Editing Solaris (novel)

{{Short description|1961 novel by Stanisław Lem}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox book|
| name              = Solaris
| title_orig        = 
| translator        = 
| image             = SolarisNovel.jpg
| caption           = Cover of the first edition
| author            = [[Stanisław Lem]]
| illustrator       = 
| cover_artist      = K.M. Sopoćko
| country           = [[Polish People's Republic]]
| language          = Polish
| series            = 
| genre             = Science fiction
| publisher         = MON, Walker (US)<ref name="publisher">{{cite web|url=http://solaris.lem.pl/ksiazki/beletrystyka/solaris?start=5 |title=Solaris |publisher=Solaris | access-date=17 November 2010}}</ref>
| release_date      = 1961
| english_pub_date  = 1970
| media_type        = Print (hardcover and paperback)<br/> Audio
| pages             = 204
| isbn              = 0156027607
| dewey             = 891.8/537 19
| congress          = PG7158.L392 Z53 1985
| oclc              = 10072735
| preceded_by       = 
| followed_by       = 
}}

'''''Solaris''''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|l|ɑr|ɪ|s}}) is a 1961 science fiction novel by Polish writer [[Stanisław Lem]]. It follows a crew of scientists on a [[space station]] [[research station|research facility]] as they attempt to [[communication with extraterrestrial intelligence|understand an extraterrestrial intelligence]], which takes the form of a vast ocean on the titular alien planet. The novel is one of Lem's best-known works.<ref>''Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia'', fourth edition (1996), p. 590.</ref>

The book has been adapted many times for film, radio, and theater. Prominent film adaptations include [[Andrei Tarkovsky]]'s [[Solaris (1972 film)|1972 version]] and [[Steven Soderbergh]]'s [[Solaris (2002 film)|2002 version]], although Lem later remarked that none of these films reflected the book's thematic emphasis on the limitations of human rationality.<ref name="LEM-20021208">{{cite web
|last=Lem
|first=Stanisław
|author-link=Stanisław Lem
|title=The Solaris Station
|url=https://english.lem.pl/arround-lem/adaptations/solaris-soderbergh/147-the-solaris-station
|date=8 December 2002
|work=Stanislaw Lem
|access-date=13 July 2013
}}</ref>

==Plot summary==
''Solaris'' chronicles the ultimate futility of attempted communications with the [[extraterrestrial life]] inhabiting a distant alien planet named [[Solaris (fictional planet)|Solaris]]. The planet is almost completely covered with an ocean of gelatinous material that turns out to be a single, planet-encompassing entity. Terran scientists conjecture it is a living and sentient being, and attempt to communicate with it.

Kris Kelvin, a psychologist, arrives aboard Solaris Station, a scientific research station hovering near the oceanic surface of Solaris. The scientists there have studied the planet and its ocean for many decades, mostly in vain. A scientific discipline known as Solaristics has degenerated over the years to simply observing, recording and categorizing the complex phenomena that occur on the surface of the ocean. Thus far, the scientists have only compiled an elaborate nomenclature of the phenomena, and do not yet understand what they really mean. Shortly before Kelvin's arrival, the crew exposed the ocean to a more aggressive and unauthorized experimentation with a high-energy [[X-ray]] bombardment. Their experimentation gives unexpected results and becomes psychologically traumatic for them as individually flawed humans.

The ocean's response to this intrusion exposes the deeper, hidden aspects of the personalities of the human scientists, while revealing nothing of the ocean's nature itself. It does this by materializing physical [[simulacra]] (including human ones) based on the unpleasant  [[repressed memory|repressed memories]] of the researchers, who visit the corresponding researchers. Kelvin confronts memories of his dead lover and guilt about her suicide, which constitutes a significant part of the plot. The "visitors" of the other persons are only alluded to. 

All efforts to make sense of Solaris's activities prove futile. As Lem wrote, "the peculiarity of those phenomena seems to suggest that we observe a kind of rational activity, but the meaning of this seemingly rational activity of the Solarian Ocean is beyond the reach of human beings."<ref>Stanisław Lem, ''Fantastyka i Futuriologia'', Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1989, vol. 2, p. 365</ref> Lem also wrote that he deliberately chose to make the sentient alien an ocean to avoid any personification and the pitfalls of [[anthropomorphism]] in depicting [[first contact (science fiction)|first contact]].<ref name="LEM-20021208"/>

