapping arcs of short stories,Fables for RobotsandThe Cyberiadprovide a commentary on humanity in the form of a series of grotesque, humorous,fairytale-like short stories about a mechanical universe inhabited by robots (who have occasional contact with biological "slimies" and human "palefaces" ).[10][33]Lem also underlines the uncertainties of evolution, including that it might not progress upwards in intelligence.[34]

Other writings

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The InvestigationandThe Chain of Chancearecrime novels(the latter without a murderer);Pamiętnik...is a psychological drama inspired byKafka.[10]A Perfect VacuumandImaginary Magnitudearecollections of reviews of and introductions to non-existent books.[10]Similarly,Provocationspurports to review a non-existentHolocaust-themed work.[10]

Essays

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DialogsandSumma Technologiae(1964) are Lem's two most famous philosophical texts. TheSummais notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances;[10]in this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction at the time, but are gaining importance today—for instance,virtual realityandnanotechnology.

Views in later life

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Throughout the entirety of his life, Stanisław Lem remained deeply attached to his original hometown of Lwów (then in Poland, now Lviv in Ukraine) and missed it greatly. Although he never called for Poland to retake the city, he expressed sorrow and felt a sense of injustice at Poland losing the city to the USSR after the Second World War.[35][36][37]His criticism of most science fiction surfaced in literary and philosophical essaysScience Fiction and Futurologyand interviews.[38]In the 1990s, Lem forswore science fiction[39]and returned to futurological prognostications, most notably those expressed inOkamgnienie[pl][Blink of an Eye]. He had a deep appreciation for the works of Polish writerCzesław Miłoszand respectedJózef Piłsudskias a national leader.[35]

Lem said that since the success of the trade unionSolidarity,and thecollapse of the Soviet empire,he felt his wild dreams about the future could no longer compare with reality.[40]He became increasingly critical of modern technology in his later life, criticising inventions such as the Internet, which he said "makes it easier to hurt our neighbors."[41]He was a proponent ofnuclear power,which he saw as a potential means for Poland to secure its sovereignty via reducing dependency on fossil fuels from Russia.[35]In his 2004-2006 columns forTygodnik Powszechny,Lem was highly critical ofVladimir Putin,George W. Bush,Andrzej Lepper,Samoobrona,theLeague of Polish Families,and theAll-Polish Youth.[35]

Relationship with American science fiction

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SFWA

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Lem was awarded an honorary membership in theScience Fiction Writers of America(SFWA) in 1973. SFWA honorary membership is given to people who do not meet the publishing criteria for joining the regular membership, but who would be welcomed as members had their work appeared in the qualifying English-language publications. Lem never had a high opinion of Americanscience fiction,describing it as ill-thought-out, poorly written, and interested more in making money than in ideas or new literary forms.[42]After his eventual American publication, when he became eligible for regular membership, his honorary membership was rescinded. This formal action was interpreted by some of the SFWA members[who?]as a rebuke for his stance[which?],[43]and it seems that Lem interpreted it as such. Lem was invited to stay on with the organization with a regular membership, but he declined.[44]After many members (includingUrsula K. Le Guin,who quit her membership and then refused theNebula Award for Best NoveletteforThe Diary of the Rose)[45][46]protested against Lem's treatment by the SFWA, a member offered to pay his dues. Lem never accepted the offer.[42][44]

Philip K. Dick

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Lem singled out only one[47]American science fiction writer for praise,Philip K. Dick,in a 1984 English-language anthology of his critical essays,Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy.Lem had initially held a low opinion of Philip K. Dick (as he did for the bulk of American science fiction) and would later say that this was due to a limited familiarity with Dick's work, since Western literature was hard to come by in thePolish People's Republic.

