Waterstones The Cyberiad

Author: ANON

Rating: 5

Review: A great book by Lem, with his usual, fascinating word-play; reading some of the stories is like having 'jewels in the mouth' (to quote Frank McCourt). I did find some of the tales, particularly those towards the end, got a bit laboured (similar plot ideas, etc), but the penultimate story (Altruizine)should be required reading in all schools. Basically it's about forcing happiness onto other civilisations and the horrible consequences that come from such a policy (Iraq, anyone). Those races that have reached HPLD (the Highest Possible Level of Development) think otherwise and basically sit around in the sand all day, completely indifferent to the fate of other peoples and other worlds, because they have reached the apex of their evolution, and through a millenia of making altruistic mistakes have come to the realisation that interfering in other cultures, espcially those still developing (as we see in Africa) ultimately produces more evil than good; ie. people must be allowed to learn from their own mistakes and hence develop accordingly. I think there's a lesson in 'Altruizine' for all those do-gooders out there who produce so much bad out of being good. Why do humanitarians often make such lousy humans? But the idea of telling people to look away when half of Africa is starving is simply something most people can't comprehend. Another poignant tale in The Cyberiad concerns a planet with such massive over-population that the value of its citizens effectively becomes zero, up to the point where they are even used as confetti at weddings. Perhaps the aesopic style of writing, which Lem, like Solzhenitsyn, frequently employs to get his difficult message across really does slip by many readers. I'm sure there are many who would read 'Altruizine' and not understand the full implications of what it is trying to say. A great, great, book, but its irrationality will be best appreciated by the rational among you.

Author: Lyn H

Rating: 3

Review: OK now this book came highly recommended by a Russian writer. Perhaps, as Lem was Polish, the humour and sense of the book may attract the eastern bloc readers more. It is, I suppose, best to describe this as a science fiction, semi-political book. The translation into English must have been interesting as a considerable amount of the language in the book is invented pseudo-scientific jargon. I can't say that I enjoyed the book until I came to the very last story which appealed to my sense of the bizarre. Describe the book? I wish I could - truly indescribable.