Steve Feldberg, a past guest on the SFFaudio Podcast (#40), writes in to tell us about a new Audible Frontiers audiobook:
Hi Jesse –
I wanted to draw your attention to our all-new, unabridged recording of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris. Not only is this the first time in audio for this classic – and not only is it narrated wonderfully by Alessandro Juliani of Battlestar Galactica – and not only is 2011 the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication – but this is a brand-new translation – and the first time the book has been translated directly from Polish to English. (The existing book is a translation from Polish to French and then to English; Lem always disavowed it as being incomplete.) Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, commissioned this new translation by Bill Johnston of the Univ. of Indiana.
This is an audio exclusive; there are no current plans to publish this translation in any other form.
We’re really excited about this project. I hope you’ll give it a listen!
Thanks Steve!
And yeah, Solaris looks like it will make a really terrific listen. Early reviews are positively glowing. Check out including this compelling quote from Jason (in Kansas City, MO):
“Wow! Wow! and Wow! Brainy stuff for thinking people.”
Solaris: The Definitive Edition
By Stanisław Lem; Translated by Bill Johnston; Read by by Alessandro Juliani
Audible Download – Approx. 7 Hours 48 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: June 7, 2011
At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available – just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it. To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation – complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation. In Solaris, Kris Kelvin arrives on an orbiting research station to study the remarkable ocean that covers the planet’s surface. But his fellow scientists appear to be losing their grip on reality, plagued by physical manifestations of their repressed memories. When Kelvin’s long-dead wife suddenly reappears, he is forced to confront the pain of his past – while living a future that never was. Can Kelvin unlock the mystery of Solaris? Does he even want to?
Posted by Jesse Willis
Awesome to learn of this recording! Well, it’s been eight years, so I hope you sharp folks are going to get around to discussing this soon.
Before I’d even read the novel, I remember driving a fair distance to an art house theater in Los Angeles to see the Russian film. Years later, I bought the rather expensive VHS of it. Steven Soderbergh did an adaptation of it, too, which I wasn’t as wild about.
To be honest, there’s always been a version in my head, between the novel and the Russian film, which I’d prefer. And now with cgi, they could finally do an impressive version of the perplexing ocean’s creations.
[And for that promising, fascinating, but ultimately disappointing TV series, “Lost,” I would have had the island be akin to the planet, as this vast, indecipherable intelligence.]
It isn’t on the schedule, but its definitely something to consider. I wanna get to some more Olaf Stapledon first though.