R.I.P. Stanislaw Lem



Since I was a young Katz I spend uncountable hours devouring the books
of polish science fiction writer and philosoph Stanislaw Lem.

A family in a tube (can be squeezed out), drawing by Stanislaw Lem

Indeed, Lem's very breadth may be his most distinguishing characteristic; as one of his most astute reviewers, J. Madison Davis, has written, "One cannot dislike Lem; one can only dislike parts of him."
There are many reasons to read Lem. His stories, charged with invention and wit, never fail to entertain. At the same time, no living writer has used fiction to engage scientific problems as seriously as Lem, who views prognosis as one of literature's most important functions. Ours is the age of cybernetics and genetics. We stand, precarious, on the verge of making not just new choices -- for that is simply the human condition -- but the new sorts of choices that technology makes possible; and there is little other than imagination available to guide our next steps. Stanislaw Lem shows that science fiction, now more than ever, is good to think with, and he has revealed rich new possibilities for the genre.Nathan M. Powers, 1 October 1999


Tribodice with child, drawing by Stanislaw Lem


"For moral reasons I am an atheist—for moral reasons.
I am of the opinion that you would recognize a creator by his creation, and the world appears to me to be put together in such a painful way that I prefer to believe that it was not created by anyone than to think that somebody created this intentionally."Stanislaw Lem, 1984

Stanislaw Lem died today at the age of 84 in Kraków