Dick alleged that Stanisław Lem was probably a false name used by a composite committee operating on orders of theCommunist partyto gain control over public opinion, and wrote a letter to theFBIto that effect.[48]There were several attempts to explain Dick's act. Lem was responsible for the Polish translation of Dick's workUbikin 1972, and when Dick felt monetarily short-changed by the publisher, he held Lem personally responsible (seeMicroworlds).[49][48]Also it was suggested that Dick was under the influence of strong medications, including opioids, and may have experienced a "slight disconnect from reality" some time before writing the letter.[48]A "defensive patriotism" of Dick againstLem's attacks on American science fictionmay have played some role as well.[48]Lem would later mention Dick in his monographScience Fiction and Futurology.

Significance

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Writing

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First Polish editions of books by Lem

Lem is one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction writers, hailed by critics as equal to such classic authors asH. G. WellsandOlaf Stapledon.[50]In 1976,Theodore Sturgeonwrote that Lem was the most widely read science fiction writer in the world.[5]In Poland, in the 1960s and 1970s, Lem remained under the radar of mainstream critics, who dismissed him as a "mass market", low-brow, youth-oriented writer; such dismissal might have given him a form of invisibility from censorship.[10]His works were widely translated abroad, appearing in over 40 languages[10]and have sold over 45 million copies.[2][3][4]As of 2020,about 1.5 million copies were sold in Poland after his death, with the annual numbers of 100,000 matching the new bestsellers.[51]

Franz Rottensteiner,Lem's former agent abroad, had this to say about Lem's reception on international markets:[52]

With [number of translations and copies sold], Lem is the most successful author in modern Polish fiction; nevertheless his commercial success in the world is limited, and the bulk of his large editions was due to the special publishing conditions in theCommunist countries:Poland, the Soviet Union, and theGerman Democratic Republic.Only inWest Germanywas Lem really a critical and a commercial success [... and everywhere...] in recent years interest in him has waned. Lem is the only writer of European [science fiction, most of whose] books have been translated into English, and [...] kept in print in the USA. Lem's critical success in English is due mostly to the excellent translations ofMichael Kandel.

Influence

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Will Wright's popular city-planning gameSimCitywas partly inspired by Lem's short story "The Seventh Sally"inThe Cyberiad.[53]

The video gameStellarisis highly inspired by his works, as its creators said at the start of 2021,[54]designated the "Year of Lem".

A major character in the filmPlanet 51,an alien Lem, was named by screenwriterJoe Stillmanafter Stanisław Lem. Since the film was intended to be a parody of Americanpulp science fictionshot in Eastern Europe, Stillman thought that it would be hilarious to hint at the writer whose works have nothing to do withlittle green men.[55]

Adaptations of Lem's works

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Solariswas made intoa filmin 1968 by Russian director Boris Nirenburg,a filmin 1972 by Russian directorAndrei Tarkovsky—which won a Special Jury Prize at theCannes Film Festivalin 1972—andan American filmin 2002 bySteven Soderbergh.Film critics have noted the influence of Tarkovsky's adaptation on later science fiction films such asEvent Horizon(1997)[56][57]andChristopher Nolan'sInception(2010).[58][59]

A number of other dramatic and musical adaptationsof his work exist, such as adaptations ofThe Astronauts(First Spaceship on Venus,1960) andThe Magellanic Cloud(Ikarie XB-1,1963).[60]Lem himself was, however, critical of most of the screen adaptations, with the sole exception ofPrzekładaniecin 1968 byAndrzej Wajda.[10]In 2013, the Israeli–Polish co-productionThe Congresswas released, inspired by Lem's novelThe Futurological Congress.[61]

György Pálfidirected a film adaptation ofHis Master's Voicewith the same title, which was released in 2018.

In 2023,11 Bit StudiospublishedThe Invincible,an adventure video game developed by Starward Industries. The game is an adaptation of Stanisław Lem's1964 novel.

