Stanislaw Lem(1921-2006)
- Writer
Stanislaw Lem was a visionary Polish author known for
Solaris (1972).
He was born on September 12, 1921, in Lwów, Poland. His father, Samuel
Lem, was a wealthy laryngologist who served in the Austrian army. His
mother, Sabina Woller, was a homemaker. Although he was born into a
Polish-Jewish family, Lem was raised a Catholic and later became an
atheist. He graduated from the Lwów Gymnazium in 1939, then studied
medicine at the Lvov Medical Institute in 1940-1941. During WWII, he
survived the Nazi occupation of Lwów and worked as a mechanic and
welder for a German firm until 1944.
After World War II Lem escaped from the Soviet occupation of Germany
and moved to Krakow, Poland, as a repatriate. There he completed his
medical studies at Jagellonian University, without taking the doctor's
degree. He worked at the Konserwatorium Naukoznawcze as a research
assistant for psychologist Dr. Choynowski. From 1946-1949 Lem was
involved in medical research in psychology, which became a turning
point in his life. He started writing poetry and science fiction in
1946, but his first serious novel, "Hospital of the Transfiguration",
was suppressed by the Polish government for eight years. It was
released only in 1956, when freedom of speech was earned after the
"Polish October" popular uprising.
Lem quit medicine in 1949, because he did not want to be drafted into
the army. He married a doctor instead of being one. In 1949 he became a
professional writer and continued creating his increasingly unusual
novels: "The Investigation", "Eden", "Return from the Stars". The 1960s
and 1970s were the most productive for Lem. At that time he wrote
'Solaris', 'The Invincible', 'The Cyberiad', 'His Master's Voice', 'The
Star Diaries', 'The Futurological Congress', and 'Tales of Pirx the
Pilot'. His gift of a visionary materialized in 'Summa Technologiae'
(Sum of Technologies, 1964), which tackled problems of virtual reality.
Lem showed his talent for premonition in "Katar" (1975), which
predicted international terrorism, and in "Observations on the Spot"'
(1982), which showed absurdity of a conflict between two civilizations.
His novel 'Solaris' was adapted into eponymous films twice. First came
the Russian-made film adaptation by director
Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, starring
Donatas Banionis and
Natalya Bondarchuk. Lem spent six
months working with Tarkovsky in Moscow, but their collaboration ended
in a bitter conflict over the changes and additions to the original
story. After seeing edited parts of the 1972 film, Lem said of
Tarkovsky: "Instead of focusing on deeper moral questions related to
frontiers of human knowledge, he made a drama-type 'Crime and
Punishment' in space, by making up unnecessary characters of parents
and relatives, then adding a hut on an island." "Tarkovsky was a
genius, but he was moving in the opposite direction from my book", also
said Lem. Upon his doctor's advice Lem did not want to see the 2002
remake by director Steven Soderbergh,
starring George Clooney and
Natascha McElhone.
"Solaris" (1961) is arguably the best known work of Lem's works. It
deals with the problem of human existence in the world of the unknown.
It also shows the inevitability of misunderstandings in human contacts
with other worlds. Planet Solaris is inhabited by a single Plasma Ocean
organism with the eerie ability to materialize human thoughts. When
astronauts become more aggressive in forcing contact with Solaris, it
confronts them with pushing the buttons of their most painful thoughts
by recreating their dead wives and relatives, and virtually bringing
the dead back to life in front of their eyes. Obsolete biological human
impulses are shown in stark contrast with the magnitude of the
ocean-size organism. At some point humans become an irrational
liability to their machine partner, the spaceship. Lem's imagination
and talent for creation of alternative reality challenges the limits of
human knowledge.
"Past is more perfect than future, which makes me sad," said Lem.
Although some of his predictions came true, he expressed his
disappointment about the failure of many positive prognosis that were
made during the 1960s and 1970s. He died on March 27, 2006, in Kraków,
and was laid to rest in the Salwatorski cemetery in Kraków, Poland. His
books sold over 27 million copies in 41 languages.
Solaris (1972).
He was born on September 12, 1921, in Lwów, Poland. His father, Samuel
Lem, was a wealthy laryngologist who served in the Austrian army. His
mother, Sabina Woller, was a homemaker. Although he was born into a
Polish-Jewish family, Lem was raised a Catholic and later became an
atheist. He graduated from the Lwów Gymnazium in 1939, then studied
medicine at the Lvov Medical Institute in 1940-1941. During WWII, he
survived the Nazi occupation of Lwów and worked as a mechanic and
welder for a German firm until 1944.
After World War II Lem escaped from the Soviet occupation of Germany
and moved to Krakow, Poland, as a repatriate. There he completed his
medical studies at Jagellonian University, without taking the doctor's
degree. He worked at the Konserwatorium Naukoznawcze as a research
assistant for psychologist Dr. Choynowski. From 1946-1949 Lem was
involved in medical research in psychology, which became a turning
point in his life. He started writing poetry and science fiction in
1946, but his first serious novel, "Hospital of the Transfiguration",
was suppressed by the Polish government for eight years. It was
released only in 1956, when freedom of speech was earned after the
"Polish October" popular uprising.
Lem quit medicine in 1949, because he did not want to be drafted into
the army. He married a doctor instead of being one. In 1949 he became a
professional writer and continued creating his increasingly unusual
novels: "The Investigation", "Eden", "Return from the Stars". The 1960s
and 1970s were the most productive for Lem. At that time he wrote
'Solaris', 'The Invincible', 'The Cyberiad', 'His Master's Voice', 'The
Star Diaries', 'The Futurological Congress', and 'Tales of Pirx the
Pilot'. His gift of a visionary materialized in 'Summa Technologiae'
(Sum of Technologies, 1964), which tackled problems of virtual reality.
Lem showed his talent for premonition in "Katar" (1975), which
predicted international terrorism, and in "Observations on the Spot"'
(1982), which showed absurdity of a conflict between two civilizations.
His novel 'Solaris' was adapted into eponymous films twice. First came
the Russian-made film adaptation by director
Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, starring
Donatas Banionis and
Natalya Bondarchuk. Lem spent six
months working with Tarkovsky in Moscow, but their collaboration ended
in a bitter conflict over the changes and additions to the original
story. After seeing edited parts of the 1972 film, Lem said of
Tarkovsky: "Instead of focusing on deeper moral questions related to
frontiers of human knowledge, he made a drama-type 'Crime and
Punishment' in space, by making up unnecessary characters of parents
and relatives, then adding a hut on an island." "Tarkovsky was a
genius, but he was moving in the opposite direction from my book", also
said Lem. Upon his doctor's advice Lem did not want to see the 2002
remake by director Steven Soderbergh,
starring George Clooney and
Natascha McElhone.
"Solaris" (1961) is arguably the best known work of Lem's works. It
deals with the problem of human existence in the world of the unknown.
It also shows the inevitability of misunderstandings in human contacts
with other worlds. Planet Solaris is inhabited by a single Plasma Ocean
organism with the eerie ability to materialize human thoughts. When
astronauts become more aggressive in forcing contact with Solaris, it
confronts them with pushing the buttons of their most painful thoughts
by recreating their dead wives and relatives, and virtually bringing
the dead back to life in front of their eyes. Obsolete biological human
impulses are shown in stark contrast with the magnitude of the
ocean-size organism. At some point humans become an irrational
liability to their machine partner, the spaceship. Lem's imagination
and talent for creation of alternative reality challenges the limits of
human knowledge.
"Past is more perfect than future, which makes me sad," said Lem.
Although some of his predictions came true, he expressed his
disappointment about the failure of many positive prognosis that were
made during the 1960s and 1970s. He died on March 27, 2006, in Kraków,
and was laid to rest in the Salwatorski cemetery in Kraków, Poland. His
books sold over 27 million copies in 41 languages.