Stanisław Lem
Paperback | Pages: 286 pages Rating: 4.27 | 6369 Users | 274 Reviews
Point Books As The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1)
| Original Title: | Dzienniki gwiazdowe |
| ISBN: | 0156849054 (ISBN13: 9780156849050) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://english.lem.pl/ |
| Series: | Ijon Tichy #1 |
| Characters: | Ijon Tichy |
Representaion In Pursuance Of Books The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1)
Although Solaris is Stanislaw Lem’s most esteemed work, I believe The Star Diaries—the contemporaneous memoirs of star-pilot Ijon Tichy—to be a better representative of his genius, for it is ambitious in scope, inventive, and often profound.
The Star Diaries, a series of interplanetary adventures ranging in size from mere vignette to long novella, was written over a period of twenty years, and therefore--no surprise!—these pieces vary considerably in seriousness and depth, moving from the playful to the satiric and eventually the philosophical. Yet even the earliest, like “The Twenty-Second Voyage”—the numbering bears no relation to the date of composition—are often surprising and memorable (part of its plot resurfaced, more than a decade later, in Borges’ “The Gospel According to Mark”).
Although these stories are remarkably original, they also show a clear progression of influences. Ijon Tichy, who begins as the Baron Munchausen of space travel, soon resembles Swift’s Gulliver more closely as he begins to comment on the hypocrisies of society, but eventually Lem’s tone darkens and deepens as Tichy becomes less a star-pilot and more like the disembodied narrative voice of Stapledon’s Starmaker.
The Star Diaries contains excellent examples of each type of story. “The Twenty-Second Voyage,” for example, is a very Munchausen-like tale, organized around Tichy’s search through the planets for his missing pipe. “The Eleventh Voyage,” a satire of the totalitarian state in which people dressed as robots inform on other people dressed as robots, is Lem in his classic Swiftian mode. Even better, though, are the later Swiftian tales where Tichy, still a hero, begins to explore more philosophical topics: “The Seventh Voyage” (a hilarious send-up of time travel tales in general, where Tichy attempts to travel back in time to help himself fix his damaged spacecraft), and “The Eighth Voyage” (in which Tichy, delegate to The United Planets, represents earth, a candidate for admission).
Also worthy of attention are the later tales, of which a quintessential example is “The Twenty-First Voyage,” the last in order of composition and also the longest. I’ll admit I found it rough-going in places, but the startling difference between the two peoples presented here—nonreligious human consumed with a fad for body-engineering contrasted with robot monks who reverence the classic human form—was haunting and thought-provoking. It presented elements of the “pro-choice” and “right to life” philosophical positions in an extremely different context, and gave me much to think about.
If you love science fiction, you must read this book. It is a classic of the genre, crowded with invention and full of ideas.
List Appertaining To Books The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1)
| Title | : | The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1) |
| Author | : | Stanisław Lem |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 286 pages |
| Published | : | June 26th 1985 by Mariner Books (first published 1971) |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fiction. Short Stories. Humor |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1)
Ratings: 4.27 From 6369 Users | 274 ReviewsAssessment Appertaining To Books The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (Ijon Tichy #1)
The morning I started reading this edition of Lems Star Diaries, I got about a hundred pages into it. When I put it down, I felt like I had over-indulged at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Each of Ijon Tichys intergalactic adventures in the 23rd century comes so packed with jokes, adventure, word play, hairsbreadth escapes, satire, and sophisticated scientific and philosophical speculation, they are best absorbed one at a time. They are going to all run together in the end, leaving the reader asI wouldn't consider myself a sci fi fan, but this author, like Capek's War With the Newts, has very good points in religion, philosophy, politics, human nature to illustrate. There are dizzying time travel loops, odd creatures and machines, fascinating customs like squamp hunting, like in many sci fi novels no doubt. This one didn't really endear itself to me until the 21st voyage, I have to say, where there is a discussion about God and Satan as dizzying as the recursive time travel loops are
The Star Diaries is yet another work demonstrating Lems impressive range as an author. In this collections tales, many of which can be described as slapstick, Lem tackles history, philosophy, religion, and of course science, with tongue planted firmly in cheek throughout. We experience these many farces through the protagonist Ijon Tichy, who is a bit genre savvy but not at all actually savvy (try keeping track of how many times hes imprisoned). The voice that Lem gives Tichy unifies these
I wouldn't consider myself a sci fi fan, but this author, like Capek's War With the Newts, has very good points in religion, philosophy, politics, human nature to illustrate. There are dizzying time travel loops, odd creatures and machines, fascinating customs like squamp hunting, like in many sci fi novels no doubt. This one didn't really endear itself to me until the 21st voyage, I have to say, where there is a discussion about God and Satan as dizzying as the recursive time travel loops are
The stories in this collection are variable. All are humorous, but some struck me as simply silly.
Equally satirical and philosophical, hilarious and serious, playful and threatening, Stanisław Lem's The Star Diaries is a brilliantly imaginative short story collection about astronaut Ijon Tichy and his bizarre adventures across the cosmos. Lem's stories come across as a mix of the juvenile, satirical humour of Jaroslav Hašek and the menacing absurdism of Franz Kafka. Some of the stories are hilariously funny yet there is always a menacing undercurrent, a pessimism perhaps easier found in his
I love this collection of short-stories about the adventures of astronaut-adventurer Ijon Tichy. The stories are often Swiftian and usually very funny. My favorite involves Tichy in a time-loop in which he argues with a series of past and future selves to try to repair his space-ship. It is an early exploration of themes that are played out more fully in The Time Traveler's Wife. Great summer reading: it's funny and playful but still thought-provoking.
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