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Solaris
- The Definitive Edition
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
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Solaris
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Publisher's Summary
At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation - complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.
In Solaris, Kris Kelvin arrives on an orbiting research station to study the remarkable ocean that covers the planet’s surface. But his fellow scientists appear to be losing their grip on reality, plagued by physical manifestations of their repressed memories. When Kelvin’s long-dead wife suddenly reappears, he is forced to confront the pain of his past - while living a future that never was. Can Kelvin unlock the mystery of Solaris? Does he even want to?
Editorial reviews
This fine, new, direct-to-English translation of Solaris allows listeners a new opportunity to marvel at the way Stanisław Lem managed to pack so much into such a compact story. As well as being a gripping sci-fi mystery, his novel stands as a profound meditation on the limitations of knowledge and the impossibility of love, of truly knowing another: how a vast, cold galaxy can exist between two people. In how many relationships does the other turn out to be a projected hologram? At the book's heart is the dark and mysterious planet of Solaris: working out what it means is half the fun of the book. One thing is clear: the possibility it offers of alien contact represents "the hope for redemption", a Schopenhauerian longing to be rid of the endless cycle of want, need, and loss. In one passage, the main character notes with a touch of envy that, "automats that do not share mankind's original sin, and are so innocent that they carry out any command, to the point of destroying themselves". The motivating forces that have traditionally sustained mankind - love, relationships, belonging - are exposed as so much space debris. In a book that contains one of the most tragic love stories in modern literature, the idea of a love more powerful than death is "a lie, not ridiculous but futile".
Alessandro Juliani is a veteran of television's Battlestar Galactica, though here it's a young, pre-parody William Shatner-as-Captain Kirk that his performance sometimes evokes: the same cool, clipped delivery and occasional eccentric choice of emphasis. If he occasionally under-serves the book's dread-filled poetry, his character studies clearly carry the wounds of their earlier lives: at first, his Kris is an opaque tough guy, coolly removed from the unfolding, terrible events, until he touchingly gives way in the end to an overwhelming sense of loss. His performance as Snout is a mini-masterpiece in feral intensity, an intelligence crushed by the immense weight of limbo. As Harey, caught in "apathetic, mindless suspension", he manages to make his voice unfocussed and passive, as if distilling the bottomless sadness of her self-awareness of her own unreality. It's also a strong tribute to his performance that he can carry the pages and pages of philosophising, argumentative theology, and semi-parodic scientific reports without coming across as didactic. What could easily drag the story to a standstill is, in this recording, compellingly conveyed as an essential part of Lem's heartfelt investigation into the painful limitations of human knowledge. — Dafydd PhillipsCritic Reviews
"Juliani transmits Kelvin’s awe at Solaris’s red and blue dawns and makes his confusion palpable when he awakens one morning to find his long-dead wife seated across the room. Juliani’s performance is top-notch." ( AudioFile)
What listeners say about Solaris
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 01-12-2016
Where From And To Where
I struggled to follow this story, where it started and where was the finish..
Perhaps I will Listen again ,,
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Wildschwein
- 27-09-2024
Obtuse, cerebral and incredible
This is to literature as what 2001 is to film. A truly unique tale about people in space. You only find what you take with you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 11-03-2023
Reflections in the ocean
Many science fiction novels Solaris included depict first contact with alien lifeforms. Some of them are vast and different and others, intimating and relatable. many of the stories drawer there premise from the interaction between the two lifeforms there, attempts to understand control, help and hurt, one another. Subverting this well trodden conception of into planetary interaction the novel Solaris argues that humans as much a product of their environment as they are there own biology, would be un able to communicate with a being that does not share these core, social and biological commonalities. In the eyes of the author, attempted communication with this life form would be like screaming into the ocean and taking your half formed, reflections, mirroring of your responses, as communication. millions of years of evolution, different languages, technologies and lifespans, would render communication between the two as impossible as traversing the light years that physically separate them.
