“Absolute Emptiness” ( Polish. Doskonała próżnia , literally Absolute Vacuum ) is a collection of short stories and essays by Stanislav Lem , which are reviews of fictional books by non-existent authors. Also, the name translated as " Perfect Vacuum ."
"Absolute emptiness" | |
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Doskonała próżnia | |
Genre | Storybook |
Author | Stanislav Lem |
Original language | Polish |
Date of writing | 1971 year |
Date of first publication | |
Publisher | |
Stories
The list lists the stories of the collection; for each it is indicated which fictitious book of which author this review was made, the brief content of the book, as well as its title — Russian, Polish and in the language of the “author”:
- Absolute void (Doskonała próżnia). Posted by Stanislav Lem. A preface in which Lem, on behalf of the critic, parses the collection and the genre of reviews of fictional works.
- Robinsonades (Robinsonady / Les Robinsonades). Written by Marcel Koska. The main character of this work falls on a desert island and creates the society necessary for preserving reason in his imagination.
- Gigames (Gigamesz / Gigamesh). Posted by Patrick Hannahan. In this book, equipped with a double interpretation, the author inserted into the story of the gangster’s hanging the whole amount of knowledge and skills of history, taking the Babylonian epic as a basis.
- Sex Shake (Seksplozja / Sexplosion). Posted by Simon Merrill. The land, whose inhabitants are immensely addicted to sex , so that an entire industry has been created around it, is under the influence of the Antisex drug, which completely eliminates the sensations associated with intercourse. The world overcomes the threat of extinction and invents new perversions.
- Gruppenführer Louis XVI (Gruppenführer Ludwik XVI / Gruppenführer Louis XVI, literally "Gruppenführer Louis XVI" ). Written by Alfred Zellerman. In the novel, SS General Taudlitz with a group of Nazi criminals organizes the state of Paris in the jungle of Argentina , copying 17th-century France as it appeared in the boulevard books .
- Nothing, or Sequence (Nic, czyli konsekwencja / Rien du tout, ou la consequence). Written by Solange Marrio. Stream of unconsciousness - the writer realized that with the help of the events of those who did not happen, one can describe the story no worse than with the help of what happened.
- Pericalypsis (Perykalipsa / Perycalypsis) by Joachim Ferzengeld. The apocalypse has already happened, humanity is drowning in an excess of unnecessary books written by mediocre authors. Joachim Ferzengeld gives instructions on how to deal with this disaster.
- Idiota by Jan Carlo Spallanzani. To some extent, the answer to Dostoevsky's “ Idiot ”. An ordinary family raises a child who turned out to be an idiot , but his parents so believed in the genius of his son that they interpret his words and actions only in this vein, and in the end, the parents of an idiot achieve genius in their interpretations.
- Do it yourself book (Do yourself a book). Literary “constructor”, with details in the form of excerpts from classic novels.
- Odyssey from Itaki (Odys z Itaki). Posted by Kuno Mlatier. The author describes his classification of geniuses and his campaign for the genius of the highest class, which turned out to be the author himself.
- You (Ty / Toi). Posted by Raymond Sera. Unsuccessful novel about the reader himself.
- Corporation “Being” (Przedsiębiorstwo Byt / Being Inc .; in the first publication in Russian - “Enterprise“ Genesis ”” [1] ). Written by Alistair Wainwright. In Wainwright’s novel “Genesis Corporation ,” he describes a corporation that organizes each client’s life according to the wishes set out in the order.
- Culture as a mistake (Kultura jako błąd / Die Kultur als Fehler). Posted by Wilhelm Klopper. A novel in which the author tries to understand the future , based on the fact that modern culture is a mistake, a petrified set of accidents .
- About the impossibility of life; The impossibility of forecasting (De Impossibilitate Vitae; De Impossibilitate Prognoscendi). Written by Caesar Kouska. A book that shows how many unlikely accidents had to happen for its author to be born. This implies the impossibility of every life.
- I will not serve (Non serviam). Posted by Arthur Dobb. The book is about personetics, artificial breeding of intelligent creatures .
- New Cosmogony (Nowa Kosmogonia). Written by Alfred Testa. The Nobel speech of physics professor Alfred Tests, in which he claims that the whole world is a game of powerful civilizations that can change the laws of nature .
See also
- Imaginary value (book)
- Perfect romance
Literature
- Stanislav Lem. Absolute emptiness. / Per. K. Dushenko - M .: Text, 1995.
Links
- Science fiction lab
- Book on Lem's official website