Author: Stanisław Lem Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN: 9780156340403 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 160
Book Description
Bringing his twin gifts of scientific speculation and scathing satire to bear on that hapless planet, Earth, Lem sends his unlucky cosmonaut, Ijon Tichy, to the Eighth Futurological Congress. Caught up in local revolution, Tichy is shot and so critically wounded that he is flashfrozen to await a future cure. Translated by Michael Kandel.
Author: Stanisław Lem Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN: 9780156621618 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
Publisher description: Translated from the original Polish text, and with an introduction by Michael Kandel. These fourteen science fiction stories reveal Stainslaw Lem's fascination with artificial intelligence and demonstrate just how surprisingly human sentient machines can be. The first eleven stories, a cycle called "Fables for Robots," are set in a cosmos inhabited exclusively by machines. Revolving around an assortment of electroknights and cyberkings, the stories combine the timeless quality of fairy tales and parables with a twist that is unmistakably Lem.
Author: Stanislaw Lem Publisher: HMH ISBN: 0547995121 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 243
Book Description
Robot armies, an arms race in space, and a brain at war with itself add up to “a futuristic version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (The Boston Phoenix). Anxious to avoid a war that would destroy the entire planet, the major powers of Earth have come to an ingenious compromise. Each country sends a force of adaptable, self-programming robots to the surface of the moon to play out the conflict there and, hopefully, reach a mutually agreeable stalemate. But when the robots stop responding, it is up to Ijon Tichy to travel to the lunar war zone and discover what went wrong. Tichy finds what he needs to know, but falls victim to an attack that severs the left and right sides of his brain: one of which knows nothing about the status of the moon, the other of which isn’t telling. Now Tichy finds himself at the center of a new sort of war of attrition, with each world power clamoring for his knowledge and each half of his stubborn brain clamoring for control. Wry and action-packed in equal measure, Stanislaw Lem’s absurd, insightful sendup of the Cold War is required reading for any fan of science fiction. Here, “humor and a breathless pace create a delightful and thought-provoking read” (Publishers Weekly).
Author: Henry Lawson Publisher: Penguin Group Australia ISBN: 0143180126 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 259
Book Description
One of the great observers of Australian life, Henry Lawson looms large in our national psyche. Yet at his best Lawson transcends the very bush, the very outback, the very up-country, the very pub or selector's hut he conveys with such brevity and acuity- he make specific places universal. Henry Lawson is too often regarded as a legend rather than a writer to be enjoyed. In this selection Lawson is revealed as an author whose delightful, humorous, wry and moving short stories continue to delight generations of readers. This is the essential Lawson collection - the classic of Australian classics. 'Lawson's sketches are beyond praise.' Joseph Conrad'Lawson gets more feelings, observation and atmosphere into a page than does Hemingway.' Edward Garnett
Author: Stanisław Lem Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 9780749304720 Category : Languages : en Pages : 275
Book Description
@Ijon Tichy, Lem's Candide of the Cosmos, encounters bizarre civilizations and creatures in space that serve to satirize science, the rational mind, theology, and other icons of human pride. Line drawings by the Author. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book@@
Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce Publisher: Comma Press ISBN: Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 315
Book Description
We know Stanislaw Lem, whether or not we consciously know that we do. He may only be recognised in the West as the author of the twice-filmed novel, Solaris, but the influence of his other work is legion. From computer games (The Sims was inspired by one of his short stories), to films (the red and blue pills of The Matrix owe much to his Futurological Congress); from the space comedies of Red Dwarf to the metaphysical satires of Douglas Adams... the presence of this masterly Polish writer can be traced far and wide. Nor was his genius confined to fiction. Lem's essays and pseudo-essays borne out of the military industrial tensions of the Cold War have outlived their original context and speak to the most current developments in virtual reality, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. To celebrate his name, as well as his vision, this anthology brings together writers, critics and scientists who continue to grapple with his concerns. British and Polish novelists join screenwriters, poets, computer engineers, and artists, to celebrate and explore Lem's legacy through short stories and essays - two literary forms that, as Lem knew well, can blend together to create something altogether new. As one of the barriers to Lem's fame was language, this book also features specially commissioned translations: three stories never to have appeared in English before. Lem was always ahead of us. It's time we caught up.
Author: Stanislaw Lem Publisher: HMH ISBN: 0544080106 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 339
Book Description
“A stunningly inventive fantasy about cosmic travel” from the Kafka Prize–winning author of Solaris (The New York Times). The Hermes explorer ship represents the epitome of Earth’s excellence: a peaceful mission sent forth to make first contact with an alien civilization, and to use the expansive space technology developed by humanity to seek new worlds, friendships, and alliances. But what its crew discovers on the planet Quinta is nothing like they had hoped. Locked in a seemingly endless cold war among themselves, the Quintans are uncommunicative and violent, refusing any discourse—except for the firing of deadly weapons. The crew of the Hermes is determined to accomplish what they had set out to do. But the cost of learning the secrets hidden on the silent surface of Quinta may be grave. Stark, startling, and insightful, Fiasco has been praised by Publishers Weekly as “one of Lem’s best novels.” It is classic, thought-provoking hard science fiction, as prescient today as when it was first written.
Author: Stanislaw Lem Publisher: Graphix ISBN: 9780545004626 Category : JUVENILE FICTION Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
World renowned sci-fi writer and Caldecott Honor artist team up for a zany sci-fi tall tale about an astronaut caught in a time loop in space who must confront past and future versions of himself!
Author: Thomas Mann Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 9780520069688 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 556
Book Description
"Mann's pivotal role during the Nazi period as perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for the 'other Germany' that lived in exile means that anyone studying the history of our century must begin with him. . . . These letters are literary and cultural documents that have few equals in our age."--James K. Lyon, University of California, San Diego "Mann's pivotal role during the Nazi period as perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for the 'other Germany' that lived in exile means that anyone studying the history of our century must begin with him. . . . These letters are literary and cultural documents that have few equals in our age."--James K. Lyon, University of California, San Diego
Author: Stanislaw Lem Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262366657 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 341
Book Description
Twelve stories by science fiction master Stanisław Lem, nine of them never before published in English. Of these twelve short stories by science fiction master Stanisław Lem, only three have previously appeared in English, making this the first "new" book of fiction by Lem since the late 1980s. The stories display the full range of Lem's intense curiosity about scientific ideas as well as his sardonic approach to human nature, presenting as multifarious a collection of mad scientists as any reader could wish for. Many of these stories feature artificial intelligences or artificial life forms, long a Lem preoccupation; some feature quite insane theories of cosmology or evolution. All are thought provoking and scathingly funny. Written from 1956 to 1993, the stories are arranged in chronological order. In the title story, "The Truth," a scientist in an insane asylum theorizes that the sun is alive; "The Journal" appears to be an account by an omnipotent being describing the creation of infinite universes--until, in a classic Lem twist, it turns out to be no such thing; in "An Enigma," beings debate whether offspring can be created without advanced degrees and design templates. Other stories feature a computer that can predict the future by 137 seconds, matter-destroying spores, a hunt in which the prey is a robot, and an electronic brain eager to go on the lam. These stories are peak Lem, exploring ideas and themes that resonate throughout his writing.
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Author: Stanisław Lem
Author: Stanisław Lem
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Author: Henry Lawson
Author: Stanisław Lem
Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Author: Thomas Mann
Author: Stanislaw Lem