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The Chain of Chance
This "novel of suspense" from Europe's favorite deep-think science-fictioner is rather light on the suspense, rather heavy on the philosophical implications— Kirkus Review
A former astronaut turned private detective goes on the trail in a futuristic Italy to discover why a number of people have died mysteriously. The investigation takes him to a hallucinatory world where life is cheap and accidents a matter of course.
A former astronaut turned private detective goes on the trail in a futuristic Italy to discover why a number of people have died mysteriously. The investigation takes him to a hallucinatory world where life is cheap and accidents a matter of course.
179 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
73 people are currently reading
1419 people want to read
About the author
Stanisław Lem
504 books4,503 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 - 30 of 205 reviews
October 21, 2020
Un libro distinto a los que suelo leer.
Al principio todo te resulta confuso, no sabes hacia donde te quiere dirigir el autor. Tu cabeza va realizando suposiciones intentado adelantarse a la trama e intentando un imponer un poco de lógica a todo lo que vas leyendo: sucesos y reacciones que en principio no tienen sentido, un bombardeo de información constante sin encontrar el hilo conductor. Y te vas saturando ...
Pero llega un momento en que "click", se enciende la luz, todas las piezas empiezan a encajar y realmente se disfruta la lectura.
Valoración: 8/10
Lectura: Agosto 2020
Al principio todo te resulta confuso, no sabes hacia donde te quiere dirigir el autor. Tu cabeza va realizando suposiciones intentado adelantarse a la trama e intentando un imponer un poco de lógica a todo lo que vas leyendo: sucesos y reacciones que en principio no tienen sentido, un bombardeo de información constante sin encontrar el hilo conductor. Y te vas saturando ...
Pero llega un momento en que "click", se enciende la luz, todas las piezas empiezan a encajar y realmente se disfruta la lectura.
Valoración: 8/10
Lectura: Agosto 2020
November 27, 2020
Not worth the Kandel
I should have had more sense... I usually dislike translations, but Kandel's English translations of Lem are so brilliant that it would be a crime to ignore them. Unfortunately, his French translator is nothing special. There's barely even a taste of the wildly inventive language you see in Kandel's rendition.
Oh well. At least the ending was good, as several other people have pointed out.
I should have had more sense... I usually dislike translations, but Kandel's English translations of Lem are so brilliant that it would be a crime to ignore them. Unfortunately, his French translator is nothing special. There's barely even a taste of the wildly inventive language you see in Kandel's rendition.
Oh well. At least the ending was good, as several other people have pointed out.
April 18, 2025
kiedy fantasta i filozof pisze kryminał xD czyli nic nie jest normalne, ale i tak fajne :)
July 21, 2021
Todo deriva a lo químico.
September 2, 2016
"Solaris" was much stronger, but this story is a treat anyhow. More than anything, it emphasizes the power of thought and what deductive thinking can do, if in the "hands" of an intelligent man. The book is SF more through its proposition, than its execution, but it's nonetheless written beautifully and presents a strong lead character and an exciting plot line.
June 12, 2010
This was my first Lem, and I picked it up "by chance" as it were, at a used book sale a few months ago. I don't usually read "speculative" fiction, but Lem is considered to be one of the genre's great masters, perhaps best known for "Solaris" which has twice been made into a film.
"The Chain of Chance" also riffs on the detective genre, featuring as its main character a paunchy middle-aged American former astronaut who is seeking to "solve" a series of unexplained and mysterious deaths of paunchy middle-aged men. I don't want to say more than that.
The story-telling in the book is somewhat "clunky" at times - it was annoying how much of the narrative was "unloaded" all at once in a long section in the middle of the book. (Another reviewer appropriately calls it a "data dump.") That flaw notwithstanding, there's no doubt the Lem is a masterful storyteller, the plot is quite clever, and I was truly riveted by the last 25 pages. I thought that the ending was "a real corker"!
But what really makes "The Chain of Chance" a notable book is Lem's persona - he is a bona fide twentieth century European intellectual, a survivor of World War II in Poland, a witness to the political, scientific and technological revolutions of modernity. The novel was originally published in 1975, and is saturated with a mid to late 20th century weariness, reminiscent of Camus or Boll, perhaps. (No coincidence that the action of the novel takes place amidst the great faded glories of Naples, Rome and Paris.) There's an atmosphere of unease, almost dread, a kind of bleak acceptance of the uncertainties of the present. There's no doubt that this is "literature," if you know what I mean.
