View source for A Stanislaw Lem Reader

{{short description|Collection of writings by and about Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = A Stanislaw Lem Reader
| title_orig    =
| translator    = [[Peter Swirski]]
| image         = A Stanislaw Lem Reader.jpg
| cover_artist  =
| caption       =
| author        = [[Stanisław Lem]]
| country       = Poland
| language      = Polish
| genre         = [[Social science fiction]], [[satire]], [[philosophical novel]]
| publisher     =
| release_date  = 1997-11-12
| pages         = 129
| isbn          =  978-0810114951
| dewey         =
| congress      =
| oclc          =
}}
'''''A Stanislaw Lem Reader'''''<ref name="NUP">{{cite journal | title = A Stanislaw Lem Reader | journal = Rethinking Theory | year = 1997 | url = https://archive.org/details/stanislawlemread00lems | publisher = [[Northwestern University Press]] | isbn = 978-0-8101-1494-4 | url-access = registration }}</ref> is a collection of writings by and about [[Science fiction in Poland|Polish science fiction]] writer [[Stanisław Lem]], one of the world's most widely read science-fiction writers.<ref name="Strugatsky">{{cite book | last = Sturgeon | first = Theodore | authorlink = Theodore Sturgeon | url = http://russiansifiction.com/translated/strugazckie/picnic | title= Introduction | access-date =  2007-10-17 | date =2010-04-07| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071017093353/http://russiansifiction.com/translated/strugazckie/picnic | archive-date = 2007-10-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title= An introduction to ''Roadside Picnic'' | author = Arkady Strugatsky | author2 = Boris Strugatsky| publisher = Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc | location = New York | year = 1976| author2-link = Boris Strugatsky | author-link = Arkady Strugatsky }}</ref>  The book comprises an introduction by  Canadian literary scholar [[Peter Swirski]], two interviews by Swirski with Lem, and Swirski's translation of Lem's essay, "30 Years Later".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Butko|first=Peter|date=March 2001|title=A Stanislaw Lem Reader|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/98ac935bcd18c1af62b15e94e1b7f8d9/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=3577|journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers|volume=43|issue=1|pages=135–136|via=ProQuest|jstor=40870298}}</ref><ref name=ju>{{Cite journal|last=Jurich|first=Marilyn|date=1999|title=Review of A Stanislaw Lem Reader|journal=Utopian Studies|volume=10|issue=1|pages=285–289|issn=1045-991X|jstor=20718080}}</ref>
== Contents ==
The book is described as an "eclectic collection" on its back cover. It begins with Swirski's  introduction titled "Stanislaw Lem: A Stranger in a Strange Land", an overview of Lem's literary work. The title is an allusion to [[Robert Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'', stressing the uniqueness of Lem's original perceptions of the contemporary civilization, his aesthetics and philosophy.<ref name="ju" /><ref name=":0" />  Peter Butko described this overview as "condensed and insightful".<ref name=":0" />
The second item is "Reflections on Literature, Philosophy, and Science", a personal interview of Swirski with Lem carried out in 1992, mostly focused on Lem's views on literature.<ref name=ju/>
The third item is ''30 Years Later'', Swirski's translation of Lem's essay '' Trzydzieści lat później'' first published in Polish popular science magazine ''{{ill|Wiedza i Życie|pl}}'' ("Knowledge and Life") in 1991. It is the second afterword (After the "Twenty Years Later") to Lem's ''[[Summa Technologiae]]''. Apart from the critical remarks on [[futurology]], its significant part is the discussion of the technology  of [[virtual reality]] predicted in ''Summa Technologiae'' under the term ''fantomatyka'' ("fantomatics"), a part of his bitter philosophical dispute with Polish philosopher [[Leszek Kołakowski]].<ref>{{cite web | author = Szymon Kolwas | url = https://solaris.lem.pl/ksiazki/524-kolakowski-i-lem | title= Kołakowski i Lem: dwie "umysłowe galaktyki | year = 2010}}</ref> Lem also discusses which of his futurological predictions came true.<ref name=":0" />
The fourth item, "Lem in Nutshell", is Swirski's written interview with Lem carried out in  1994, mostly focused on Lem's views on science and philosophy.<ref name=ju/>
Comparing the second and fourth chapters (interviews), Butko notes that the "first is less formal and more conversational", while the second one is "deeper" and more scholarly.<ref name=":0" /> Unlike Jurich, who thinks the first interview was more focused on literature, and second more on science and philosophy,<ref name="ju" /> Butko concludes that both interviews have a similar focus on "the relationship of literature with philosophy and science".<ref name=":0" />
The book concludes with the bibliography section. It lists Lem's books, published both in Polish and English, and articles and essays translated into English &ndash; in the chronological order of first publications. It also includes  a comprehensive list of critical literature on Lem in English &ndash; alphabetically ordered by author.<ref name=ju/>
== Reviews ==
The book was positively reviewed by Butko, who concluded that "Swirski's book is small in volume, but dense in ideas [and] is indispensable reading for any Stanislaw Lem reader."<ref name=":0" /> Jurich was more critical, noting that while the book gives English readers "the opportunity to discover aspects of Lem not otherwise accessible [to those who do not read Polish]" it is also "far more frustrating than it is interesting or significantly informative", arguing that the book provides "too little insight into Lem's thought and art."<ref name="ju" />
==See also==
*''[[Rozmowy ze Stanisławem Lemem]]'', a Polish-language in-depth book-length interview with Lem
*[[Bibliography of Stanisław Lem#Interviews]], other interviews with Lem
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Stanisław Lem}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanislaw Lem Reader}}
[[Category:1997 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Works by Stanisław Lem]]
[[Category:Books of interviews]]