==Characters==

*The protagonist, Dr. '''Kris Kelvin''', is a psychologist recently arrived from Earth to the space station studying the planet Solaris. He had previously been cohabiting with Harey ("Rheya" in the Kilmartin–Cox translation), who died by suicide when he abandoned their relationship. Her exact double is his visitor aboard the space station and becomes an important character.
*'''Snaut''' ("Snow" in the Kilmartin–Cox translation) is the first person Kelvin meets aboard the station, and his visitor is not shown. 
*'''Gibarian''', who had been an instructor of Kelvin's at university, killed himself just hours before Kelvin arrives at the station. Gibarian's visitor was a "giant Negress" who twice appears to Kelvin; first in a hallway soon after his arrival, and then while he is examining Gibarian's cadaver. She seems to be unaware of the other humans she meets, or she simply chooses to ignore them.
*The last inhabitant Kelvin meets is '''Sartorius''', the most reclusive member of the crew. He shows up only intermittently and is suspicious of the other crew members. Kelvin gets a glimpse of a straw hat that may be Sartorius's visitor.
*'''Harey''' ("Rheya" in the Kilmartin–Cox translation, an [[anagram]] of "Harey"), who killed herself with a lethal injection after quarreling with Kelvin, returns as his visitor. Overwhelmed with conflicting emotions after confronting her, Kelvin lures the first Harey visitor into a shuttle and launches it into outer space to be rid of her. Her fate is unknown to the other scientists. Snaut suggests hailing Harey's shuttle to learn her condition, but Kelvin objects. Harey soon reappears but with no memory of the shuttle incident. Moreover, the second Harey becomes aware of her transient nature and is haunted by being Solaris' means-to-an-end, affecting Kelvin in unknown ways. After listening to a tape recording by Gibarian, and so learning her true nature, she attempts suicide by drinking [[liquid oxygen]]. This fails because her body is made of [[neutrino]]s, stabilized by some unknown [[Force field (physics)|force field]] and has both incredible strength and the ability to quickly regenerate from all injuries. She subsequently convinces Snaut to destroy her with a device developed by Sartorius that disrupts the subatomic structure of the visitors.

==Criticism and interpretations==

The novel is the best known elaboration of Lem's trope of the impossibility of [[communication with extraterrestrial intelligence]], present in many of Lem's novels, including his first, ''[[The Man from Mars]]'', and his last,  ''[[Fiasco (novel)|Fiasco]]''.<ref>[[Wojciech Orliński]], ''Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie'' [''What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem''], 2007, {{ISBN|8324007989}}, p. 54.</ref>

In an interview, Lem said that the novel "has always been a juicy prey for critics", with interpretations ranging from that of [[Freudianism]], critique of [[first contact (science fiction)|contact]] and [[colonialism]],<ref name="Othering">{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240332|title=Resisting Monsters: Notes on "Solaris"|author=Ann Weinstone|journal=Science Fiction Studies|date= July 1994|volume=21|number=2|pages=173–190|publisher=SF-TH Inc|jstor=4240332|access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> to [[anticommunism]], proponents of the latter view holding that the Ocean represents the [[Soviet Union]] and the people on the space station represent the [[Soviet Empire|satellite countries of Central and Eastern Europe]]{{Citation needed|reason=This is a biased interpretation and does not represent the author's point of view|date=November 2024}}. He also commented on the absurdity of the book cover blurb for the 1976 edition, which said the novel "expressed the humanistic beliefs of the author about high moral qualities of the human".<ref>[http://solaris.lem.pl/faq Lem's FAQ]</ref> Lem noted that the critic who promulgated the Freudian idea actually blundered by basing his [[psychoanalysis]] on dialogue from the English translation, whereas his diagnosis would fail on the idioms in the original Polish text.<ref>[https://solaris.lem.pl/ksiazki/beletrystyka/solaris/29-komentarz-solaris Lem's commentary on ''Solaris'']</ref>

{{Quote|We are humanitarian and chivalrous; we don't want to enslave other races, we simply want to bequeath them our values and take over their heritage in exchange. We think of ourselves as the Knights of the Holy Contact. This is another lie. We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors.|Solaris (§6:72)| 1970 English translation<ref name="Othering"/>}}

==English translation==
[[File:Solaris, various editions 02.jpg|right|thumb|270px|Various translations of ''Solaris'', including the English one]]
Both the original Polish version of the novel (published in 1961) and its English translation are titled ''Solaris''. Jean-Michel Jasiensko published his French translation in 1964 and that version was the basis of Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox's English translation (Walker and Company, 1970; Faber and Faber, 1971).<ref>Kellman, Steven G., "Alien autographs: how translators make their marks", in ''Neohelicon'' (2010) 37:15 (online).</ref> Lem, who read English fluently, repeatedly voiced his disappointment with the Kilmartin–Cox version.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 April 2006|title=Obituary: Stanislaw Lem|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/apr/08/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries|access-date=22 May 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

