Critical Essay by Reuel K. Wilson
In his well-constructed novels and stories Lem transcends the hackneyed conventions of [science fiction]. He felicitously combines erudition with suspense, verbal in...
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Critical Essay by Kurt Vonnegut
[I find Stanislaw Lem] a master of utterly terminal pessimism, appalled by all that an insane humanity may yet survive to do.
We are pollution.
He wants us to fe...
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Critical Essay by Joyce Carol Oates
[In Post-Modernist literature there is an obsession] with the primacy of style and structure over "subject matter": The artist is willfully and ingen...
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Critical Essay by John Updike
["The Chain of Chance"] is narrated, in traditional pitiless side-of-the-mouth style, by the protagonist/detective, an American ex-astronaut named, we bela...
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Critical Essay by Stephen W. Potts
Lem has been delighting European readers of science fiction for two decades, and has recently garnered laurels in the U.S. … Though A Perfect Vacuum is not p...
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Critical Essay by Gerald Jonas
In the highly unlikely event that a science-fiction writer is deemed worthy of a Nobel Prize in the near future, the most likely candidate would be … Stanislaw L...
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In the following interview, originally conducted in May 1985, Lem discusses his approach to discursive and fictional writing, his literary and philosophical influences, and the problem of art and spec...
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In the following review, Baranczak provides an overview of Lem's literary accomplishments and discusses his early realist novel Hospital of the Transfiguration.
Q: What puts Stanislaw Lem in...
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In the following review, Clute offers a positive assessment of Hospital of the Transfiguration.
Written in 1948, but not published in any language until the 1980s, Hospital of the Transfiguration m...
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In the following review, Clute offers a positive assessment of Eden, but notes that archaic qualities in the novel may be attributed to its original 1959 publication date.
Of all the writers of sci...
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In the following review, Lewis offers a positive assessment of Eden, but notes that it does not match the excellence of Lem's best works.
Originally published in 1959, Eden is Stanislaw Lem&...
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In the following essay, Swirski examines the interpenetration of reality and illusion in The Futurological Congress and argues that the narrative's self-reflexive structure is not an autonomous...
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In the following essay, Parker examines the construction of gender identity and femininity in “The Mask,” drawing attention to Lem's use of a robot to illustrate the process of so...
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In the following essay, Cheever examines Lem's skeptical attitude toward the problem of human knowledge in His Master's Voice and the protagonist's “feeling of embarrassmen...
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In the following essay, Swirski examines the fundamental epistemological concerns in Lem's fiction, as exemplified in The Invincible.
Even a general overview of Stanislaw Lem's fictio...
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In the following essay, Krabbenhoft examines elements of Christian morality in Lem's novels concerning human encounters with extraterrestrial life. Focusing on Fiasco, Solaris, The Invincible, ...
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In the following essay, Weinstone discusses the characterization of monsters in Western literature. Weinstone examines Mary Shelley's character, Frankenstein, and Lem's character, Rheya,...
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In the following essay, Swirski applies game theory analysis to Lem's Memoirs Found in a Bathtub in order to describe the insanity and paranoia that conditions military strategy, political ideo...
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In the following review, Baranczak discusses the critical reception of Highcastle: A Remembrance upon its original 1966 publication, and the problems with reading Lem's factual memoir in light ...
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In the following essay, Philmus examines aspects of generic self-referentiality and the differentiation of real and imaginary worlds through language in The Futurological Congress. Philmus views Lem&#...
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In the following review of Highcastle: A Remembrance, Lewis commends Lem's insight into the workings of memory and the details of his physical world, but finds shortcomings in his lack of ...
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In the following essay, Swirski provides an overview of Lem's wide-ranging publications and the development of his philosophical, literary, and sociopolitical concerns.
A stranger in a stran...
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In the following essay, Jurich examines the presentation of “pseudo-utopias” in Lem's fiction. Jurich holds that Lem reveals the insidious oppression and self-destruction inherent...
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In the following essay, Anninski examines Lem's philosophical and literary perspective in Highcastle: A Remembrance, drawing parallels between Lem's formative experiences and his preoccu...
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In the following essay, Rodnianskaia examines Lem's literary approach and philosophical perspective in his novel His Master's Voice, particularly Lem's “philosophy of chanc...
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In the following essay, Jarzebski examines the development of Lem's philosophical perspective in his Star Diaries stories, drawing attention to Lem's mockery of intellectual arrogance an...
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In the following essay, Kandel discusses the evolution of Lem's philosophical outlook and various literary approaches, from satire to cross-genre philosophy to science fiction. Kandel concludes...
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In the following essay, Davis discusses Lem's literary criticism and views on Jorge Louis Borges, presented in the essay “Unitas Oppositorum: The Prose of Jorge Louis Borges.”
...
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In the following review of Hospital of the Transfiguration, Urbanska commends Lem's “acute powers of observation,” but finds shortcomings in the novel's disengaged characte...
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Critical Essay by Reuel K. Wilson
