As is obvious, I have not been on this forum, or this website for that matter, for more than 20 minutes. So, to get introductions out of the way, Hi! I'm Takeru! I've read the whole Ender saga!
Alright, down to business.
Does anybody know how Card might feel about his contemporary sci-fi writer, Stanislaw Lem? For those of you who don't know, and therefore will not be able to answer, Lem is responsible for "Solaris", which was a great book, but a lousy movie. I've read many of Lem's books, including Solaris, Fiasco, Peace on Earth, The Cyberiad, etc, and I must say that they are excellent.
Lem has made it clear that he does not think highly of his fellow sci-fi writers, since many sci-fi writers tend to use the same concepts over and over and over again.
I do particularly enjoy Card's Ender series; I want to know, how do you think he feels about Lem?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You know, you could just shoot OSC an E-mail and ask him -- although since he steadfastly avoids gossipping about other writers in the field, you'll probably receive either a diplomatic or an enthusiastic answer (especially since he says he doesn't read much sci-fi anymore, nowadays.)
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Just as an aside: Though I really respect and like Lem's work, I think he's a very conceited man. He wouldn't let any of his work be published in the major sci-fi magazine in Poland, for the entire 20 years of its existance, simply because he did not consider it "worthy" enough. Gah.
Posted by Nessa Nu (Member # 5471) on :
I'd also say it's hard to judge Lem as a writer *in general*. For me at least, it really depends on the certain novel/story. When I compare Solaris with the Pilot Pirx stories, for example, I find Solaris more interesting (because of the character/relationship problematic) and the Pilot Pirx stories kind of dry (they come across very technical)...
Posted by Kagetora (Member # 5578) on :
Thank you for the advice... that brings two immediate questions to my mind, though:
1) Where do I send him a message? (OSC Help Desk?) 2) How can I get my question to OSC ignored with the greatest possible scrutiny?
Ah yes, I realize that Lem can be somewhat arrogant... as I recall, he was kicked out of some science fiction writer's club/organization for being too outspoken about his convictions.
I actually liked Pilot Pirx, especially the final short story, "Terminus". His writing style can be dry, and I'm not going to pretend I think it makes it more interesting, but it is certainly more realistic. I guess. Rather than try to explain his technology abstractly, he shows it from the point of view from someone who simply has to use it and deal with the gritty details, not understand all the mechanics behind it.
OSC does a fairly good job of that too, I think. I really didn't want to read a giant lecture on all of the science behind the battleroom. And it's good that we "stole" the gravity techonology from the buggers... sort of an admittance that we don't always understand the way things work; they just do. Lem and OSC both do a good job driving that point home, whether consciously or not, though in Fiasco, Lem forgets that his audience is not composed of physicists.