In 2011, [[Bill Johnston (translator)|Bill Johnston]] completed an English translation from the Polish. Lem's wife and son reviewed this version more favorably: "We are very content with Professor Johnston's work, that seems to have captured the spirit of the original."<ref name="theguardian.com">Alison Flood, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/15/first-direct-translation-solaris "First ever direct English translation of Solaris published"], ''The Guardian'', 15 June 2011</ref> It was released as an audio book and later in an [[Amazon Kindle]] edition (2014, {{ISBN|978-83-63471-41-5}}). Due to legal issues, this translation did not appear in print until 2024, when Conversation Tree Press published a [[fine press]] edition of the book.<ref name="theguardian.com"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Stanisław Lem's "Solaris"|url=https://conversationtreepress.com/pages/solaris-stanislaw-lem-murphy|access-date=17 November 2024|website=Conversation Tree Press|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Reprints===

* {{ISBN|0-8027-5526-7}} (1970)
* {{ISBN|0-15-683750-1}} (1987)
* {{ISBN|0-15-602760-7}} (2002)
* {{ISBN|0-571-21972-1}} (2003)

==Adaptations==

===Audio===
* 1963: by the Teatre of [[Polskie Radio]]; director: Józef Grotowski, Kelvin: [[Stanisław Zaczyk]]<ref>[http://www.encyklopediateatru.pl/przedstawienie/55413/solaris Solaris], 1963, ''Encyklopedia Teatru Polskiego''</ref>
* 1975:  by the Teatre of Polskie Radio; director: Józef Grotowski, Kelvin: [[Marek Walczewski]]<ref>[http://encyklopediateatru.pl/przedstawienie/55407/solaris Solaris (odcinek 1)], 1975, ''Encyklopedia Teatru Polskiego''</ref> 
* 2007: [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast a two-hour dramatized version of the novel.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007v5n9 Solaris: The Classic Serial]</ref>
* 2007: an audio play was released in Russia on a [[CD]]-[[MP3]] disc (226 minutes, 14 tracks).<ref>[https://audioknigi.club/radiospektakl-solyaris Лем Станислав - Радиоспектакль Солярис]</ref>

====Audiobooks====
*2010: [[Polskie Radio]], narrated by [[Piotr Fronczewski]]
* 2011: [[Audible.com]] released the first direct Polish-to-English translation as an [[audiobook]] download narrated by [[Alessandro Juliani]].<ref name="GU-20110615">{{cite web |last=Flood |first=Alison|title=First ever direct English translation of Solaris published|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/15/first-direct-translation-solaris |date=15 June 2011 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=13 July 2013 }}</ref> The original Polish text was translated into English by [[Bill Johnston (translator)|Bill Johnston]], with the approval of Lem's estate.<ref>[http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=hp_nf_1?asin=B0053ZT602 Solaris: The Definitive Edition audiobook]</ref> An e-book edition ({{ISBN|978-1-937624-66-8}}) of the Johnston translation followed.<ref name="AMZ-20111208">{{cite book |last=Lem |first=Stanislaw |author-link=Stanislaw Lem |title=Solaris [Kindle Edition] - Bill Johnston (translator) |url=http://amzn.com/B00Q21MVAI |date=22 November 2014 |access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref>

