SOURCE: “The Quest for Art: Lem's Analysis of Borges,” in Extrapolation, Vol. 29, No. 1, Spring, 1988, pp. 53–64.

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.”

As a critic, Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem is anything but worshipful. Having, as he does, a belief that the purpose of contemporary criticism is to improve the future works of the author in question, he is never satisfied with merely praising a writer. One often has the impression he is embarrassed at making laudatory remarks and is quick to get on to the “meat” of his comments—the pointing out of structural or logical weaknesses. However, to have one's faults specifically pointed out by the august Lem is, in fact, great praise, since he regards inferior writers as beneath his contempt. While many critics...