"Nonchalantly, the conversation turned to the tribulations of the world. Not nonchalantly, really, but in a mood of surrender now that Europe's eternal mission had come to an end. . . . Europe had survived, but only in an economic sense. Prosperity had been restored, but not the feeling of self-confidence. It was not the cancer patient's fear of malignancy, but the awareness that the spirit of history had moved on, and that if it ever returned it would not be here. . . . McLuhan's prophecies were coming true, but in an inverse sort of way, as prophecies have a habit of doing. His global village was already here, but split into two halves. The poorer half was suffering, while the wealthier half was importing that suffering via television and commiserating at a distance. That is couldn't go on like this was everwhere taken for granted, but it went on just the same."
"The Chain of Chance" also riffs on the detective genre, featuring as its main character a paunchy middle-aged American former astronaut who is seeking to "solve" a series of unexplained and mysterious deaths of paunchy middle-aged men. I don't want to say more than that.
The story-telling in the book is somewhat "clunky" at times - it was annoying how much of the narrative was "unloaded" all at once in a long section in the middle of the book. (Another reviewer appropriately calls it a "data dump.") That flaw notwithstanding, there's no doubt the Lem is a masterful storyteller, the plot is quite clever, and I was truly riveted by the last 25 pages. I thought that the ending was "a real corker"!
But what really makes "The Chain of Chance" a notable book is Lem's persona - he is a bona fide twentieth century European intellectual, a survivor of World War II in Poland, a witness to the political, scientific and technological revolutions of modernity. The novel was originally published in 1975, and is saturated with a mid to late 20th century weariness, reminiscent of Camus or Boll, perhaps. (No coincidence that the action of the novel takes place amidst the great faded glories of Naples, Rome and Paris.) There's an atmosphere of unease, almost dread, a kind of bleak acceptance of the uncertainties of the present. There's no doubt that this is "literature," if you know what I mean.
"Nonchalantly, the conversation turned to the tribulations of the world. Not nonchalantly, really, but in a mood of surrender now that Europe's eternal mission had come to an end. . . . Europe had survived, but only in an economic sense. Prosperity had been restored, but not the feeling of self-confidence. It was not the cancer patient's fear of malignancy, but the awareness that the spirit of history had moved on, and that if it ever returned it would not be here. . . . McLuhan's prophecies were coming true, but in an inverse sort of way, as prophecies have a habit of doing. His global village was already here, but split into two halves. The poorer half was suffering, while the wealthier half was importing that suffering via television and commiserating at a distance. That is couldn't go on like this was everwhere taken for granted, but it went on just the same."
June 9, 2025
3,5/5
Ta ocena to chyba moja wina bo nie czytając opisu podeszłam do tej książki jak do SF przez to w pierwszej połowie głównie się frustrowałam czekając aż do niego dojdziemy.
Ta ocena to chyba moja wina bo nie czytając opisu podeszłam do tej książki jak do SF przez to w pierwszej połowie głównie się frustrowałam czekając aż do niego dojdziemy.
May 18, 2019
Dedektiv üslubda yazardan oxuduğum ikinci kitab olan "Kör Talih" hadisələri qavramaqda bir müddət çətinlik çəkdiyim bir əsər oldu. Kitabın yarısından sonra tapmacanın hissələri yavaş- yavaş yerinə oturmağa başladı. "Soruşturma" əsərinə bənzər olaraq burda da Lem statistika elmindən, özünün tibbi bilikləri ilə zəngin təsvirlərə kimi geniş çərçivədə bir çox anlayış ilə romanı zənginləşdirib.