===Theatre===
* The 2009 Polish stage production ''Solaris: The Report'' (Polish: ''Solaris. Raport''), [[TR Warszawa]], Poland.<ref>[http://trwarszawa.pl/spektakle/spektakle-archiwalne/solarisraport/ "Solaris.Raport"]</ref><ref>[http://www.zw.com.pl/artykul/407748.html "Ofiary umowności"], Agnieszka Rataj, ''[[Życie Warszawy]]'', 4 October 2009</ref>
*The British stage production ''Solaris'' by Dimitry Devdariani ([[London]], [[England]], 2012).<ref name="DD-2012">{{cite web |last=Devdariani |first=Dimitry |title=Solaris Play |url=http://www.dimitrydevdariani.co.uk/solaris.html |year=2012 |work=Dimitry Devdariani |access-date=13 July 2013 }}</ref>
*''La velocidad del zoom del horizonte'', a 2014 play written by David Gaitán and directed by Martín Acosta, premiered in Mexico City, was loosely based on the novel.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5N6oeiotko La velocidad del ZOOM del horizonte Martín Acosta (full play on YouTube)]</ref>
*In 2018 the [[Theater Magdeburg]], Germany, staged an adaptation by Tim Staffel directed by Lucie Berelowitsch<ref>[https://www.theater-magdeburg.de/spielplan/schauspiel/sz-20172018/solaris/ SOLARIS von Stanisław Lem | Bühnenfassung von Tim Staffel]</ref><ref>[https://www.volksstimme.de/kultur/schauspiel-magdeburg-science-fiction-ohne-schnickschnack "Science Fiction ohne Schnickschnack"]</ref>
* [[Solaris (2019 play)|''Solaris'' (2019 play)]], premiered in [[Malthouse Theatre]], production of an adaptation by [[David Greig (dramatist)|David Greig]], in association with [[Royal Lyceum Theatre]], [[Edinburgh]], that ran in Edinburgh<ref>{{cite web |title=Solaris - Royal Lyceum Theatre |date=12 September 2019 |url=https://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/solaris |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref> in September–October 2019 and at London's Lyric Hammersmith in October–November 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solaris - Malthouse Theatre |url=https://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/solaris |access-date=5 July 2019}}</ref> Its protagonist was a woman, and the spaceship crew was gender-balanced.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/sep/15/solaris-review-royal-lyceum-edinburgh-david-greig-tarkovsky-soderbergh-stanislaw-lem "Solaris review – love and loneliness collide in best take yet on sci-fi classic], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 15 September 2019</ref>

===Opera===
*The German opera ''Solaris'' by [[Michael Obst (composer)|Michael Obst]] ([[Munich Biennale]], Germany, 1996).
*The Italian opera ''Solaris'' by Enrico Correggia ([[Torino]], Italy, 2011).<ref>[http://www.newspettacolo.com/news/view/89400-stefano_tempia_incursioni_contemporanee_omaggio_a_berio_e_correggia_16_17_giugno_2013_torino_news_torino_torino_piemonte "Stefano Tempia: Incursioni contemporanee, Omaggio a Berio e Correggia, 16-17 giugno 2013 Torino"], ''News Spectaccolo'', 14 June 2013</ref>
*The Austrian opera ''[[Solaris (opera)|Solaris]]'' by [[Detlev Glanert]] ([[Bregenzer Festspiele]], Austria, 2012).
*The Japanese opera ''Solaris'' by [[Dai Fujikura]] and [[Saburo Teshigawara]] ([[Opéra de Lille]], and travelling to other venues, 2015).

===Cinema===
''Solaris'' has been filmed three times:

* [[Solaris (1968 film)|''Solaris'' (1968)]], a Soviet [[TV play]] directed by {{ill|Boris Nirenburg|ru|Ниренбург, Борис Эдуардович}}, follows the plot quite closely and keeps the emphasis on the planet rather than the human relationships.
* [[Solaris (1972 film)|''Solaris'' (1972)]], a Soviet feature-length film directed by [[Andrei Tarkovsky]]. The film loosely follows the novel's plot, emphasizing the human relationships instead of Lem's [[astrobiology]] theories — especially Kelvin's life on Earth prior to his [[Interplanetary space travel|space travel]] to the planet. The film won the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]] at the 1972 [[Cannes Film Festival]].
* [[Solaris (2002 film)|''Solaris'' (2002)]], an American film directed by [[Steven Soderbergh]], starring [[George Clooney]] and produced by [[James Cameron]]. This film also emphasizes the human relationships and again excludes Lem's scientific and philosophical themes.

Lem himself observed that none of the film versions depict much of the extraordinary physical and psychological "alienness" of the Solaris ocean. Responding to film reviews of Soderbergh's version, Lem, noting that he did not see the film, wrote: 
{{cquote|...to my best knowledge, the book was not dedicated to erotic problems of people in outer space... As ''Solaris''{{'}} author I shall allow myself to repeat that I only wanted to create a vision of a human encounter with something that certainly exists, in a mighty manner perhaps, but cannot be reduced to human concepts, ideas or images. This is why the book was entitled "''Solaris''" and not "''Love in Outer Space''".|author=[[Stanisław Lem]]|source=<ref name="LEM-20021208">{{cite web
|last=Lem
|first=Stanisław
|author-link=Stanisław Lem
|title=The Solaris Station
|url=https://english.lem.pl/arround-lem/adaptations/solaris-soderbergh/147-the-solaris-station
|date=8 December 2002
|work=Stanislaw Lem
|access-date=13 July 2013
}}</ref>}}