The novel argues that human attempts to categorise and investigate whether it be through the lens of religion or science, are doomed to fail for our ability to observe and interpret phenomena relies on out terrestrial biology. Rendering a lifeform that did not evolve on earth completely, and truly alien in its original meaning. The novel does not use this realisation as an opportunity to discredit humanity but simply to Humble it. The novel asks when we leave the comfortable confines of our atmosphere and venture out into space, we bring with us more than we know. Not just our technology, but our ideas, our sense of self and our concepts of superiority. It is because of these almost inherent characteristics that communication is impossible. Not all interactions should be distilled into transactions where there is a benefit such as a technological singularity. Sometimes we need to be comfortable to allow things to exist, without honouring them with a classification. After all, these lifeforms functioned for millions of years independently from us. In this way, Solaris becomes the ultimate anticolonial message. Maybe life really is better left undefined and just because we find that life does not mean it will save us or even sick to communicate. And yet the novel tells us that if we have the ears to listen the profound and the un understandable still have lessons for us. We should not seek to interpret inaction as an attack or an invitation we should not give the mouthless words, or more to the point, assume it knows how to speak with our tongue to begin with. We all communicate differently and that distinction is beautiful.
Moving from the conceptual though the novel paints a vivid and well researched science-fiction world with interesting characters and a fascinating and horrifying dilemma. In science fiction this conceptual and cerebral, it is rare to see a relationship between two people, so beautifully and realistically conveyed . This novel is many things most surprisingly I love story its central relationships are a highlight of the novel. Though this is a short book, there is a wonderful attempt to make the world of Solaris, It’s scientific exploration, and its academic history fully realised and three-dimensional. As a result, lovers of real world, science, may see a slavish, adherence to scientific principles, even when the book dismantling laws of physics and reality.
The book has a slight exposition problem there, a long sequences, where the main character reads from various tomes of invented science in the world of the text. whilst the information confine in these books is interesting and benefits, both the plot and the themes of the text, I wish there was a version of this book where more of this information had been dietetically conveyed. I have no problems with exposition when it feels organic and authentic to the characters. Solaris often achieve this. I just wish the story wasn’t segmented so harshly between the info dumps and the thrilling narrative. This exposition problem is far from a dealbreaker. I just felt it needed to be acknowledged. As with all things your milage may vary. On another note, the narrator is excellent for the most part he imbues several characters with a sense of life, personality, and interior. Sadly, his narration suffers the same pitfalls that the book does, and he struggles to find a way to keep the info dumps engaging. These sequences in the grand scheme of the book are very minor inconveniences, and this remains one of the most highly original and excellent works of science fiction ever written. Definitely check it out.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan D
- 21-11-2023
Excellent sci-fi
A fascinating novel, complex and assured. Yeh themes are as much alien mind as human rationality and I loved the density of Lem’s exploration. Some part of my feels like parts of the story could have taken more risks but it certainly was intelligent and mystical. Great narration.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2022
one of my favourites
Glad to find one of my favourite novels here. Narration wasn't bad and the story itself has always been interesting and strange. Not your average SciFi.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeremy
- 14-07-2023
Brilliant
Those seeking action will be disappointed. The beauty of this classic story lies in the questions it poses about who or what we are, and our ability to comprehend another life form. Would we understand its nature and form or purpose? This in turn holds a mirror for us to ponder what it is to exist and to be human. What are we really seeking or doing? What are we?
This book is perhaps more in the vein of philosophy.
A good friend of mine based his university thesis upon this book. If you’re willing to take the time to patiently experience this book you will find it ultimately rewarding.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Myles Johnson
- 18-08-2023
It was not for me.
Lots of long fibrous bits to chew through. Some challenging ideas for those who care. Characters communication with each other was frustrating, less is not always more.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- pootlebaby
- 01-06-2023
DNF
Just like the movie version, I could not finish this audio book and there is no way I’m going to give it a third go with the paperback version now.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 21-11-2022
Hated it
What a boring story that was. Almost nothing of interest happens and dialog is such dribble.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- JT
- 28-03-2023
DNF
Cannot believe i was recommended this book when i wanted something similar to roadside picnic. Rambling and boring, didnt feel like there was any mystery/problem being solved or explored.
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