The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem [Spoiler Free Review][Masterpieces of SF Ep. 56]

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SF Words of Wonder

Күн бұрын

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@LiminalSpaces03 2 ай бұрын

More Lem on my list! Great review!

@TauZeroSF 2 ай бұрын

I loved the Cyberiad! Glad you enjoyed it too. I have the Penguin Modern Classics edition and it has the illustrations too.

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

It was a fun read, cheers.

@CptSamel 2 ай бұрын

Neato, it’s I Robot meets Horton Hears a Who!

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Haha, crossover SF.

@vintagesf 2 ай бұрын

Love those illustrations with the book. Just checked my copy of Memoirs in a Bathtub which I have in this livery. No illustrations. 😢 Collecting Lem’s work. Look forward to reading more including this one.

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, the illustrations are great. I really liked the video you did with Bart on The Invincibles but I stopped watching when you guys started talking about spoilers.

@vintagesf 2 ай бұрын

@@sfwordsofwonder Understandable. Perhaps we should do one with Bart on a future Lem?

@jbrichardson8891 2 ай бұрын

I've only read solaris and am now reading the cyberiad which is vastly different and highly enjoyable

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Solaris will be my next Lem. I tried it years ago and just wasn't feeling it but I think I've grown as a reader.

@OXyShow 2 ай бұрын

I did really like it also, always considered Lem a very serious writer and i still do but im surprised he could write something like this really, i have also read by him Solaris, Memories found in a bathtub and Fiasco and loved them all

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

He really writes good humor. I think Solaris will be my next Lem read.

@PeterKerans-h6z 2 ай бұрын

Your point on the different Lem flavours was well made by Jonathan Lethem, I think his article The Five Lems is still online. Cyberiad is an old fave of mine, best dipped into between other books. I came across the story Trurls Electronic Bard in a British sf magazine as a teenager and loved it. Also try Star Diaries and the collection Mortal Engines. I still remember the poetry: grinding gleeful gears / gerontogyron grabbed / giggling gynecobalt-60 golems … mad, brilliant!

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the information on the article, I'll check it out. And thanks for the recommendations. Yeah, that poems was something else, I loved it.

@peterdixon6807 2 ай бұрын

The translator on this work did quite a few other Lem books about the same time and seemed to do a very good job. I have read other translators and the prose is slightly stilted. However, some of Lem’s work are a lot darker, extremely wordy and dense so watch out for that other end of his ‘spectrum’, not all is absurdist comedy. I believe he was a Doctor and also a humanist by nature, definitely not a technologist, but a keen thinker on the human and non-human conditions. The first of his I read was ‘The Investigation’, 1976, which started me on a Lem hunt. Thanks for the reminder - when there are no new books published from an author each year they drop down my ‘to read’ list [Iain M Banks, William Gibson, PKD, etc etc- perhaps 40 years is a good re-read cycle.

@peterdixon6807 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the steer on Jonathan Lethem. I will seek it out.

@thekeywitness 2 ай бұрын

The Futurological Congress is humorous as well. I laughed out loud a lot actually. And it’s pretty psychedelic. Fun read.

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Great, I already have that one as well. Thanks.

@bartsbookspace 2 ай бұрын

I'm glad you enjoyed this one! When you're in the mood for more of the "comedic" or at least "fun to read" Lem, I would consider reading Star Diaries or Tales of Pirx the Pilot. I'll definitely re-read Cyberiad (its been a long time) and compare the English translation side by side with the Polish original.

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

Thanks Bart, I'd mostly be interested in a comparison with the poem that has the math elements. It was so good in English so I'm sure it's even better in Polish.

@bartsbookspace 2 ай бұрын

@@sfwordsofwonder I vaguely remember that story. It’ll be the first one I’ll compare. 👍

@themojocorpse1290 2 ай бұрын

Hi ira I have been reading Stanislaw lem for a while and have enjoyed his work immensely . I’m adding him to a relatively small selection of authors where I’m going to try to read all their work or at least a major part PKD, priest silverberg , disch and lem I would say are my rather elite set of SF writers to focus on although my reading is very wide ranging . Terrific stuff you are doing love the channel . Straight to point analysis of what you read I appreciate it’s a great approach so thanks for choosing some great books and happy reading mate🫡

@sfwordsofwonder 2 ай бұрын

I think we have similar tastes, because I can see myself diving deep into all the authors you mentioned. I could add Michael Bishop and Simak to the list too.