Robot

by Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg

The first English-language publication of one of the greatest Polish science fiction novels of all time.

'We have given you life ... so that you could discover a fraction of the great secret.'

Is BER-66 a human or a machine? As he navigates the corridors and locked rooms of a strange bunker, he must solve the mysteries of murderous doppelgangers, a slow-motion city on the verge of destruction, and ultimately, the all-powerful Mechanism itself...

Considered to be one of the most important and original Polish science fiction novels of all time but never before translated into English, Adam Wisniewski-Snerg's debut novel is a haunting and mind-bending masterpiece of philosophical enquiry that penetrates deep into the heart of what it means to be human.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Polish Literature, Fantasy, Classics, Dystopia, Literature

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Jeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dont know what the fuck was happening most of the time but I loved it for that tbh.

[Paul Dembina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was heavy going. An episodic plot with interchangeable characters. Some scenes where the main character experiences time at a hugely accelerated rate were quite interesting (and something Christopher Nolan could make use of)

[Jayme · Rating 2 out of 5]

What even was this? I'd describe this book as a physics mystery? The start of the novel was very intriguing. There's a great scene where everyone's being shuffled through some sort of mission briefing conveyor belt? I dunno, it was really visually interesting and well told. Like, I really wanted to know what happened next. But then there're 50 pages of boring, then we get to the intriguing physics mystery part. And basically, we follow a guy around, he's not sure whether or not he's a robot, he does some pretty bizarre things, he finds a doorway leading to a place where physics is kinda/sorta broken (the mystery part), then I guess he kinda/sorta solves the mystery (it was not satisfying), but not before we get like 50 pages of semi-philosophical, anti-communist, AND anti-capitalist ranting. I just...I dunno. While some parts of it were incredibly cool, the overall piece was kind of a hot mess.

And I can't leave this without talking about the only woman character in this book. I'm used to classic sci-fi and the amazing representation women usually get in them, but this was in a galaxy of its own. It wasn't sexist or misogynistic like you'd expect. It was more like I can't be sure this guy has ever interacted with a woman before. She barely speaks, she's mostly unconscious or missing, I think we're supposed to buy that the protagonist loves her, but if so then it's the most atrocious insta-love I've come across. And despite how much time the protagonist spends worrying about her, he really doesn't seem that into her. She was obviously only existed because the author thought there had to be a love interest or maybe someone made him add her. Again...I dunno.

[Karolina Baudelaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

PL/ENG (below)

PL

Niech mnie ktoś uszczypnie, proszę. Mocno. I jeszcze raz.

To jest debiut?! Przewracając kolejne kartki, nie mogłam w to uwierzyć. Oczywiście nasłuchałam się wcześniej od literackich kolegów i koleżanek, że Snerg to, Snerg tamto, jednak generalnie przeważała jedna rada - przeczytaj najpierw coś późniejszego, a potem przeskocz do debiutu. Dość nietypowo, prawda? Zazwyczaj staram się robić na odwrót; lubię obserwować, jak pisarz się rozwija. Jak ślamazarne lub zbyt lakoniczne opisy zmieniają się w te, mogące zainteresować czytelnika; jak efektywnie buduje złożonych moralnie bohaterów, który nie wymagają od czytelnika robienia notatek kto-jest-kto na kolorowej karteczce przylepionej.

"Robot" jest książką bezkompromisową. Snerg nie idzie na skróty. Daje Ci naprawdę wybitną książkę, w zamian pragnąc tego, co cechuje dobrego czytelnika: zdolności słuchania i skupienia na tekście pisanym, maksymalnego wyciągania z niego wszystkich niuansów i przeprowadzania wnioskowania. Sporo tu te wnioskowania włożonego w usta bohaterów, fakt - zabieg stary prawie tak, jak pisanie książek fantasy ze światem nieznanym czytelnikowi, który wymaga tłumaczeń - tu jednak czytelnik nie jest traktowany jak idiota i sam musi połączyć punkciki. I to mi się bardzo podoba; łechce moją czytelniczą próżność, że jednak idiotką taką nie jestem, skoro gdzieś przy 3/4 książki fabuła "Robota" w końcu zaskoczyła z takim cichym "klik", a potem nieśmiałym "wow". A przy końcu domysły te się potwierdziły.