Roman əvvəllər kosmonavt olmuş birisinin İtaliyaya normal görünməyən ölümlər silsiləsini araşdırma məqsədilə ortaya atılmış "simulyasiya model" çərçivəsində gəlməsi ilə başlayır. Ölən insanların orta yaşlarında kişi cinsindən və subay olmaları, italyan dilini bilməmələri və allergik olmaları, bir çoxunun eyni il (hətta ay) ərzində ölmüş olması və eyni sanatoriyada dincəlmək üçün gəlmiş olmaları xaricində ortaq cəhətləri yoxdur. Əvvəllər İnterpol da araşdırmaya daxil olmuş, lakin bir çox şüphəli görünən hadisənin ətraflı tədqiqinin də bir nəticə verməməsindən sonra iş "normal ölümlər" adı ilə bağlanılıb. Ölənlərin yaxınlarının təkidi və bunlardan birisinin fond ayırması hesabına işə yenidən baxılacağı açıqlanır. Daha sonra Romada başlayıb Parisə qədər davam edən araşdırma barədə qəhrəmanımızın Dr. Barth (simulyasiya modeli üçün komputerlər hazırlayan qrupun rəhbəri) ilə olan müzakirələrinə qədər məsələnin necə baş verdiyini anlamırıq. Dr. Barth' ın dilindən bir- bir baş verən ölüm hadisələrini, ölən şəxslərin həyatları haqqında qısa məlumatları dinləyirik. Daha sonra iki nəfər arasında siyasi dialoqlardan, qrupun simulyasiya modeli üçün gördükləri işlərə qədər aralarında müxtəlif mövzularda maraqlı müzakirələr olur. Kitabın sonluğuna doğru obrazın yaşadığı psixoloji vəziyyət ilə mənim üçün qaranlıq qalan bir çox nöqtə aydınlandı.
Bu kitabda Lemin hadisələri tam sonlandırmaması və bəzi məsələlərin qaranlıq qalması, ya da bunları oxucunun rəyinə həvalə etməsi xasiyyətinin biraz xaricinə çıxdığını görmək olur. Lem ilə tanışlıq üçün tövsiyə etməyəcəyim bir kitabdır. Yazarın bir neçə əsəri ilə tanış olduqdan sonra oxunulmalı olduğunu düşünürəm, əks halda yazardan soyuma ehtimalınız var.
Roman əvvəllər kosmonavt olmuş birisinin İtaliyaya normal görünməyən ölümlər silsiləsini araşdırma məqsədilə ortaya atılmış "simulyasiya model" çərçivəsində gəlməsi ilə başlayır. Ölən insanların orta yaşlarında kişi cinsindən və subay olmaları, italyan dilini bilməmələri və allergik olmaları, bir çoxunun eyni il (hətta ay) ərzində ölmüş olması və eyni sanatoriyada dincəlmək üçün gəlmiş olmaları xaricində ortaq cəhətləri yoxdur. Əvvəllər İnterpol da araşdırmaya daxil olmuş, lakin bir çox şüphəli görünən hadisənin ətraflı tədqiqinin də bir nəticə verməməsindən sonra iş "normal ölümlər" adı ilə bağlanılıb. Ölənlərin yaxınlarının təkidi və bunlardan birisinin fond ayırması hesabına işə yenidən baxılacağı açıqlanır. Daha sonra Romada başlayıb Parisə qədər davam edən araşdırma barədə qəhrəmanımızın Dr. Barth (simulyasiya modeli üçün komputerlər hazırlayan qrupun rəhbəri) ilə olan müzakirələrinə qədər məsələnin necə baş verdiyini anlamırıq. Dr. Barth' ın dilindən bir- bir baş verən ölüm hadisələrini, ölən şəxslərin həyatları haqqında qısa məlumatları dinləyirik. Daha sonra iki nəfər arasında siyasi dialoqlardan, qrupun simulyasiya modeli üçün gördükləri işlərə qədər aralarında müxtəlif mövzularda maraqlı müzakirələr olur. Kitabın sonluğuna doğru obrazın yaşadığı psixoloji vəziyyət ilə mənim üçün qaranlıq qalan bir çox nöqtə aydınlandı.
Bu kitabda Lemin hadisələri tam sonlandırmaması və bəzi məsələlərin qaranlıq qalması, ya da bunları oxucunun rəyinə həvalə etməsi xasiyyətinin biraz xaricinə çıxdığını görmək olur. Lem ilə tanışlıq üçün tövsiyə etməyəcəyim bir kitabdır. Yazarın bir neçə əsəri ilə tanış olduqdan sonra oxunulmalı olduğunu düşünürəm, əks halda yazardan soyuma ehtimalınız var.
September 18, 2021
My boy stan just always delivers with those accurate titles.
