The Futurological Congress
Stanislaw Lem
Oct 1985 · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4.5star
19 reviews
Ebook
160
Pages
About this ebook
The Franz Kafka Prize-winning author invites you to a doped-up dystopia. “Nobody can really know the future. But few could imagine it better than Lem.” —The Paris Review
Bringing his twin gifts of scientific speculation and scathing satire to bear on that hapless planet, Earth, Polish author Stanislaw Lem sends his unlucky cosmonaut, Ijon Tichy, to the Eighth Futurological Congress in Costa Rica to discuss the overpopulation problem. Caught up in local revolution, Tichy is shot and so critically wounded that he is flashfrozen to await a cure. But when he awakens in 2039, he is faced with a future unlike any that the Congress could have ever imagined. Translated by Michael Kandel.
“A vision of Earth’s future where the authorities dose the population with ‘psychemicals’ to make life in a desperately over-populated world worth living.” —The Boston Globe
“Lem’s view of the overcrowded future is original and disturbing. A pessimistic, mordantly funny book.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Lem writes with a humor underlined by his commentary on the way the world is.” —SF Site
Bringing his twin gifts of scientific speculation and scathing satire to bear on that hapless planet, Earth, Polish author Stanislaw Lem sends his unlucky cosmonaut, Ijon Tichy, to the Eighth Futurological Congress in Costa Rica to discuss the overpopulation problem. Caught up in local revolution, Tichy is shot and so critically wounded that he is flashfrozen to await a cure. But when he awakens in 2039, he is faced with a future unlike any that the Congress could have ever imagined. Translated by Michael Kandel.
“A vision of Earth’s future where the authorities dose the population with ‘psychemicals’ to make life in a desperately over-populated world worth living.” —The Boston Globe
“Lem’s view of the overcrowded future is original and disturbing. A pessimistic, mordantly funny book.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Lem writes with a humor underlined by his commentary on the way the world is.” —SF Site
Ratings and reviews
4.5
19 reviews
Eric Provencher
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December 9, 2015
This book is a colourfully written journey through the maddening anecdotes of lying senses. Truly unique and worthy of praise
2 people found this review helpful
Lily Middleman
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March 7, 2019
Gave me a bit of a head ache.
About the author
Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best-known science fiction author outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and the author of numerous books, including Solaris.
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