Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (4🌟)

Solaris is a science fiction novel. It is considered a classic of its genre. Originally published in Polish in 1961. It was translated to English by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox.

The story follows Kelvin, a psychologist who arrives at a space station orbiting Solaris. He finds the crew suffering from hallucinations or so he thinks. After one day or so Kelvin is visited by a a woman who resembles his wife. Only his wife has been dead for over a decade.

Throughout the story we see Kelvin's state of mind deteriorate while at the same time he does some research to understand what's going on on the planet. However I do not consider this novel a character study but an exploration of ideas.

This novel not only explores the emotional and psychological effects planet Solaris has on humans but also the strange ocean-like organism which seems to be the only inhabitant of the planet. There is also a fair amount of historical scientific accounts of in situ exploration and theories about the nature of the Solarian ocean. Is it sentient? Is it alive?

My edition is a paperback published by Faber and Faber in 2016. 214 pages.