The Star Diaries

The Star Diaries PDF Author: Stanisław Lem
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9780749304720
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
@Ijon Tichy, Lem's Candide of the Cosmos, encounters bizarre civilizations and creatures in space that serve to satirize science, the rational mind, theology, and other icons of human pride. Line drawings by the Author. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book@@

Stanislaw Lem's The Seventh Voyage

Stanislaw Lem's The Seventh Voyage PDF Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: Graphix
ISBN: 9780545004626
Category : JUVENILE FICTION
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
World renowned sci-fi writer and Caldecott Honor artist team up for a zany sci-fi tall tale about an astronaut caught in a time loop in space who must confront past and future versions of himself!

Curse of the Arctic Star

Curse of the Arctic Star PDF Author: Carolyn Keene
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416990720
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
Nancy and her friends Bess and George tour the dangerous waters off the coast of Alaska on a posh new ship's maiden voyage, a journey that is overshadowed by a series of deaths and near-misses that reveal the work of a saboteur.

The Truth and Other Stories

The Truth and Other Stories PDF Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262366657
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Book Description
Twelve stories by science fiction master Stanisław Lem, nine of them never before published in English. Of these twelve short stories by science fiction master Stanisław Lem, only three have previously appeared in English, making this the first "new" book of fiction by Lem since the late 1980s. The stories display the full range of Lem's intense curiosity about scientific ideas as well as his sardonic approach to human nature, presenting as multifarious a collection of mad scientists as any reader could wish for. Many of these stories feature artificial intelligences or artificial life forms, long a Lem preoccupation; some feature quite insane theories of cosmology or evolution. All are thought provoking and scathingly funny. Written from 1956 to 1993, the stories are arranged in chronological order. In the title story, "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. These stories are peak Lem, exploring ideas and themes that resonate throughout his writing.

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth PDF Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547995121
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Book Description
Robot armies, an arms race in space, and a brain at war with itself add up to “a futuristic version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (The Boston Phoenix). Anxious to avoid a war that would destroy the entire planet, the major powers of Earth have come to an ingenious compromise. Each country sends a force of adaptable, self-programming robots to the surface of the moon to play out the conflict there and, hopefully, reach a mutually agreeable stalemate. But when the robots stop responding, it is up to Ijon Tichy to travel to the lunar war zone and discover what went wrong. Tichy finds what he needs to know, but falls victim to an attack that severs the left and right sides of his brain: one of which knows nothing about the status of the moon, the other of which isn’t telling. Now Tichy finds himself at the center of a new sort of war of attrition, with each world power clamoring for his knowledge and each half of his stubborn brain clamoring for control. Wry and action-packed in equal measure, Stanislaw Lem’s absurd, insightful sendup of the Cold War is required reading for any fan of science fiction. Here, “humor and a breathless pace create a delightful and thought-provoking read” (Publishers Weekly).

Diary of an Oxygen Thief

Diary of an Oxygen Thief PDF Author: Anonymous
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501157868
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Book Description
Hurt people hurt people. Say there was a novel in which Holden Caulfield was an alcoholic and Lolita was a photographer’s assistant and, somehow, they met in Bright Lights, Big City. He’s blinded by love. She by ambition. Diary of an Oxygen Thief is an honest, hilarious, and heartrending novel, but above all, a very realistic account of what we do to each other and what we allow to have done to us.

Highcastle

Highcastle PDF Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262538466
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 151

Book Description
A playful, witty, reflective memoir of childhood by the science fiction master Stanisław Lem. With Highcastle, Stanisław Lem offers a memoir of his childhood and youth in prewar Lvov. Reflective, artful, witty, playful—“I was a monster,” he observes ruefully—this lively and charming book describes a youth spent reading voraciously (he was especially interested in medical texts and French novels), smashing toys, eating pastries, and being terrorized by insects. Often lonely, the young Lem believed that he could communicate with household objects—perhaps anticipating the sentient machines in the adult Lem's novels. Lem reveals his younger self to be a dreamer, driven by an unbridled imagination and boundless curiosity. In the course of his reminiscing, Lem also ponders the nature of memory, innocence, and the imagination. Highcastle (the title refers to a nearby ruin) offers the portrait of a writer in his formative years.

Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines PDF Author: Stanisław Lem
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780156621618
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Publisher description: Translated from the original Polish text, and with an introduction by Michael Kandel. These fourteen science fiction stories reveal Stainslaw Lem's fascination with artificial intelligence and demonstrate just how surprisingly human sentient machines can be. The first eleven stories, a cycle called "Fables for Robots," are set in a cosmos inhabited exclusively by machines. Revolving around an assortment of electroknights and cyberkings, the stories combine the timeless quality of fairy tales and parables with a twist that is unmistakably Lem.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner) PDF Author: Sherman Alexie
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0316219304
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
A New York Times bestseller—over one million copies sold! A National Book Award winner A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live. With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and black-and-white interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.

A Book of One's Own

A Book of One's Own PDF Author: Thomas Mallon
Publisher: Ruminator Books
ISBN: 9781886913028
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Book Description
An investigation into the art and history of diary writing as well as a guide to the great diaries and private chronicles of the famous, the infamous, and the anonymous