Nie będę streszczać fabuły. Nie będę opowiadać, o czym to. Chociaż - nie, tyle mogę powiedzieć. O nas, o ludziach, o robotach. O tym, co nas otacza, i o tym co otaczać według Mechanizmu miało. O chęci poznania siebie i świata, w którym żyjemy, o dostosowywaniu się do jego prawideł i pewnych cechach, które pozostają w nas niezmienne nawet wtedy, gdy ziemia usunie nam się spod stóp i spadamy do schronu. Spadamy?

Jestem absolutnie oczarowana i czuję się przy tej powieści "mała", autentycznie "mała" - coś takiego zdarza mi się czasami przy Dukaju i przy PKD, z którego utworami "Robot" akurat ma wiele wspólnego i jest to dla mnie wielki plus. To książka, do której wraca się myślami i czerpie przyjemność filozoficzną z roztrząsania jej nauk na nowo. Watts mówił nam, o Ślepowidzeniu, Snerg zaś nie próbuje na siłę widzieć w ciemnościach; tutaj zapala się światło i niesie kaganek z oryginalnie wykreowanego świata wiedzy ku czytelnikowi.

Science-fiction w najlepszej postaci. Mamy być z czego, z kogo dumni - jako Polacy - na międzynarodowej arenie pisarstwa.

ENG

Somebody pinch me, please. Hardly. And one more time.

This is your debut?! I couldn't believe it when I turned over more cards. Of course, I listened to my literary colleagues earlier that Snerg is this, Snerg is that, but generally one piece of advice prevailed - first read something later and then jump to your debut. Pretty unusual, isn't it? I usually try to do the opposite; I like to watch the writer developing. How lame or too laconic descriptions turn into those which might be interesting to the reader; how effectively he builds morally complex characters who do not require the reader to take notes of who is who on a coloured piece of paper.

"Robot" is an uncompromising book. Snerg does not take shortcuts. It gives you a truly outstanding book, in return for wanting what a good reader has: the ability to listen and focus on the written text, to draw maximum nuance from it and to draw conclusions. There is a lot of inference in the characters' mouths, the fact that the procedure is almost as old as writing fantasy books with a world unknown to the reader who requires translation, but here the reader is not treated like an idiot and has to connect the dots himself. And I like it very much; I like my readership vanity that I'm not such an idiot, since somewhere at 3/4 of the book the plot "Robot" finally surprised with such a quiet "click" and then a shy "wow". And at the end of the day these guesses were confirmed.

I'm not going to summarize the plot. I won't tell what it's about. Although - no, that's all I can say. About us, about people, about robots. About what surrounds us and what surrounds us according to the Mechanism was to be. The desire to know ourselves and the world in which we live, to adapt to its rules and certain characteristics that remain unchanged in us even when the earth is removed from our feet and we fall into a shelter. Do we fall?

I am absolutely enchanted and feel at this novel "small", authentically "small". - Something like that sometimes happens to me with Dukaj and PKD, with whose songs "Robot" has a lot in common and it's a great plus for me. It is a book to which thoughts are returned and philosophical pleasure is derived from re-discussing her teachings. Watts told us about Blindsight, while Snerg does not try to see by force in the darkness; here the light turns on and carries the cue from the originally created world of knowledge to the reader.

Science-fiction in its best form. We have to be proud of what, of whom we are proud - as Poles - on the international arena of writing.

[keskese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niech mnie ktoś uszczypnie, proszę. Mocno. I jeszcze raz.

