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Listy 1956-1978
Korespondencja dwóch świetnych pisarzy jest cennym dokumentem nie tylko intelektualnej przyjaźni, nie tylko też przynosi wiadomości z ich warsztatów twórczych w latach, kiedy pracowali najbardziej efektywnie. Jest dokumentem epoki w całym jej nieposkładaniu: wielkość towarzyszy tu głupstwu, intelektualna błyskotliwość - absurdom codzienności, osobiste wyznania - nieuniknionym przemilczeniom, którym patronują czujnie służby specjalne.
- GenresNonfiction
720 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
11 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Stanisław Lem
504 books4,523 followersStanisław Lem (staˈɲiswaf lɛm) was a Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer of Jewish descent. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of Solaris, which has twice been made into a feature film. In 1976, Theodore Sturgeon claimed that Lem was the most widely read science-fiction writer in the world.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2025
Najmniej ciekawy ze zbiorów korespondencji Lema. Są też może i interesujące listy, ale zajmują mniej niż połowę książki. Rozumiem zamysł wydania wszystkich listów Lema i Mrożka, ale wolałbym przeczytać wersję choćby bez dyskusji motoryzacyjnych.
January 14, 2016
Sławomir Mrożek i Stanisław Lem to przebogate i różne osobowości, a Listy ich autorstwa to przebogate dzieło. Łakome kąski znajdzie tu dla siebie historyk, histeryk, krytyk literacki i mizantrop. A także i miłośnik dobrej literatury. Pięknie się polszczyzną posługując, pisarze dyskutują o sprawach pozornie trywialnych i wyraziście ważkich.
October 29, 2021
S. 43
Był tu Old Vic [teatr z Londynu] i grał Makbeta.
Przyznam się do rzeczy strasznej: nie wzrusza mnie Makbet, nie obchodzi mnie bogactwo tego dramatu. Co więcej, nie wzrusza mnie Szekspir. Jezu! Nie powtarzaj nikomu. Całkowicie mnie nie śmieszą jego komedie, a dramatów w ogóle nie rozumiem (...)
Czasem się zmuszam i nawet zaczynam rozumieć (...) ale po jakichś dwóch minutach znowu tracę wątek.
[Kraków, 5 lutego 1961 S. Mrożek]
S. 551
W Petrowcu była wspaniała Chałwa, która ciągnęła się Włóknisto (...)
[Kraków, 4 czerwca 1966 St. Lem
Był tu Old Vic [teatr z Londynu] i grał Makbeta.
Przyznam się do rzeczy strasznej: nie wzrusza mnie Makbet, nie obchodzi mnie bogactwo tego dramatu. Co więcej, nie wzrusza mnie Szekspir. Jezu! Nie powtarzaj nikomu. Całkowicie mnie nie śmieszą jego komedie, a dramatów w ogóle nie rozumiem (...)
Czasem się zmuszam i nawet zaczynam rozumieć (...) ale po jakichś dwóch minutach znowu tracę wątek.
[Kraków, 5 lutego 1961 S. Mrożek]
S. 551
W Petrowcu była wspaniała Chałwa, która ciągnęła się Włóknisto (...)
[Kraków, 4 czerwca 1966 St. Lem
April 14, 2020
Lem and Mrożek are both writers that I like and appreciate. Their long term correspondence is interesting as they send each other critical remarks about their books. You can learn what they thought about being a writer, about their feelings linked to belles-lettres, and which parts for fiat 1800 Mrożek (who lived in Italy) had to send to Kraków for Lem. It's long but worth reading.
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April 7, 2025To niby tylko zapis korespondencji między dwoma pisarzami - zdawałoby się, nic szczególnie porywającego. No właśnie, zdawałoby się. Bo to Lem i Mrożek, mieszanka wybuchowa, z której wynikła błyskotliwa, pełna poczucia humoru i zwyczajnie genialna rozmowa. <3
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews