Solaris
The Definitive Edition
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Solaris
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Narrated by:
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Alessandro Juliani
About this listen
At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation, unabridged for the first time, and the first ever direct translation from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.
In Solaris, Kris Kelvin arrives on an orbiting research station to study the remarkable ocean that covers the planet’s surface. But his fellow scientists appear to be losing their grip on reality, plagued by physical manifestations of their repressed memories. When Kelvin’s long-dead wife suddenly reappears, he is forced to confront the pain of his past - while living a future that never was. Can Kelvin unlock the mystery of Solaris? Does he even want to?
©1961 Stanislaw Lem. Translation © 2011 by Barbara and Tomasz Lem (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
Editor reviews
This fine, new, direct-to-English translation of Solaris allows listeners a new opportunity to marvel at the way Stanisław Lem managed to pack so much into such a compact story. As well as being a gripping sci-fi mystery, his novel stands as a profound meditation on the limitations of knowledge and the impossibility of love, of truly knowing another: how a vast, cold galaxy can exist between two people. In how many relationships does the other turn out to be a projected hologram? At the book's heart is the dark and mysterious planet of Solaris: working out what it means is half the fun of the book. One thing is clear: the possibility it offers of alien contact represents "the hope for redemption", a Schopenhauerian longing to be rid of the endless cycle of want, need, and loss. In one passage, the main character notes with a touch of envy that, "automats that do not share mankind's original sin, and are so innocent that they carry out any command, to the point of destroying themselves". The motivating forces that have traditionally sustained mankind - love, relationships, belonging - are exposed as so much space debris. In a book that contains one of the most tragic love stories in modern literature, the idea of a love more powerful than death is "a lie, not ridiculous but futile".
Alessandro Juliani is a veteran of television's Battlestar Galactica, though here it's a young, pre-parody William Shatner-as-Captain Kirk that his performance sometimes evokes: the same cool, clipped delivery and occasional eccentric choice of emphasis. If he occasionally under-serves the book's dread-filled poetry, his character studies clearly carry the wounds of their earlier lives: at first, his Kris is an opaque tough guy, coolly removed from the unfolding, terrible events, until he touchingly gives way in the end to an overwhelming sense of loss. His performance as Snout is a mini-masterpiece in feral intensity, an intelligence crushed by the immense weight of limbo. As Harey, caught in "apathetic, mindless suspension", he manages to make his voice unfocussed and passive, as if distilling the bottomless sadness of her self-awareness of her own unreality. It's also a strong tribute to his performance that he can carry the pages and pages of philosophising, argumentative theology, and semi-parodic scientific reports without coming across as didactic. What could easily drag the story to a standstill is, in this recording, compellingly conveyed as an essential part of Lem's heartfelt investigation into the painful limitations of human knowledge. — Dafydd PhillipsCritic reviews
"Juliani transmits Kelvin’s awe at Solaris’s red and blue dawns and makes his confusion palpable when he awakens one morning to find his long-dead wife seated across the room. Juliani’s performance is top-notch." ( AudioFile)
What listeners say about Solaris
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Aaron Scott
- 04-11-23
Disappointing
Overall I’m a little disappointed with this one after finally getting around to it. I’m a massive sci-fi fan, old and new but this felt like 90% filler and 10% story
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-03-18
Great book with pacing issues
first of all id like to start off by saying this book was very enjoyable. my only issue with it was the pacing of the book. If you are a fan of sci fi it is a must but if you arent stay clear.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca
- 03-12-18
Never boring and constantly making you think
A really interesting psycho/philosophical sci-fi piece that asked more questions than it answered but still kept me hooked.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Neil
- 02-01-18
Finally given a proper translation
A classic sci-fi novel finally given a proper translation.
Forget the movies, they miss the whole point of this story.
Not the easiest of listens, but thoroughly enjoyable with a little effort. Not a book to listen to whilst doing something else. So find a quite hour each day.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paul Hamer
- 01-02-21
A classic story.
This is a classic of the sci fi genre. I am glad I listened to it. It is well translated and captures the spirit of the time well, the lingering threats and strangeness of the environment the protagonist is in.
Thought provoking. But maybe unfulfilling at the end.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- WinonaForever
- 21-04-22
Great edition.
I heard an audiobook once before many years ago. It was very dry and having seen the films since I fancied knowing more of the great mysterious planet. Listening to this new version was superb, like the 2001 book, it goes into way more details and explains way more. It still leaves it up to you but aids clarification. I'm looking forward to rewatching the 70' s film again now.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- spencerhudson
- 27-01-15
Glad to of read the book - more detail than film
More detail than film and more haunting. Well recommended as a better alternative to the film. It's less "commercial" and far more interesting.
But it ends and leaves more questions ... But isn't that just what Solaris is ... A mystery of incomprehensible size and reasoning
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Call me Bob
- 01-01-21
One of the best classic Russian SciFi books.
If you liked Stalker then this is for you.
Still leaves you hanging at the end and not in order to create an opening for a sequel.
Interesting ideas and questions raised.
Some of the old-style bombastic concepts like atomics and ray guns but not enough to be off-putting.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul D
- 15-02-19
Original science fiction
No intergalactic warfare. Original intelligent psychological science fiction. Quality writing and narration. Well worth a listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Daniel W.
- 27-11-22
Thoughtful but unsatisfying
I found this a lovely listen with a nice premise, but ultimately unsatisfying. This is probably sacrilege but I am here to tell the truth.
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