Honors

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Main article:List of honors bestowed on Stanisław Lem

Awards

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Recognition and remembrance

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Political views

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Lem's early works weresocialist realist,possibly to satisfy state censorship,[74]and in his later years he was critical of this aspect of them.[75]In 1982, with the onset of themartial law in Poland,Lem moved to Berlin for studies, and the next year he moved for several years (1983–1988) to Vienna.[76]He never showed any wish to relocate permanently in the West. By the standards of theEastern Bloc,Lem was financially well off for most of his life.[77]Lem was a critic ofcapitalism,[78]totalitarianism,and of both Stalinist and Western ideologies.[79]

Lem believed there were no absolutes. He said: "I should wish, as do most men, that immutable truths existed, that not all would be eroded by the impact of historical time, that there were some essential propositions, be it only in the field of human values, the basic values, etc. In brief, I long for the absolute. But at the same time I am firmly convinced that there are no absolutes, that everything is historical, and that you cannot get away from history."[80]Lem was concerned that if the human race attained prosperity and comfort, this would lead it to passiveness and degeneration.[75]

Personal life

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Stanisław Lem's grave at the Salwator Cemetery, Kraków

Lem was apolyglot:he knew Polish, Latin (from medical school), German, French, English, Russian and Ukrainian.[81]Lem claimed that hisIQwas tested at high school as 180.[82]

In 1953, Lem metradiologystudent Barbara (néeLeśniak), whom he married in acivil ceremonythe same year.[83][84]The couple'schurch marriageceremony was performed in February 1954.[10]Barbara died on 27 April 2016.[85]Their only child,Tomasz[pl](born 1968), who graduated with a degree in physics fromPrinceton University,has writtenAwantury na tle powszechnego ciążenia(Tantrums on the Background of the Universal Gravitation), a memoir which contains numerous personal details about Lem. The book jacket says Tomasz works as a translator and has a daughter, Anna.[86]

As of 1984, Lem's writing pattern was to get up a short time before five in the morning and start writing soon after, for 5 or 6 hours before taking a break.[87]

Lem was an aggressive driver. He loved sweets (especiallyhalvaand chocolate-coveredmarzipan), and did not give them up even when, toward the end of his life, he fell ill withdiabetes.In the mid-80s due to health problems he stopped smoking.[75]Coffee often featured in Lem's writing and interviews.[88][89][90][91][92]

Stanisław Lem died from a heart failure[93]in the hospital of theJagiellonian University Medical College,Krakówon 27 March 2006 at the age of 84.[21]He was buried atSalwator Cemetery,Sector W, Row 4, grave 17 (Polish:cmentarz Salwatorski, sektor W, rząd 4, grób 17).[94]

In November 2021,Agnieszka Gajewska's biography of Lem,Holocaust and the Stars,was translated into English byKatarzyna Gucioand published byRoutledge.[95][96]It discussed aspects of Lem's life, such as being forced to wear theyellow badgeand being struck for not removing his hat in the presence of Germans, as required of Jews at the time.

Lem loved movies and greatly enjoyedartistic cinema(especially the movies ofLuis Buñuel). He also likedKing Kong,James Bond,Star Wars,andStar Trek[97]movies but he remained mostly displeased by movies which were based upon his own stories.[98]The only notable exceptions areVoyage to the End of the Universe(1963) (which didn't credit Lem as writer of the original bookThe Magellanic Cloud) andPrzekładaniec(1968) (which was based upon his short story "Do You Exist, Mr Jones?" ).[99]

Bibliography

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A list of works by Stanisław Lem and their subsequent adaptations in other media:

Main article:List of works by Stanisław Lem and their adaptations

A list of books and monographs about Stanisław Lem:

Main article:Bibliography of Stanisław Lem

Explanatory notes

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  1. ^Samuel Lem changed his last name fromLehm(meaning "loam", "clay" in German/Yiddish) to Lem in 1904.[8]
  2. ^Lech Keller suggests a slightly different reason why Lem did not pursue the diploma: since his father was a functionary of Sanitary Department of the infamous UB (Ministry of Public Security), he would have probably been assigned to the hospital subordinated to UB, probably to the same department his father served. Keller further remarks that it was well-known that UB doctors were used to "restore the conditions" of the interrogateddissidents.See Lech Keller,"Przyczynek do biografii Stanisława Lema"(retrieved 16 February 2020),Acta Polonica Monashiensis(Monash University,Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Volume 3 Number 2, R&S Press, Melbourne, Victoria, 2019, pp. 94, 107