To jest debiut?! Przewracając kolejne kartki, nie mogłam w to uwierzyć. Oczywiście nasłuchałam się wcześniej od literackich kolegów i koleżanek, że Snerg to, Snerg tamto, jednak generalnie przeważała jedna rada - przeczytaj najpierw coś późniejszego, a potem przeskocz do debiutu. Dość nietypowo, prawda? Zazwyczaj staram się robić na odwrót; lubię obserwować, jak pisarz się rozwija. Jak ślamazarne lub zbyt lakoniczne opisy zmieniają się w te, mogące zainteresować czytelnika; jak efektywnie buduje złożonych moralnie bohaterów, który nie wymagają od czytelnika robienia notatek kto-jest-kto na kolorowej karteczce przylepionej.

"Robot" jest książką bezkompromisową. Snerg nie idzie na skróty. Daje Ci naprawdę wybitną książkę, w zamian pragnąc tego, co cechuje dobrego czytelnika: zdolności słuchania i skupienia na tekście pisanym, maksymalnego wyciągania z niego wszystkich niuansów i przeprowadzania wnioskowania. Sporo tu te wnioskowania włożonego w usta bohaterów, fakt - zabieg stary prawie tak, jak pisanie książek fantasy ze światem nieznanym czytelnikowi, który wymaga tłumaczeń - tu jednak czytelnik nie jest traktowany jak idiota i sam musi połączyć punkciki. I to mi się bardzo podoba; łechce moją czytelniczą próżność, że jednak idiotką taką nie jestem, skoro gdzieś przy 3/4 książki fabuła "Robota" w końcu zaskoczyła z takim cichym "klik", a potem nieśmiałym "wow". A przy końcu domysły te się potwierdziły.

Nie będę streszczać fabuły. Nie będę opowiadać, o czym to. Chociaż - nie, tyle mogę powiedzieć. O nas, o ludziach, o robotach. O tym, co nas otacza, i o tym co otaczać według Mechanizmu miało. O chęci poznania siebie i świata, w którym żyjemy, o dostosowywaniu się do jego prawideł i pewnych cechach, które pozostają w nas niezmienne nawet wtedy, gdy ziemia usunie nam się spod stóp i spadamy do schronu. Spadamy?

Jestem absolutnie oczarowana i czuję się przy tej powieści "mała", autentycznie "mała" - coś takiego zdarza mi się czasami przy Dukaju i przy PKD, z którego utworami "Robot" akurat ma wiele wspólnego i jest to dla mnie wielki plus. To książka, do której wraca się myślami i czerpie przyjemność filozoficzną z roztrząsania jej nauk na nowo. Watts mówił nam, o Ślepowidzeniu, Snerg zaś nie próbuje na siłę widzieć w ciemnościach; tutaj zapala się światło i niesie kaganek z oryginalnie wykreowanego świata wiedzy ku czytelnikowi.

Science-fiction w najlepszej postaci. Mamy być z czego, z kogo dumni - jako Polacy - na międzynarodowej arenie pisarstwa.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book difficult to read, to say the least. At times it holds you hypnotically as it rambles through its surreal vision and experiences, at other moments it suggests great things to come. There is something of Kafka about it - accusations and accusers appear out of nowhere and hold us to account. There has been a disaster of some sort, but what? How? Nothing is clear and yet there is at times a mundane quality that runs through the grey plastic corridors of the shelter. Mysterious trips are made into the world before the disaster... time almost stands still as the voyagers drift through a world existing in slow motion.
Surreal.
Totally surreal.
I'm still not sure I shouldn't have abandoned it.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penguin Classics Science Fiction editions are so beautifully designed that I find them irresistible, even when I have zero prior knowledge of the book itself. They are well worth taking a chance on should you spot one on a library or bookshop shelf. Robot reminded me of Stanisław Lem's Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, which is unsurprising as both are set in bunkers, satirise arbitrary and bizarre institutional structures, and were written in Poland during the Cold War. I preferred Robot, as its strangeness was more substantive and satisfying. The atmosphere is eerie and disorientating from the start, as the narrator awakens as a blank slate. Who is he - a man or robot double? Where is he - an underground bomb shelter, a time loop, a spaceship, or some combination of all three? As well as being a major theme, the instability of reality is discussed directly at various points. There's an excellent sequence that's too long to quote in full which asks: what if, for the sake of argument, mustard was the most important thing in the world?

Mindful of the lasting tendency of any absurd situation to reinforce itself, one could fight not through disputes about mustard and its history (written down on tonnes of paper and illustrated in art and song), because this way one would only become fascinated with it more and more, but by trying to replace it with other values. You could try arguing with the madman's followers by saying it's absurd to view everything from such a narrow, mustard-centric perspective. "How come?" they'd ask in amazement. "Mustard exists in an objective way!" "Yes!" you'd say. "But so do other things. Mustard's not the most important thing in the world." They wouldn't believe you. "You're wrong! It's the most important thing in our lives!" they'd shout triumphantly.
'If I understand you correctly, you're saying that each individual world is created by overlooking the existence of other worlds?' I asked.
'Precisely.'
'And that the only objective fact is the Universe, extended in time and space?'
'Yes, that is my conclusion.'

Feelings of confusion and claustrophobia are sustained throughout, but do not become uninteresting due to the ingenious weirdness experienced by the narrator as he investigates anomalies of physics.

Was it all an illusion, a fiction, a dream, an empty image? No, it had to be true. [...] According to Unevoris, the Shelter had been ripped out of the Earth by an alien research station collecting samples of organised life, just as our own biologists remove anthills from the forest to study them in their labs. We were trapped in a prison, transported by the thrust of a photoemission engine through the cold and dead galactic void. This hypothesis, ridiculed and rejected by other scientists, could prove to be true or false any day now. It sounded like a terrifying vision of doom. But did the fact that I was not below the Earth's surface, but somewhere between Earth and an indefinite point of the Universe, worsen my situation in any way, especially since the lid of our coffin had been nailed shut and might not be opened for years?

Robot concludes with an extended debate about whether humanity could recognise intelligences more advanced than our own, should we encounter them. It's a great example of Cold War scifi, combining deeply ominous vibes, wild scientific extrapolation, and bleak humour.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy read and I may return to it in the future. Reminded me of Stanislav Lem but without the humour. It seemed too dry, maybe due to the translation.

[Gary Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know it’s early but so far my favourite book of the year. Fantastic story. ‘Robot’ in 1973 by Polish writer Adam Wisniewski-Snerg and translated and published in English late 2021. Another fascinating read from the Penguin Classics Science Fiction Library. One wonders why this book in its day was totally ignored but the moment the writer dies (Snerg took his own life in 1995) he becomes a national treasure. If one wanted to argue that the story of ‘Robot’ was a critical examination of Poland’s communist government of the day, we’ll get a BA and tell your tutor. Brilliantly put together and throughout the book Snerg holds you in a state of ambiguous dread. There is a point in the story where Snerg slams the breaks and skids into a philosophical lecture, however perhaps that was a deliberate segue in order to give you the reader a moment to catch up. Clever, outlandish, bizarre and for me an enjoyable fantastic read. Hopefully they will NOT turn this into a movie and If they do, please let it be a Polish production. Hollywood would spoil this awesome work of literature. Enjoy. Bought from Kinokuniya for $19.98.

[Stuart Fleet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Wisniewski-Snerg’s “Robot” is a humanoid machine, tasked (by an unseen “Mechanism”) to gather data from a community of humans sheltering in a bizarre underground community. Little else is known (by the reader or the Robot) about this mission, and this gap in our understanding allows the author to fill the story with an interesting and thought provoking blend of theoretical physics and
philosophical ideas. It’s a hugely ambitious concept, touching on subjects as diverse as the relativity of time and space, determinism, what it means to be human, and also why our narrow perceptions of the world form our incredibly limited understanding of what is actually going on around us.

First published in 1973, “Robot" has travelled through time pretty well too - and indeed there are some passages in the final part of the book which feel like an alarming warning to the 2020’s reader.

If you are a fan of science fiction, this book is a must.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather disappointing for "... one of the greatest Polish science fiction novels of all time."

The cover asks: "Is BER-66 a human or a robot?" An interesting topic, though not unique. But it is a very minor part of the story.

The bulk of the story involves people living in an underground bunker that has portals into a city. Time moves differently in the bunker and the city. When the people from the bunker go into the city, they continue to move at their regular speed, but the city moves in slow motion. The implications of that are interesting. The air in the city feels so thick to them that they can swim in it. That part is fun, even though the eventual explanation is illogical.

Then near the end there is a whole chapter that is a discussion between two people in a restaurant, talking about consumer society. I suppose it is a critique of Capitalism and that helped it be published in Poland in 1973. But, boy is it boring! About as exciting as the film "My Dinner with Andre".

[Sílvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style felt a little dry at times (and the beginning was hard to get into) but in general it surpassed my expectations, with the plot being a great balance of hard sci fi (hadn't read that much physics theory since uni) and good plot.
A great book to begin 2022 with.

[Oliver Flaig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit - a book filled with completely bewildering and unnerving paths that keep you (literally) in the dark for as long as possible. Descriptions of both worlds and ideas of completely inconceivable scales.

[tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early on, BER-66 is given the advice ‘Don’t waste time trying to solve this enigma’ - this also applies to several chapters of this novel

[Stuart Coombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange one indeed. A hard book to fall in love with as it’s pretty obscure and confusing. At times it was mind bending and difficult (for me) to follow but the very late stages start pulling it together and it becomes very existential. A book to fire some imagination and consideration of the human condition, just don’t expect the journey to be that straightforward.

[Casualdejekyll · Rating 4 out of 5]

po długich bataliach i zmaganiach, nie żałuję przeczytania tego tytułu; kiedyś na pewno do niego jeszcze wrócę, żeby wyłapać więcej szczegółów

ps: więcej tu było fizyki niż miałam przez całe liceum

[Łukasz Wikierski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka z jednej strony, to hard-sf, gdzie można doświadczyć bardzo obrazowo opisanej fizyki na pograniczu paradoksów czasu i przestrzeni. Gdzie wszystkie początkowo dziwne zjawiska dają się wyjaśnić dzięki podstawowej fizyce. Nie chcę zdradzać szczegółów, więc wyobraźcie sobie, jak by się poczuła osoba, która pierwszy raz widzi tęczę, a wcześniej żyłaby w środowisku nierozpraszającym światła - tak się poczujecie w tych fragmentach książki i za tę część daję najwyższą ocenę.

Z drugiej, to zagadnienia o człowieczeństwo - mamy tu głównego bohatera robota w ludzkim ciele, który czuje się człowiekiem, a pierwszą scenę z książki zaczyna odbierać jako sen lub wszczepione wspomnienie.

Najtrudniejszą do przebrnięcia częścią była natomiast pogadanka filozoficzna na temat ludzkości. Mimo, że teoria względności życia daje dużo do myślenia, to natłok myśli jest ciężki w odbiorze. Nie wspominając o wątku politycznym, który totalnie nie pasował do reszty.

[Krzysztof Kucharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mało zjadliwe sf, zbyt twarde i zbyt surowo napisane. Razi warsztat autora; interesujące teorie przekazane cierpią przez urwane wątki czy nieco przydługawa dysputa filozoficzna. W momencie pochwały socjalizmu jako ustroju w którym mózg tryumfuje nad pierwotnymi potrzebami miałem ochotę odłożyć książkę.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea what I just read. It makes Stanisław Lem sound like Dr Who. Weird.