==Cultural allusions and works based on ''Solaris''==

*Musician [[Isao Tomita]]'s 1977 album ''Kosmos'', specifically the track ''The Sea Named "Solaris"'', is based on music by [[J.S. Bach|Bach]] featured in Tarkovsky's film. Tomita was inspired by the film and even sent his recording to Tarkovsky.<ref>[http://www.electroshock.ru/eng/edward/interview/egorova/ "TATYANA EGOROVA: "EDWARD ARTEMIEV: HE HAS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS REMAIN A CREATOR...""] - An interview with [[Eduard Artemyev]] the author of the music to Tarkovsky's film. Originally published by  ''Muzykalnaya Zhizn'' ("Musical Life"), No.17, 1988</ref>
*Hungarian rock band [[Solaris (band)|Solaris]] named themselves after the novel.
*The 1990 Russian ballet ''Solaris'' by {{ill|Sergey Zhukov (composer)|lt=Sergey Zhukov|ru|Жуков, Сергей Викторович}} ([[Dnipro]] Opera and Ballet Theatre).<ref>[http://zhukovsergey.ru/rus/solaris.htm Размышления после премьеры], at ballet author's website</ref>
*The song "Solaris", composed by [[Ken Andrews]], from [[space rock]] band [[Failure (band)|Failure]]'s 1996 album [[Fantastic Planet (album)|''Fantastic Planet'']], summarizes some events from the novel.
*At the conclusion of the 1997 film [[Funny Games (1997 film)|''Funny Games'']] by [[Michael Haneke]], Peter discusses with Paul the philosophical implications of Solaris.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}
*The song "Solaris" from musician [[Photek]]'s 2000 album [[Solaris (Photek album)|''Solaris'']].
*The [[Macedonia (country)|Macedonian]] multimedia project ''Solaris (Соларис)'' by Zlatko Slavenski (2007).<ref>''Le monde du théâtre: édition 2008: un compte-rendu des saison théâtrales 2005-2006 et 2006-2007 dans le monde'', 2008, {{ISBN|9052014582}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=crlxTJg8brEC&pg=PA309 p.309]</ref>
*The 2011 album "Sólaris" by [[Daníel Bjarnason]] and [[Ben Frost (musician)|Ben Frost]] was inspired by Tarkovsky's film.<ref>{{Cite web|date=7 November 2011|title=Sólaris|url=http://danielbjarnason.net/portfolio_page/solaris/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914141515/http://danielbjarnason.net/portfolio_page/solaris/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=14 September 2018|access-date=13 July 2020|website=Daníel Bjarnason|language=en-US}}</ref>
*The plot of 2021 Icelandic TV series ''[[Katla (TV series)|Katla]]'' uses central elements from Solaris, appreciably inspired by the novel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Katla (TV Series 2021– )|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11102190/|access-date=25 June 2021|website=IMDb|language=en-US}}</ref>
* The [[Solaris (synchrotron)|Solaris]] is the only [[synchrotron]] in Central Europe, and takes its name from the novel.<ref>[http://welcometo.pl/cyclotron-and-solaris/ "Cyclotron and Solaris"], welcometo.pl, March 22, 2017</ref>
* Many later elements of the plot of 2019 Chinese video game ''[[Arknights]]'' are inspired by the novel.<ref>{{Cite video game|title=Arknights|developer=Hypergryph|scene=Cutscenes|level=CW-ST-3, 14-19|date=May 1, 2024|language=zh}}</ref>

==See also==
*{{annotated link|Ocean planet}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons|Solaris}}
*[http://english.lem.pl/index.php/works/novels/solaris ''Solaris'' - Book Page on Stanisław Lem's Official Site.]
*[http://english.lem.pl/index.php/arround-lem/adaptations/soderbergh/147-the-solaris-station ''Solaris'' - Essay by Stanisław Lem.]
*[http://www.conceptualfiction.com/solaris.html ''Solaris'' - Review/GioiaT.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120725102447/http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/solaris.html ''Solaris'' - Study Guide/BriansS.]
*[http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/solaris.html ''Solaris'' - Study Guide/HughesC.]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMVOI97H6Es Video - ''Solaris'' Opera (Torino, Italy, 2011) (Trailer, 00:53).] + [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkC6NtxdVlw (Clip, 07:10).]
*[http://vimeo.com/46477117 Video - ''Solaris'' Opera (Bregenz Festival, Austria, 2012) (Preview, 03:28).]

{{Stanisław Lem}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1961 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish novels]]
[[Category:Fiction set on ocean planets]]
[[Category:Novels about extraterrestrial life]] 
[[Category:Novels adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Novels by Stanisław Lem]]
[[Category:Novels set on fictional planets]]
[[Category:Philosophical novels]]
[[Category:Polish novels]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Polish novels adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Polish science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Science fiction about first contact]]
[[Category:Solaris]]