Citations

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  1. ^abAgnieszka Gajewska (2016).Zagłada i gwiazdy. Przeszłość w prozie Stanisława Lema.Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.ISBN978-83-232-3047-2.
  2. ^abRob Jan."Stanislaw Lem 1921–2006. Obituary by Rob Jan".ZERO-G AUSTRALIAN RADIO and lem.pl.Archivedfrom the original on 7 August 2011.Retrieved20 February2009.
  3. ^abRemus, Joscha (28 July 2005)."Technik: Visionär ohne Illusionen".Die Zeit.Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2014.Retrieved12 September2014..Part essay, part interview with Lem byDie Zeitnewspaper
  4. ^ab"Sci-fi king Stanisław Lem is still considered master of his genre".Archivedfrom the original on 28 July 2020.Retrieved14 September2019.
  5. ^abTheodore Sturgeon:"Introduction".Archived from the original on 17 October 2007.Retrieved7 April2010.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)toRoadside PicnicbyArkady and Boris Strugatsky,Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc, New York 1976
  6. ^ab"Sejm wybrał patronów roku 2021".sejm.gov.pl.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2020.Retrieved28 November2020.
  7. ^Wojciech Orliński (2017).Lem. Życie nie z tej ziemi.Wydawnictwo Czarne/Agora SA. p. 37.ISBN978-83-8049-552-4.
  8. ^Agnieszka Gajewska,Zagłada i gwiazdy Przeszłość w prozie Stanisława Lema.Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań, 2016,ISBN978-83-232-3047-2
  9. ^Jerzy Jarzȩbski(1986).Zufall und Ordnung: zum Werk Stanlisław Lems(in German). Suhrkamp. p. 1.ISBN978-3-518-37790-1.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.
  10. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarTomasz FIAŁKOWSKI."Stanisław Lem czyli życie spełnione"(in Polish). solaris.lem.pl.Archivedfrom the original on 29 April 2015.Retrieved21 October2014.
  11. ^"Lem's FAQ".Archived fromthe originalon 25 June 2007.
  12. ^"The religion of Stanislaw Lem, science fiction writer".adherents. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011.Retrieved15 June2011.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^"An Interview with Stanislaw Lem".Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.Retrieved12 May2017.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)byPeter Engel.Missouri ReviewVolume 7, Number 2, 1984.
  14. ^Noack, Hans-Joachim (15 January 1996)."Jeder Irrwitz ist denkbar Science-fiction-Autor Lem über Nutzen und Risiken der Antimaterie (engl: Each madness is conceivable Science-fiction author Lem about the benefits and risks of anti-matter)".Der Spiegel.Archivedfrom the original on 18 January 2021.Retrieved6 March2014.
  15. ^В. Шуткевич,СТАНИСЛАВ ЛЕМ: ГЛУПОСТЬ КАК ДВИЖУЩАЯ СИЛА ИСТОРИИArchived16 March 2016 at theWayback Machine( "Stanislaw Lem: Stupidity as a Driving Force of History", an interview),Комсомольская правда,26 February 1991, p. 3.
  16. ^ab"Lem about Himself".Stanislaw Lem homepage.Archivedfrom the original on 7 August 2011.Retrieved20 February2009.
  17. ^Stanisław Lem (January 1984). "Chance and Order". The New Yorker 59 / 30. pp. 88–98.
  18. ^Stanisław Lem,Mein LebenArchived22 October 2016 at theWayback Machine( "My Life" ), Berlin, 1983.
  19. ^E. Tuzow-Lubański, "Spotkanie ze Stanisławem Lemem",Przegląd Polski,9 May 1996, pp. 1, 15. (fragmentArchived27 November 2019 at theWayback Machine)Quote:"W 1948 r. zrobiłem absolutorium z medycyny. I wtedy okazało się, że jak się kończy medycynę i dostaje dyplom, to trzeba iść do wojska jako lekarz – i nie na rok czy dwa, ale na zawsze"
  20. ^"Jestem Casanovą nauki" In:Marek Oramus,Bogowie Lema,Kurpisz Publishing House, 2006, p. 42.ISBN978-83-89738-92-9.
  21. ^abcdefghijklJerzy Jarzębski.Lem, Stanisław(in Polish). 'PWN.Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved30 October2014.
