Stanisław Lem

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Stanisław Lem (1921 - ) is a Polish satirical and philosophical science fiction writer. Stanislaw Lem's books have been translated into 37 languages and sold over 27 million copies.

Stanisław Lem was born in Lwów, Poland in 1921 (now Lviv, Ukraine) as the son of a physician. He studied medicine at Lwów University and at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. During the war and nazi occupation Lem worked as a car mechanic and welder, and was a member of the resistance fighting against the Germans. Toward the end of the war Poland was occupied by the Red Army and the country was closely controlled by the Soviet Union for the next 50 years. In 1946 Lem moved to Cracow. After finishing his studies Stanislaw Lem received his MD. He worked a research assistant in a scientific institution and started to write stories on his spare time.

Lem has been awarded the honorary membership of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1973, which was then removed in 1976 after his comments about recent science fiction literature. He descibed it as ill thought out, poorly written, and interested more in adventure than ideas or new literary forms. The SWFA then offered him a regular membership, which he refused.

Lem's books translated into and published in English:

  • Solaris - London 1970
  • Memoir Found in a Bathtub - NY 1973
  • The Invincible - London 1973
  • The Cyberiad - NY 1974
  • The Investigation - NY 1974
  • The Star Diaries - NY 1976
  • Mortal Engines - NY 1977
  • The Chain of Chance - London 1978
  • A Perfect Vacuum - London 1979
  • Tales of Pirx the Pilot - NY 1979
  • Return from the Stars - London 1980
  • The Memories of a Space Traveller - London 1982
  • More Tales of Pirx the Pilot - NY 1982
  • His Master's Voice - London 1983
  • Imaginary Magnitude - NY 1984
  • Fiasco - NY 1987
  • Hospital of the Transfiguration - NY 1988
  • Eden - San Diego 1989
  • Peace on Earth - NY 1992
  • Highcastle: A Remembrance - NY 1995

Movies based on Lem's work

External Links

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