Extra pints because i expected a sexism level of 100 and only got a level of 30.
Extra pints because i expected a sexism level of 100 and only got a level of 30.
August 20, 2018
Звездичка надолу заради най-тромавото начало в историята на фантастичната и криминалната литература. Първите 60 страници ги четох три седмици, останалото изядох за три часа.
Застаряващ космонавт се навива да направи експеримент, с чиято помощ може да бъде разкрита верига от странни самоубийства на американци в Неапол. Експериментът се проваля, но той продължава към Париж, където един млад учен може да му помогне да свърже привидно случайните фактори около десетките случаи. Не успяват, но случая бива разрешен с известна доза късмет и хаотичност.
Звездичка нагоре, заради това че е първата книга на Лем, в която "мислещата машина" човек има и социална функция. Звездичка нагоре, защото ме накара да разсъждавам, а ако помните, това е целта на фантастиката - да поставя правилните въпроси.
От тук надолу ще поразсъждавам, което ще издаде част от сюжета и ще развали кефа на тези, които тепърва ще четат книгата. Предупредени сте.
Тъй. Не може да не направя аналогия с "Хищните вещи на века" от братя Стругацки, писана десетина години по-рано. Въпреки че братята използват вероятностния елемент само за крепеж, за да ни покажат кошмара на едно хиперконсуматорско общество, а Лем просто се заиграва с пермутациите (въпреки че и тук има загатната злоумисъл по едно време), в същността си криминалната задача е същата. Лем и преди си е блъскал главата по въпроса. Особено в частично превежданата на български "Сума технологии" и въпросите за случайния първопроизход на цивилизацията. Тук нещата, естествено, са в доста по-малки мащаби. Всеки, що годе любопитен човек, знае как са се появили Менделеевата таблица, откриването на пеницилина, изработването на гумата, преоткриването на порцелана от австрийците и прочие рожби на комбинацията между нужда, случайност, правилен момент и алтернативна мисъл. Точно това пан Лем принизява до чиста математическа функция (както прави и с доста други неща), но го прави много увлекателно, правдоподобно и "тарикатски". При Стругацки не е баш така, но това е тема на друго ревю.
Оф, олекна ми на душичката.
Застаряващ космонавт се навива да направи експеримент, с чиято помощ може да бъде разкрита верига от странни самоубийства на американци в Неапол. Експериментът се проваля, но той продължава към Париж, където един млад учен може да му помогне да свърже привидно случайните фактори около десетките случаи. Не успяват, но случая бива разрешен с известна доза късмет и хаотичност.
Звездичка нагоре, заради това че е първата книга на Лем, в която "мислещата машина" човек има и социална функция. Звездичка нагоре, защото ме накара да разсъждавам, а ако помните, това е целта на фантастиката - да поставя правилните въпроси.
От тук надолу ще поразсъждавам, което ще издаде част от сюжета и ще развали кефа на тези, които тепърва ще четат книгата. Предупредени сте.
Тъй. Не може да не направя аналогия с "Хищните вещи на века" от братя Стругацки, писана десетина години по-рано. Въпреки че братята използват вероятностния елемент само за крепеж, за да ни покажат кошмара на едно хиперконсуматорско общество, а Лем просто се заиграва с пермутациите (въпреки че и тук има загатната злоумисъл по едно време), в същността си криминалната задача е същата. Лем и преди си е блъскал главата по въпроса. Особено в частично превежданата на български "Сума технологии" и въпросите за случайния първопроизход на цивилизацията. Тук нещата, естествено, са в доста по-малки мащаби. Всеки, що годе любопитен човек, знае как са се появили Менделеевата таблица, откриването на пеницилина, изработването на гумата, преоткриването на порцелана от австрийците и прочие рожби на комбинацията между нужда, случайност, правилен момент и алтернативна мисъл. Точно това пан Лем принизява до чиста математическа функция (както прави и с доста други неща), но го прави много увлекателно, правдоподобно и "тарикатски". При Стругацки не е баш така, но това е тема на друго ревю.
Оф, олекна ми на душичката.
August 23, 2020
Una historia que empieza bien, con interrogantes, investigación pero que va de más a menos. Hay una parte que se me ha hecho pesada. En fin, mucho investigar unas muertes que, para mí, queda un final bastante flojo y poco interesante.