  22. ^"One hundred years ago today, Stanisław Lem was born. He would go on to become one of the world's greatest sci-fi writers".Archivedfrom the original on 13 September 2021.Retrieved14 September2021.
  23. ^"Stanisław Lem – biografia, wiersze, utwory".poezja.org.Retrieved2 June2022.
  24. ^abcdeLem, Stanislaw.SFE. 25 October 2014.Archivedfrom the original on 22 October 2014.Retrieved6 November2014.
  25. ^Stanisław Lem (2000).Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy.Northwestern University Press. p. Back cover blurb.ISBN978-0-8101-1732-7.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.[Tichy] endures as one of Lem's most popular characters
  26. ^Orliński, Wojciech (1 July 2002)."Tako rzecze...Lem, Bereś, Stanisław".Gazeta Wyborcza(in Polish).Archivedfrom the original on 29 March 2019.Retrieved29 March2019.
  27. ^Auch Hosenträger sind intelligentArchived2 October 2008 at theWayback Machine,Zeit Wissen,1/2005;Im Ramschladen der PhantasieArchived16 June 2008 at theWayback Machine,Zeit Wissen,3/2005.(in German)
  28. ^"Stanisław Lem | Polish author".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archivedfrom the original on 12 September 2020.Retrieved17 July2020.
  29. ^David Langford (2005).The Sex Column and Other Misprints, a collection of essays from SFX magazine.Wildside Press LLC. p. 65.ISBN978-1-930997-78-3.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.
  30. ^Gary Westfahl (2005).The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-313-32951-7.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.
  31. ^"you cannot conceive of your neighbors from the stars in any connection other than a civilizational one," p91, Golem XIV, Imaginary Magnitude
  32. ^"the obstinacy of your antropocentrism," p55, Golem XIV, Imaginary Magnitude
  33. ^"Cyberiada".Lem's official website.Archivedfrom the original on 31 October 2014.Retrieved6 November2014.
  34. ^"uncertain zigzags of the evolutionary game", p. 85, Golem XIV, Imaginary Magnitude
  35. ^abcdLem, Stanisław (2006).Rasa drapieżców. Teksty ostatnie.Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie.ISBN9788308038901.
  36. ^Wilgusiewicz, Antoni (2021)."Obraz Lwowa we wspomnieniach Stanisława Lema"(PDF).Cracovia Leopolis.104–105 (3–4): 1–7.ISSN1234-8600.Retrieved19 September2024.
  37. ^Nespiak, Danuta (2021)."Lwów w optyce Stanisława Lema"(PDF).Cracovia Leopolis.104–105 (3–4): 8–10.ISSN1234-8600.Retrieved19 September2024.
  38. ^""Folha de S.Paulo" – interview with Lem ".Stanislaw Lem's homepage.Archivedfrom the original on 14 September 2016.Retrieved4 July2016.
  39. ^""Folha de S.Paulo"".Stanislaw Lem The Official Site.Archivedfrom the original on 24 September 2020.Retrieved17 July2020.
  40. ^Christopher Priest, Introduction,The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age,Lem
  41. ^""Shargh" daily newspaper interview ".Stanislaw Lem.Archived fromthe originalon 7 August 2011.Retrieved15 October2014.
  42. ^ab"Stanislaw Lem – Frequently Asked Questions. SWFA, quoted on Lem's homepage".Stanislaw Lem.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2009.Retrieved20 February2009.
  43. ^"The Lem Affair (Continued)".Science Fiction Studies, # 14 = Volume 5, Part 1 = March 1978. 1978.Archivedfrom the original on 17 October 2007.Retrieved10 May2007.
  44. ^ab"Lem and SFWA".Archived fromthe originalon 11 January 2008.inScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of AmericaFAQ, "paraphrasingJerry Pournelle"who was SFWA President 1973–74
  45. ^Le Guin, Ursula (6 December 2017)."The Literary Prize for the Refusal of Literary Prizes".The Paris Review.Archivedfrom the original on 21 January 2020.Retrieved25 December2018.
  46. ^Dugdale, John (21 May 2016)."How to turn down a prestigious literary prize – a winner's guide to etiquette".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 25 December 2018.Retrieved25 December2018.
