Last month I decided to reread my Lem collection. Started Solaris yesterday. (I've read it three or four times before.)
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub is one of my favorite books ever. It's Lem's sci-fi retelling of Kafka's The Castle.
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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I've never read any of his stuff. Clearly, you'd recommend them. Are they all standalone, and readable in any order?
All standalone. Lem wrote in two styles: half of his books are serious & dense, the other half are lighthearted and a bit absurdist. (Arguably, Douglas Adams got the idea for the improbability drive from a Lem story.)
I think "The Futurological Congress" is a really good starting point. Funny & absurd at times, a little more serious in other sections. If you're looking for more straight "hard SF" then I'd recommend "The Invincible".
I read plenty of hard sci-fi already,so I'd probably go for other half of his writing to start. I love Douglas Adams, so if it's good enough for him it's good enough for me 👍
The story with the improbability generator is in the short story collection "The Cyberiad".
Adams said something to the effect of: I'm certainly aware of that story now, but I wasn't when I wrote HHGTTG, it was a coincidence.