March 23, 2015
Lem'den acayip enteresan bir bilimsel Sherlock romanı. Aşırı sürükleyici ve tutarlı, bir yanıyla da şans faktörünü matematiksel olarak sorgulamalı.
Süper.
Süper.
January 20, 2025
78. sayfaya kadar bi şekilde gelin. Sonrasını boş bi gününüzde okuyun. Zaten tek oturuşta biter. Öyle bi dedektiflik/gizem hikayesi… ba yıl dımmmm
July 30, 2022
Un libro difícil, enredado, sin pies ni cabeza, donde solo al final Lem logra explicar lo inexplicable, dándole algo de sentido a toda esta extravagancia literaria. Parece un experimento de prosa policiaca, que por momentos se hace muy tedioso, y aunque todo cierra por el final, me dejó una impresión anodina después de tanto esfuerzo reflexivo para seguirle la pista.
Claramente esperaba más, pero me quedo con la originalidad del polaco, sólo a él se le podía ocurrir semejante entuerto.
Claramente esperaba más, pero me quedo con la originalidad del polaco, sólo a él se le podía ocurrir semejante entuerto.
April 24, 2021
Hmm... how to begin.. The Chain of Chance (Kör Talih in Turkish) is my third Lem novel so far (after Invincible and Aden). This novel is basically a novel with some probability theory-related argumentation, so not a sci-fi novel to be honest. It starts pretty weird, without what is happening, who is the protagonist and what he is doing. Then around page 80 it lays out the main plot. I found the pacing to be quite weird to be honest. Very interesting choice of start, then a strange second chapter, then a very length third chapter where everything comes together.
As the first two Lem novels I had read the scenes, the emotions of the characters are explained in extreme detail, sometimes feels like "too detailed". But when you get used to it, then the novel flows pretty well. I really liked the characters as well as the ending which cannot be explained without spoilers. As a computer scientist with quite a bit of an experience with simulations I really liked the idea here :) A bit of pessimism seeps through the pages but I guess this is Lem after all :)
All in all, a different and intelligent take on the detective novel genre. Quite refreshing and make me interested in reading other Lem novels. Just be patient with the first two chapters (especially chapter 1) and do not start the novel if you are quite tired :)
As the first two Lem novels I had read the scenes, the emotions of the characters are explained in extreme detail, sometimes feels like "too detailed". But when you get used to it, then the novel flows pretty well. I really liked the characters as well as the ending which cannot be explained without spoilers. As a computer scientist with quite a bit of an experience with simulations I really liked the idea here :) A bit of pessimism seeps through the pages but I guess this is Lem after all :)
All in all, a different and intelligent take on the detective novel genre. Quite refreshing and make me interested in reading other Lem novels. Just be patient with the first two chapters (especially chapter 1) and do not start the novel if you are quite tired :)
November 28, 2009
Everyone's familiar with the philosophical joke that if you give enough monkeys with typewriters enough time, one of them will eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare through sheer chance. But what's not discussed is the possibility that Shakespeare himself is one of those monkeys, and that the probability of some person, somewhere producing his works was just as high as it was for the monkeys.
In Stanislaw Lem's The Chain of Chance, we're presented with a bipolar murder mystery. Either a dozen old men have been driven to insanity and suicide through a vast conspiracy, or they have died of completely unrelated natural causes. But the true tension arises when Lem's narrator, an eccentric ex-astronaut, finds out that those two possible causes could be one in the same.
"We now live in such a dense world of random chance, in a molecular and chaotic gas whose 'improbabilities' are amazing only to the individual human atoms."
"Then nothing; I died, and I didn't even find anything strange about the fact that I was conscious of dying. Later I had the sensation of swimming through black waterfalls of unknown grottoes, where the water's roar was so loud it was as if only my sense of hearing had survived."
In Stanislaw Lem's The Chain of Chance, we're presented with a bipolar murder mystery. Either a dozen old men have been driven to insanity and suicide through a vast conspiracy, or they have died of completely unrelated natural causes. But the true tension arises when Lem's narrator, an eccentric ex-astronaut, finds out that those two possible causes could be one in the same.
"We now live in such a dense world of random chance, in a molecular and chaotic gas whose 'improbabilities' are amazing only to the individual human atoms."