  47. ^"Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans".Stanislaw Lem.Archivedfrom the original on 5 April 2012.Retrieved3 September2010.
  48. ^abcd"Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem is a Communist Committee"Archived21 September 2017 at theWayback Machine,Matt Davies, 29 April 2015
  49. ^"Stanislaw Lem – Frequently Asked Questions. P.K. Dick, Letter to FBI, quoted on Lem's homepage".Stanislaw Lem.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2009.Retrieved20 February2009.
  50. ^"Stanislaw Lem".The Times.28 March 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 23 May 2010.Retrieved5 May2010.
  51. ^"2021. to będzie dobry rok?!? O Stanisławie Lemie, patronie tego roku, opowiada prof. Stanisław Bereś z Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego"Archived22 January 2021 at theWayback Machine,January 21, 2021
  52. ^Franz Rottensteiner (1999)."Note on the Authors: Stanisław Lem".View from Another Shore: European Science Fiction.Liverpool University Press. p. 252.ISBN978-0-85323-942-0.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.
  53. ^Lew, Julie (15 June 1989)."Making City Planning a Game".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 13 October 2007.Retrieved28 May2010.
  54. ^"Stellaris Devs Pay Tribute to Lem in New Update".GamePressure.Retrieved13 May2022.
  55. ^Lem wśród zielonych ludzikówArchived7 November 2018 at theWayback Machine
  56. ^"Event Horizon"Archived25 November 2020 at theWayback Machine,film review byRoger Ebert
  57. ^"Event Horizon"Archived26 September 2020 at theWayback Machine,film review byJonathan Rosenbaum
  58. ^"Inception – THE OTHER VIEW"Archived10 December 2020 at theWayback Machine,by Kevin Bowen,Screen Comment,January 16, 2020
  59. ^Thorsten Bothz-Bornstein "The Movie as a Thinking Machine", In:Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die for,2011,ISBN0812697332,p.205Archived2 February 2021 at theWayback Machine
  60. ^Peter Swirski (2008).The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem.McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. pp. 153–170.ISBN978-0-7735-7507-3.Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2016.Retrieved6 October2016.
  61. ^"Israeli Polish coproduction 'The Congress' to Open Director's Fortnight in Cannes".Archived fromthe originalon 20 May 2013.
  62. ^"Stanisław Lem: Jestem jak Robinson Crusoe", a Polish translation of the interview with Lem byFranz Rottensteiner,Fantastyka,9/48, 1986 (originally inWochenpresse,no. 14, April 1986),
  63. ^S.A, Wirtualna Polska Media (5 October 2005)."Medal Gloria Artis dla twórców i działaczy kultury".wiadomosci.wp.pl.Archivedfrom the original on 29 March 2019.Retrieved19 February2019.
  64. ^Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003).Dictionary of Minor Planet Names(5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 325.ISBN3-540-00238-3.
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  66. ^"UCHWAŁA NR VIII/122/07 Rady Miasta Krakowa z dnia 14 marca 2007 r. w sprawie nazw ulic. Par.1, pkt.1"(in Polish).[permanent dead link]
  67. ^"Uchwała nr XXXII/479/2009 Rady Miejskiej w Wieliczce z dnia 30 września 2009 r. w sprawie nadania nazwy ulicy"(PDF)(in Polish). Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Małopolskiego.[permanent dead link]
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  74. ^seeThe Astronauts
