A Perfect Vacuum

Front Cover
Northwestern University Press, 1999 - Fiction - 229 pages
In A Perfect Vacuum, Stanislaw Lem presents a collection of book reviews of nonexistent works of literature--works that, in many cases, could not possibly be written. Embracing postmodernism's "games for games' sake" ethos, Lem joins the contest with hilarious and grotesque results, lampooning the movement's self-indulgence and exploiting its mannerisms.

Beginning with a review of his own book, Lem moves on to tackles (or create pastiches of) the French new novel, James Joyce, pornography, authorless writing, and Dostoevsky, while at the same time ranging across scientific topics, from cosmology to the pervasiveness of computers. The result is a metafictional tour de force by one of the world's most popular writers.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Les Robinsonades
9
Gigamesh
28
Sexplosion
41
Gruppenführer Louis XVI
49
Rien du tout ou la conséquence
69
Pericalypsis
80
Idiota
86
UWriteIt
96
Odysseus of Ithaca
102
112
112
Die Kultur als Fehler
127
De Impossibilitate Vitae
141
Non Serviam
167
Copyright

Other editions - View all

A Perfect Vacuum
Stanislaw Lem
Limited preview - 1983
A Perfect Vacuum
Stanisław Lem
Snippet view - 1979
A Perfect Vacuum
Stanisław Lem
No preview available - 1983

Common terms and phrases

able Acheropoulos ADAN antinovel become begins believe Benedykt Kouska Bertrand billion birth body called centillion chance chapter civilization Coscat cosmic Cosmogony course court created creation Creator culture Dinaric Alps Dobb Duc de Rohan entire erector set existence fact faith father feel Fersengeld Game geniuses Gigamesh Gruppenführer Hamuras hand Hannahan human idea idiot Klopper lady language literature living logic Louis XVI machine Maesch mathematics matter means merely million years B.C. mind never Non Serviam novel Odysseus one's otorhinolaryngologist Paris Olympia person personetics personoids physics Players possible precisely present probability Professor Kouska purely quasars reader reason Robinson Robinsonad sense Sergius Seurat Silentium simply Snibbins someone sort speak surgeon takes place Taudlitz theodicy theory thing thought tion true turn U-Write-It Universe Universum Vltava Wendy Mae words write young

References to this book

About the author (1999)

Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem was born on September 12, 1921. A medical graduate of Cracow University, he is at home both in the sciences and in philosophy, and this broad erudition gives his writings genuine depth. He has published extensively, not only fiction, but also theoretical studies. His books have been translated into 41 languages and sold over 27 million copies. He gained international acclaim for The Cyberiad, a series of short stories, which was first published in 1974. A trend toward increasingly serious philosophical speculation is found in his later works, such as Solaris (1961), which was made into a Soviet film by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and remade by Steven Soderbergh in 2002. He died on March 27, 2006 in Krakow at the age of 84.

Bibliographic information

TitleA Perfect Vacuum
AuthorStanisław Lem
Translated byMichael Kandel
Editionreprint
PublisherNorthwestern University Press, 1999
ISBN0810117339, 9780810117334
Length229 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Fiction / General
Fiction / Science Fiction / General
  
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