"Then nothing; I died, and I didn't even find anything strange about the fact that I was conscious of dying. Later I had the sensation of swimming through black waterfalls of unknown grottoes, where the water's roar was so loud it was as if only my sense of hearing had survived."
August 10, 2020
El problema de mi puntuación es que no me gusta la temática. Partiendo de ahí, que el libro esté bien escrito, que esté estructurado de modo caótico y que al final todo tenga sentido... Me va a dar igual. Lo que importa es que ha sido una lectura forzada, que no me ha aportado nada novedoso mas que una ley de la probabilidad y un montón de páginas soporíferas para llegar a un final casi anunciado. Montones de datos aburridos que no te cuentan nada mas que te laberinto con salida en el que el autor te mete a dar vueltas hasta que a el le da la gana de forzarlo todo para que cuadre, y te haga creer en las casualidades si acaso no te te había ocurrido creer, o tal vez, eran probabilidades?
November 30, 2025
This was not SF. Not a bad book, just an ok-ish mystery fiction. 3*
February 3, 2015
The world mainly knows Stanislaw Lem as a science fiction writer. Wikipedia says that toward the end of the 20th century he was the most widely read science fiction writer in the world and that his books were translated from Polish into over 40 languages and sold over 45 million copies. His famous novel "Solaris" was adapted for movies three times. However, saying that Mr. Lem was a science fiction writer is akin to calling Thomas Jefferson an architect. Yes, Mr. Jefferson was quite an accomplished architect, but he also did some other, more important things. Similarly, Mr. Lem wrote some science fiction, and yes, it was some of the best (in fact, I think the best) ever written, but he really was a philosopher of science, a futurologist strongly grounded in science and technology, and one of the world's deepest intellectuals. Some of my most beloved works by Mr. Lem are the collections of essays, Philosophy of Chance and Summa Technologiae, which have a lot to do with science (and mathematics), but definitely not with fiction.
I do not like science fiction because I am not interested in imagined worlds (I do not like fantasy for the same reason). Our own world is so fantastically complex, interesting, and hard to penetrate that I do not see the need of creating alternative worlds (my own version of "Occam's razor").
When I was growing up in Poland, I read all Lem's books in my native language. "The Chain of Chance" (Polish title is "Katar", meaning "Catarrh") is the first one that I have read in English (simply because someone borrowed the original and never cared to return it). This book has nothing in common with science fiction. It is one of the two or three mysteries written by Mr. Lem.
An aging American astronaut is investigating a cluster of unexplained deaths (usually suicides that follow periods of depression and severe hallucinations) of late-middle-age men in and around Naples, Italy. The novel might be called a scientific and philosophical mystery as it deals with detailed analysis of various factors, which are common for all unexplained cases, with statistics and probability theory.
The novel has some great writing (the translation by Louis Iribarne is flawless); until about page 60 the reader does not know at all what is going on, yet the events and the prose are captivating. The description of hallucinations is perhaps the best I have ever read. The denouement, although maybe a bit disappointing, is logical and strongly anchored in science. If you like a mystery that is totally different than the mainstream mysteries, "The Chain of Chance" is something for you.
Four stars.
I do not like science fiction because I am not interested in imagined worlds (I do not like fantasy for the same reason). Our own world is so fantastically complex, interesting, and hard to penetrate that I do not see the need of creating alternative worlds (my own version of "Occam's razor").
When I was growing up in Poland, I read all Lem's books in my native language. "The Chain of Chance" (Polish title is "Katar", meaning "Catarrh") is the first one that I have read in English (simply because someone borrowed the original and never cared to return it). This book has nothing in common with science fiction. It is one of the two or three mysteries written by Mr. Lem.
An aging American astronaut is investigating a cluster of unexplained deaths (usually suicides that follow periods of depression and severe hallucinations) of late-middle-age men in and around Naples, Italy. The novel might be called a scientific and philosophical mystery as it deals with detailed analysis of various factors, which are common for all unexplained cases, with statistics and probability theory.
The novel has some great writing (the translation by Louis Iribarne is flawless); until about page 60 the reader does not know at all what is going on, yet the events and the prose are captivating. The description of hallucinations is perhaps the best I have ever read. The denouement, although maybe a bit disappointing, is logical and strongly anchored in science. If you like a mystery that is totally different than the mainstream mysteries, "The Chain of Chance" is something for you.
