Tuesday, March 28, 2006
A Literary Giant Passes
Yesterday, on my site meter, I was getting hits for my bitter complaint that Stanislaw Lem had not received the Nobel Prize for Literature (too late now) when I asked, "Has Stanislaw Lem died and nobody told me?" So, I knew before it was reported that the great Polish writer, author of at least 7 genius class novels, had died at age 84 of a heart aliment. I'm not sad, it was a good long life and about 25 novels, most good and several great. Most are science fiction, serious, reality based science fiction (if that's not too weird a conjunction of words) but Lem hated the label. If you don't like science fiction, try his first novel, The Hospital of the Transfiguration, about the Nazi invasion of Poland. It is heartbreaking without being completely dismal. His best books, I think, are, in no particular order: The Futurological Congress, Solaris, The Chain of Chance, The Cyberiad, His Masters' Voice, Imaginary Magnitude, and Fiasco. I also liked one of the Pirx tales, about moon landing simulation. Very funny. Best to stay away from the movies made of his works, though.
OK, I'm a little sad.
OK, I'm a little sad.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:52 AM 
