Solaris

Solaris» (1961) is a utopian story about a planet of the same name, inhabited by a life form with a special intelligence. Solaris is entirely covered with an ocean-like organism that has the unusual ability to create physical phenomena and hallucinations. The main character is Kris Kelvin, who is sent to explore this mystical planet. However, Kelvin and his companions face much more difficult trials than expected when they have to face ghosts from their past. The writer has given great importance to the process of communication, asking the question: is a person ready to navigate in a high-tech world without fully understanding his own nature?

Stanislaw Lem was born in 1921 in Poland (in the territory of modern Ukraine). The future writer studied medicine at university, had to interrupt his studies due to the beginning of the war, and successfully completed them later. The keyword of Lem's novels can be considered "technological utopia", where the writer tries to contrast man with machine in an increasingly technological world. In Lem's case, this is a true science fiction classic.

"Solaris" has also been made into a movie twice - in 1972 in the Soviet Union under the direction of Andrei Tarkovsky and in 2002 in Hollywood, with George Clooney playing the lead role.