Book description
A Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age - The New York Times
Stanislaw Lem's set of short stories, written over a period of twenty years, all feature the adventures of space traveller Ijon Tichy and recount him spinning in time-warps, spying on robots, encountering bizarre civilizations and creatures in…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Star Diaries as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I believe short stories are especially well suited to exploring human nature. Their brevity forces out everything superfluous and brings the heart of the matter into focus.
That is why I love The Star Diaries, a collection in which alien civilizations repeatedly become mirrors for different aspects and limitations of the human condition. Through them, Lem probes our faith in progress, our appetite for systems that promise perfect order, and our conviction that we know what is best for everyone else.
I find Lem’s use of irony and comedy to approach profoundly serious questions particularly effective. As I read,…
From Delenda's list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them.
If you love The Star Diaries...
In the Fullness of Tion
In this collection of nine stories, J.C. Gemmell takes readers on a quest into the future.
Tion is a dystopian civilisation built on the wreckage of a drowned Earth. Here, technology saves and oppresses, and mankind clings to survival in a place where the privileged live above the clouds, and…
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