Four stars.
August 6, 2020
DNF. Utter rubbish. As someone with a lot of experience with both chemistry and applied mathematics, this is dull drivel. The problem is not even that the "reveal" is poorly thought out, it's that the whole book is boring bullcrap. The main character is a sexist weirdo perv, and the author's mindset is one of pure intellectual mastrubation. A book so poor at all the themes it is purported to contain, that burning it for warmth can be it's only redemption.
August 16, 2020
Me ha costado mucho terminarlo. Me ha parecido lento, denso y tedioso. Es verdad q me ha hecho ejercer la imaginación cuando describe el atentado,en las escaleras mecánicas del aeropuerto y cuando narra las alucinaciones, pero me ha pasado como cuando tenía que leer algo por imperativo del profesor de literatura, Deseando acabar!
June 16, 2023
Konuyu çok döndürüp dolaştırmış usta. Takibi ve anlaşılması zor bir anlatımı tercih etmese ve daha kısa tutsa güzel bir romancık olabilirmiş ama bu haliyle sıkıcıydı doğrusu.
August 8, 2024
Lem y yo tenemos una relación tormentosa. Escribe fantástica y elegantemente, sus ideas son alucinante, sus personajes interesantes…pero me pasa muy seguido que me empantano en ese mar de cosas que pasan y te van moviendo para todos lados. Acá, me sucedió eso.
Una breve novela policial con elementos de ciencia ficción (o ciencia y ya) que cumple maravillosamente con el canon del género, y donde al autor va moviendo al lector hacia mil lados sin dejarlo tener claridad de nada. Aunque, digámoslo, siempre supo hacia donde quería llevarnos.
Para los fanáticos de Lem, que hay muchos, una lectura que deben tener.
Una breve novela policial con elementos de ciencia ficción (o ciencia y ya) que cumple maravillosamente con el canon del género, y donde al autor va moviendo al lector hacia mil lados sin dejarlo tener claridad de nada. Aunque, digámoslo, siempre supo hacia donde quería llevarnos.
Para los fanáticos de Lem, que hay muchos, una lectura que deben tener.
June 12, 2023
“It’s a world where yesterdays rarity becomes todays cliche, and where todays exemption becomes tomorrows rule”
Lem always takes you for a wild ride where sometimes things don’t make sense but it’s worth it in the end. Very clever and funny book.
Lem always takes you for a wild ride where sometimes things don’t make sense but it’s worth it in the end. Very clever and funny book.
March 25, 2024
3'5 ⭐️
Un astronauta americano retirado es contratado para ayudar a esclarecer unas misteriosas muertes sucedidas en un balneario de Nápoles. Suicidios, accidentes, pérdida de la razón, todas las víctimas eran extranjeras, viajaban solas, rondaban la cincuentena y padecían alguna alergia. Faltan pistas que seguir, pero lo cierto es que parece que algo perverso está detrás de todas esas muertes.
Novela policíaca en un escenario de ciencia-ficción.
Me costó centrarme, el principio es un tanto desconcertante y a pesar de lo que pone en la sinopsis, no terminaba de entender qué pasaba. Alrededor de la página 80 es cuando se tiene clara la situación y a la mitad de la novela ya vemos el planteamiento completo de la historia.
Narrado en primera persona por el astronauta protagonista tiene mucho de reflexiones personales de su vida y su carrera profesional.
Ritmo pausado. Suspense constante y una atmósfera bastante inquietante.
Por los datos que va dando según avanza la historia, se ambienta en 1975 pero con ciertas diferencias con la realidad, hay ciencia-ficción pero no es un futuro lejano.
El desenlace me ha gustado mucho aunque puedo entender que a otros lectores no les convenza.
Pues teniendo en cuenta que no es mi género favorito lo he pasado bien con esta novela, seguramente porque tiene más de policíaca que de ciencia-ficción.
Un astronauta americano retirado es contratado para ayudar a esclarecer unas misteriosas muertes sucedidas en un balneario de Nápoles. Suicidios, accidentes, pérdida de la razón, todas las víctimas eran extranjeras, viajaban solas, rondaban la cincuentena y padecían alguna alergia. Faltan pistas que seguir, pero lo cierto es que parece que algo perverso está detrás de todas esas muertes.
