03-28-2006, 11:51 PM
Stanislaw Lem is dead.
I'm putting this in the book section because, well, he wrote books.
He may have been my biggest influence.
The Cyberiad -- Tales of the Cybernetic Age was the first book of his I read, and I suppose it remains my favorite. The Futurological Congress got to me too. Memoir Found in a Bathtub as well. There was also The Investigation, and the last work of his I read, Fiasco. I believe most of these works were translated into English by Michael Kandel, who did an absolutely brilliant job (Lem uses lots of puns and plays on words).
Solaris has never been directly translated into English. I'm not certain of the exact path it took to our language, but it wasn't direct. Anyway, maybe that's why I found it dry and boring, despite a great premise.
I've read maybe seven of his books. In searching the Web, I see I've missed a fair number. I will have to catch up now -- belatedly, as usual.
I might as well bring up "The Lem Affair." Perhaps you've heard of it. In the mid-70s, with Lem's reputation soaring, SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) presented Lem with an honorary membership. But shortly thereafter, a Lem article was published which condemned American science fiction in the harshest terms. Some American SF writers -- notably, Philip Jose Farmer, threatened to quit the organization unless Lem was tossed out. Farmer claimed that Phil Dick was in agreement and would quit as well. Phil Dick later denied this, but by this time Phil Dick was pretty much a basket case (writing letters to the FBI, claiming that Lem was not a person but a communist organization that was infiltrating America by means of literature). Anyway, it's not clear how many threatened to quit, but apparently lots of pressure was put on SFWA, which did yank Lem's honorary membership. If the above is basically true, it speaks poorly of the organization. But the details have been disputed.
I actually had an opportunity to ask Damon Knight (founder of SFWA) about The Lem Affair. He felt it had been blown out of all proportion. The points he made were, 1) Lem never had an interest in being a member of SFWA, 2) Lem lacked balance, manners and social skills in his attacks on other writers -- in other words, he himself was known to overreact.
Those are not Knight's exact words, but I think it's close to his meaning. Having told me that, Knight paused, then added, "But he's a brilliant man. Absolutely brilliant." And Knight's eyes were reflective, full of admiration.
I recall reading an article by Jerry Pournelle, who may have been President of SFWA at the time this all went down. Again, I could be wrong. But Pournelle's stance was that the honorary membership was withdrawn due to evidence (not entirely direct) that Lem did not want the membership. Pournelle went on to say that he had tried to read Lem, but found it utterly boring -- suggesting that Lem never really deserved being an honorary member in the first place. When I read this remark, my opinion of Pournelle went from lofty to zero. He essentially attacked the person rather fairly addressing the issue. Talk about a logical fallacy. Also, Pournelle is a very good science writer with some rudimentary prose skills, while Lem is a brilliant storyteller who just happens to be a brilliant scientist as well. Pournelle simply was not qualified to pass any such judgment.
A long time ago I read a book of critical essays by Lem where he trashed American SF. Interestingly, he allowed for a certain amount of American talent, citing Damon Knight and (if I recall correctly) LeGuin for their scholarship and critical eye.
Anyway, enough chatter. I need to revisit Lem.
--cranefly
I'm putting this in the book section because, well, he wrote books.
He may have been my biggest influence.
The Cyberiad -- Tales of the Cybernetic Age was the first book of his I read, and I suppose it remains my favorite. The Futurological Congress got to me too. Memoir Found in a Bathtub as well. There was also The Investigation, and the last work of his I read, Fiasco. I believe most of these works were translated into English by Michael Kandel, who did an absolutely brilliant job (Lem uses lots of puns and plays on words).
Solaris has never been directly translated into English. I'm not certain of the exact path it took to our language, but it wasn't direct. Anyway, maybe that's why I found it dry and boring, despite a great premise.
I've read maybe seven of his books. In searching the Web, I see I've missed a fair number. I will have to catch up now -- belatedly, as usual.
I might as well bring up "The Lem Affair." Perhaps you've heard of it. In the mid-70s, with Lem's reputation soaring, SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) presented Lem with an honorary membership. But shortly thereafter, a Lem article was published which condemned American science fiction in the harshest terms. Some American SF writers -- notably, Philip Jose Farmer, threatened to quit the organization unless Lem was tossed out. Farmer claimed that Phil Dick was in agreement and would quit as well. Phil Dick later denied this, but by this time Phil Dick was pretty much a basket case (writing letters to the FBI, claiming that Lem was not a person but a communist organization that was infiltrating America by means of literature). Anyway, it's not clear how many threatened to quit, but apparently lots of pressure was put on SFWA, which did yank Lem's honorary membership. If the above is basically true, it speaks poorly of the organization. But the details have been disputed.
I actually had an opportunity to ask Damon Knight (founder of SFWA) about The Lem Affair. He felt it had been blown out of all proportion. The points he made were, 1) Lem never had an interest in being a member of SFWA, 2) Lem lacked balance, manners and social skills in his attacks on other writers -- in other words, he himself was known to overreact.
Those are not Knight's exact words, but I think it's close to his meaning. Having told me that, Knight paused, then added, "But he's a brilliant man. Absolutely brilliant." And Knight's eyes were reflective, full of admiration.
I recall reading an article by Jerry Pournelle, who may have been President of SFWA at the time this all went down. Again, I could be wrong. But Pournelle's stance was that the honorary membership was withdrawn due to evidence (not entirely direct) that Lem did not want the membership. Pournelle went on to say that he had tried to read Lem, but found it utterly boring -- suggesting that Lem never really deserved being an honorary member in the first place. When I read this remark, my opinion of Pournelle went from lofty to zero. He essentially attacked the person rather fairly addressing the issue. Talk about a logical fallacy. Also, Pournelle is a very good science writer with some rudimentary prose skills, while Lem is a brilliant storyteller who just happens to be a brilliant scientist as well. Pournelle simply was not qualified to pass any such judgment.
A long time ago I read a book of critical essays by Lem where he trashed American SF. Interestingly, he allowed for a certain amount of American talent, citing Damon Knight and (if I recall correctly) LeGuin for their scholarship and critical eye.
Anyway, enough chatter. I need to revisit Lem.
--cranefly