[Allison]

i don’t know if i should give it five stars or one star

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

auf Englisch eigentlich über meinen sprachlichen Kompetenzen. Andererseits ist diese englische Fassung wohlgestrafter und kürzer als das Original. Erklärungen und Begründungen bleiben am Ende offen. Das eine Szenario ist die Frage des Wesens, ob es ein Roboter oder Mensch sei. Das zweite ist die philosophische Abhandlung über die Entwicklungsstufe des Menschen im Vergleich zu möglichen anderen Spezies im Weltall, verglichen mit dem Unterschied zwischen z.B einen Ameisenvolk auf der Erde zu uns.
Dann ist da noch das Verliebtsein des Wesens einerseits und die dreifache Situation der Menschen im unterirdischen Bunker, der Menschen in der oberirdischen Stadt und der in der Zeit fast stehen gebliebenen Menschen in dieser Stadt kurz vor dem "Ereignis".
Alle fantastischen Überlegungen mit zum Teil naturwissenschaftlichen Hintergrund sind bemerkenswert, literarisch jedoch vielleicht eher eine Ansammlung dieser tollen Ideen des Autors, die nicht unbedingt eine abgeschlossene Geschichte ergeben; das war vermutlich auch nicht seine Absicht. vielmehr bildet die Geschichte nur den Vorwand, um all diese Gedanken zu backen zu bringen.
Wie die Überlegungen und Erzählungen von Lem sehr geeignet, um den Menschen zu erden und ihm seine Relevanz vor Augen zu führen. das geht sowohl für die ganze Menschheit auch für das einzelne Individuum.

[alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5* rounded up

despite being fairly short this book took me ridiculously long to finish bc the brainpower it took to develop even an inkling of what was going on at any given point was exhausting. the level of descriptive detail (which you would assume would make it easier to follow/picture what was being described but actually had the opposite effect) and the paragraphs devoted to the math/science of the world snerg constructs took away from the actual plot. rounding it up bc the premise/concept is cool & i appreciate the raw intelligence + imagination it must take to create a story like this but i cant say i liked it un4ch

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had read this in like 3 days it would’ve been 4.5 stars but I got so confused only reading a chapter every now and then. The general idea was super interesting and this was fun to change things up for a while but the last like 50 pages were philosophical ponderings that completely lost me. Big ideas and pretty much essays are never good when they’re disguised as dialogue and frigin everything had a metaphor. TOO MANY METAPHORS

[lucia morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold War influenced Polish sci-fi surrounding control, surveillance and understanding of reality- an android is programmed to collect data for a controlling body, but finds himself questioning his role and the social structure he is part of

[ᴍᴀяᴄᴏs · Rating 5 out of 5]

El principio ha sido fuerte en el aspecto de la ciencia ficcion pero poco a poco perdio fuelle para darle mas importancia a las reflexiones del propio autor. Estaba por darle menos pero viendo lo mucho que me ha conseguido confundir y viendo como me engancho al principio pues lo considero per fecto

[Tobio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting with surrealism, going through personal existentialism, culminating in humanity's existential dread, but then still ending up with a a concrete punch, this was mighty interesting if nothing else.

[Nasumi]

Poddałam się po 50 stronach... Dla mnie ta książka jest za trudna... Niemniej jednak, bardzo bym chciała, aby ktoś opowiedział mi ją w prostych słowach, bo koncept niesamowicie interesujący.

[Sovietspectre · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some very cool imagery and especially at the end some really interesting philosophical comments on alien life but it's all in all just a pretty wild ride from start to finish.

[Natanael Freiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Förvirrande emellan åt, hängde inte helt med. JÄTTE bra samhällskritik och samlade tankar bakom hur människan tänker om sin egna plats i det naturliga kretsloppet, typ.

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I asked chat gpt to summarise it for a school project, but its probably a good book!