Novela policíaca en un escenario de ciencia-ficción.
Me costó centrarme, el principio es un tanto desconcertante y a pesar de lo que pone en la sinopsis, no terminaba de entender qué pasaba. Alrededor de la página 80 es cuando se tiene clara la situación y a la mitad de la novela ya vemos el planteamiento completo de la historia.
Narrado en primera persona por el astronauta protagonista tiene mucho de reflexiones personales de su vida y su carrera profesional.
Ritmo pausado. Suspense constante y una atmósfera bastante inquietante.
Por los datos que va dando según avanza la historia, se ambienta en 1975 pero con ciertas diferencias con la realidad, hay ciencia-ficción pero no es un futuro lejano.
El desenlace me ha gustado mucho aunque puedo entender que a otros lectores no les convenza.
Pues teniendo en cuenta que no es mi género favorito lo he pasado bien con esta novela, seguramente porque tiene más de policíaca que de ciencia-ficción.
July 30, 2018
I was somewhat underwhelmed. The first section of the book sucked me in: Why is this guy doing these odd things? What is his "mission?" I thought I was going to be in for an absorbing, asynchronous story where the beginning only makes sense at the end in an elegant circular tale.
And then there was 50-odd pages of straight-up exposition. It was like a script for Dragnet, or the backstory for a CSI script. And then the explanation of the mystery is given away. Then the protagonist goes through some weird stuff. Then the ending is shown to be the explanation already discussed.
I felt it was quite the letdown. Maybe that was the point (it's hard to explain without providing spoilers), but I'm not fond of books where the knowledgeable author sets up an audience and then thumbs his nose at us while jerking off in his ivory tower.
And then there was 50-odd pages of straight-up exposition. It was like a script for Dragnet, or the backstory for a CSI script. And then the explanation of the mystery is given away. Then the protagonist goes through some weird stuff. Then the ending is shown to be the explanation already discussed.
I felt it was quite the letdown. Maybe that was the point (it's hard to explain without providing spoilers), but I'm not fond of books where the knowledgeable author sets up an audience and then thumbs his nose at us while jerking off in his ivory tower.
January 24, 2021
Stanisław Lem hat mit "Der Schnupfen" ein Kriminalroman verfasst, der viele Elemente der Science Fiction in sich tragen. Und leider, was dem damaligen Zeitgeist entspricht, immer wieder mit frauen- und fremdenfeindlichen Kommentaren aufwartet. Diesen Umstand trübte das Lesevergnügend, trotzdem ist das Buch eine interessant erzählte Geschichte, die sich mit Erklärungen viel Zeit lässt.
Lem hat eine erzählerische Konstruktion geschaffen, die mit unerklärbar viele Details und Feinheiten aufwartet, die eine Parallelwelt zu den wahren Siebzigerjahren erbaut hat. So dicht an Details und technischen Punkten, dass man sich ab und an in den Finessen verliert, dem Rätsel aber trotzdem auf den Grund gehen möchte.
Lem hat eine erzählerische Konstruktion geschaffen, die mit unerklärbar viele Details und Feinheiten aufwartet, die eine Parallelwelt zu den wahren Siebzigerjahren erbaut hat. So dicht an Details und technischen Punkten, dass man sich ab und an in den Finessen verliert, dem Rätsel aber trotzdem auf den Grund gehen möchte.
April 4, 2014
En resumidas cuentas, una novela de desarrollo irregular. Tras un inicio in medias res bastante estimulante, ocurre un raro episodio que en realidad poco tendrá que ver con el resto de la novela, que muestra una estructura caótica y desordenada. La investigación se desmenuza por partes aunque de forma algo torpe, puesto que la técnica del "te cuento del tirón todo lo que sé" no resulta ser la mejor: habría resultado más interesante vivir el desarrollo de la investigación. Pero luego llega ese absolutamente decepcionante final para terminar de rematar una novela que, en algunos momentos, había parecido que iba a hacerte disfrutar de su lectura.
January 14, 2021
Catarul explorează puterea pe care o poate avea o opinie, relația cauză-efect și tendința omului de a lua decizii fără a se informa mai amănunțit despre un subiect anume.
Recenzia, aici.
Recenzia, aici.
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