Review 11: Solaris

Solaris by Stanisław Lem
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After trying to watch the movie version (multiple times) of this book and falling asleep every time (maybe both versions) somehow I still was attracted to this story. I didn't expect much given my boredom with the story before. Yet I was riveted to this. I raced through much of the book. Was it due to the narration done by Alessandro Juliani, or the story? I think it was both.

The idea of the others, the visitors and the creepiness was unexpected. One of the main things I remember from the more recent film version was the light. The book mentions the colors of the suns and the light and darkness more than you find in other books. This visual experience almost takes on an aspect of character as well.

Despite my intense fascination with the story when it ended I felt let down. It didn't feel resolved. No, it didn't need to be fully resolved, but I did want a little more with the ending. Perhaps a glimpse that there was some concrete headway into solving the Solaris question these scientists were studying.

I have this feeling a second reading would get more out of the book. Not sure that will happen, at least not sometime soon.