Google.pl's crazy doodle

Stanislaw Lem is probably my most favorite sci-fi author. He's very popular in Europe, but not so much in the US it seems. His works are hilariously funny, philosophical and have a certain magic to them. When I saw the robot I was almost certain that it had to be about him.

I don't know about the quality of the English translations of his books, but in German, they are fabulous. There are a lot of word plays that are hard to translate.

By the way, many will recommend Solaris in here because there were two films based on it, one by Tarkovsky and one by Soderbergh. While it's not a bad book it's probably not his best and not entirely exemplary of his other books.

This is a good introduction to his work: http://world.std.com/~mmcirvin/vitrifaxintro.html

Re: Google.pl's crazy doodle

#8

Post by tikhonj » Wed, Nov 23, 2011, 7:42 AM UTC

For the curious: the doodle is for Stanislaw Lem, one of my favorite science fiction authors.

For those who haven't read any of his books, I personally recommend Solaris and Fiasco, although most of the other books I've read by him are also great.

Edit: Oh yeah, for something a little bit more funny, read Tales of Pirx the Pilot.

Re: Google.pl's crazy doodle

#9

Post by aamar » Wed, Nov 23, 2011, 7:43 AM UTC

bdonlan wrote: post #3

What exactly is this based on?

The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem.

Great book, 60 years old today: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/23/google-dood...

Re: Google.pl's crazy doodle

#10

Post by AlexV » Wed, Nov 23, 2011, 7:50 AM UTC

Brilliant doodle by Google! The drawings are exactly Lem's style, so I recognized them immediately, having grew up on Lem's book.

Truly amazing and timeless books. :)