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  79. ^"Lem may have been critical of the Soviet Union, but that didn't mean he had a positive view of the West." Say, one country permits eating little children right before the eyes of crazed mothers ", he wrote to Kandel in 1977," and another permits eating absolutely anything, whereupon it turns out that the majority of people in that country eat shit. So what does the fact that most people eat shit demonstrate [...]? "In other words, just because life behind the Iron Curtain was bad, that didn't make the United States good. For Lem the world wasn't divided between good and evil, but between bad and even worse." Ezra Glinter, The World According to Stanislaw Lem,https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/world-according-stanislaw-lem/Archived7 July 2020 at theWayback Machine
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  81. ^Tomasz Lem,Awantury na tle powszechnego ciążenia,Kraków,Wydawnictwo Literackie,2009,ISBN978-83-08-04379-0,p. 198.
  82. ^Wilson, John (10 April 2006)."Stanislaw Lem 1921-2006".The Weekly Standard.Archivedfrom the original on 19 July 2020.Retrieved19 July2020– via Washington Examiner.
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  84. ^Stanisław Lem,Mein LebenArchived22 October 2016 at theWayback Machine( "My Life" ), Berlin, 1983
  85. ^"Barbara Lem"Archived7 August 2016 at theWayback Machine,a necrolog inGazeta Literacka(retrieved 2 March 2017).
  86. ^"Lem jakiego nie znamy"Archived3 March 2017 at theWayback Machine,Publisher's annotation of the bookAwantury na tle powszechnego ciążeniaby Tomasz Lem.
  87. ^Lem, Stanislaw (30 January 1984)."Chance and Order".The New Yorker.Vol. 59. pp. 88–98.Archivedfrom the original on 19 July 2020.Retrieved19 July2020.
  88. ^"Stanislaw Lem – Celebrity Atheist List".celebatheists.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2021.Retrieved24 August2021.
  89. ^"Raymond Federman – An Interview with Stanislaw Lem".depauw.edu.Archivedfrom the original on 11 August 2021.Retrieved24 August2021.
  90. ^"A Look Inside Fiasco".Stanislaw Lem The Official Site.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2021.Retrieved24 August2021.
  91. ^"The Polish Road to Motorization – Przekrój Magazine".przekroj.pl.12 March 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2021.Retrieved24 August2021.
  92. ^"Meltdown 2040 | Monster Truck".monstertrucker.de.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2021.Retrieved24 August2021.
  93. ^Jones, Stephen (2007).The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror.Vol. 18. London: Robinson. p. 509.ISBN9781780332772.Archivedfrom the original on 8 November 2021.Retrieved11 September2021.
  94. ^Grób Stanisława LemaArchived27 September 2020 at theWayback Machine,Dziennik Polski
  95. ^"A Holocaust Survivor's Hardboiled Science Fiction".The New Yorker.6 January 2022.Retrieved18 January2022.
  96. ^Gajewska, Agnieszka; Gucio, Katarzyna (2021).Holocaust and the Stars: The Past in the Prose of Stanislaw Lem.Taylor & Francis Limited.ISBN978-0-367-42873-0.
  97. ^https://culture.pl/en/article/the-many-masks-faces-of-stanislaw-lem{{ "As a viewer, Lem preferred artistic cinema, especially the films of Luis Buñuel. The writer’s favourite pop culture pictures included several King Kong movies, the James Bond series, Star Wars, as well as the TV series Star Trek. The latter, however, he did criticise for disregarding the basic laws of physics." }}
  98. ^"20 Literary Adaptations Disavowed by Their Original Authors".27 February 2018.
  99. ^"DIPLOMARBEIT. Titel der Diplomarbeit. Ikarie XB1 und die Entwicklung des Science-Fiction- Films. Verfasst von. Eliška Cikán".

Further reading

edit
Library resourcesabout
Stanisław Lem
By Stanisław Lem
  • Jameson, Fredric."The Unknowability Thesis." InArchaeologies of the Future: This Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions.London and New York: Verso, 2005.
  • Suvin, Darko."Three World Paradigms for SF: Asimov, Yefremov, Lem."Pacific Quarterly (Moana): An International Review of Arts and Ideas4.(1979): 271–283.
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