The Truth and Other Stories
Sep 2021 · MIT Press
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344
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About this ebook
Experience a sci-fi master at his finest in this collection of 12 science fiction short stories from 1956 to 1993—many now presented in English for the very first time!
“A brilliant introduction to Lem’s science fiction.” —Wall Street Journal
Discover the full range of Stanislaw Lem’s intense curiosity about scientific ideas—and his sardonic approach to human nature—in this unforgettable collection of 12 short stories.
In “The Truth,” a scientist in an insane asylum theorizes that the sun is alive.
“The Journal” appears to be an account by an omnipotent being describing the creation of infinite universes—until, in a classic Lem twist, it turns out to be no such thing.
In “An Enigma,” beings debate whether offspring can be created without advanced degrees and design templates.
Other stories feature a computer that can predict the future by 137 seconds, matter-destroying spores, a hunt in which the prey is a robot, and an electronic brain eager to go on the lam . . .
Of these 12 science fiction short stories, only 3 have previously appeared in English, making this the first “new” book of fiction by Stanislaw Lem since the late 1980s. Featuring scathing humor, artificial intelligences, insane theories of cosmology and evolution, and so much more, The Truth and Other Stories is a multifarious a collection of mad scientists as any science fiction reader could wish for.
“A brilliant introduction to Lem’s science fiction.” —Wall Street Journal
Discover the full range of Stanislaw Lem’s intense curiosity about scientific ideas—and his sardonic approach to human nature—in this unforgettable collection of 12 short stories.
In “The Truth,” a scientist in an insane asylum theorizes that the sun is alive.
“The Journal” appears to be an account by an omnipotent being describing the creation of infinite universes—until, in a classic Lem twist, it turns out to be no such thing.
In “An Enigma,” beings debate whether offspring can be created without advanced degrees and design templates.
Other stories feature a computer that can predict the future by 137 seconds, matter-destroying spores, a hunt in which the prey is a robot, and an electronic brain eager to go on the lam . . .
Of these 12 science fiction short stories, only 3 have previously appeared in English, making this the first “new” book of fiction by Stanislaw Lem since the late 1980s. Featuring scathing humor, artificial intelligences, insane theories of cosmology and evolution, and so much more, The Truth and Other Stories is a multifarious a collection of mad scientists as any science fiction reader could wish for.
About the author
Stanisław Lem (1921-2006), a writer called "worthy of the Nobel Prize" by the New York Times, was an internationally renowned author of novels, short stories, literary criticism, and philosophical essays. His books have been translated into forty-four languages and have sold more than thirty million copies.
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