Rating: 
Summary: A Work of Genius
Review: Solaris is one of the two greatest science fiction novels ever written, the other being Lem's own Fiasco. In both works Lem not only deals with complex philosophical, psychological, anthropological, and existential issues (and whatever -ological issues you can dream of), he lays bare the essence of science fiction istelf -- and its very limitations, the limitations of human thought itself. For this reason, in Solaris and Fiasco Lem has completed the science fiction genre; there will be future science fiction novels, of course, but they will tell us nothing new. He has shown why we write and read science fiction, what we want from it, what we want from ourselves as humans, and in the process he has lain bare the structure and limitation of human imagination.I don't always agree with Lem's conclusions, but he's a true artist and a genius.
Rating:
Summary: Lem is a genius
Review: I am glad that Solaris is being made into a movie once again. Lem has been out of spotlight for too long in the West. He is one of the best SciFi writers of the 20th century. Arguably he is the only SciFi writer who should be seriously considered as a candidate for a Nobel Prize in literature - his writing is that good, that profound, and that funny! Read this book and any other book by Lem that you can get your hands on!
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Summary: Psychological horror and sci-fi mixed...
Review: Lem creates a world where one cannot escape one's worst traits. If you want sci-fi that uses its own nature to explore the human condition, this book is for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Horrifically boring
Review: I read the first chapter of this book in the store and I thought it would be an awesome book so I bought it. then the next chapter mind as well have been written in swaheelee. And this went on and off through-out the book. some chapters the author was describing weird pointless stuff, and then others it was back to the story. It is not a very exciting book and maybe when I grow up I'll understand, but besides the intresting plot, it gets old after a while and the book gets seriously boring. read this book at your own risk, but remember that you were warned.
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Summary: Solaristics
Review: Good science fiction rarely focuses solely on the technical aspects of a story. Rather, it builds characters on a foundation of humanistic questions. "Solaris" is a perfect example of that. The story is relatively straight-forward and from the view of the protagonist. It deals with the ever-changing nature of Science and the prepetuality of man's inability to "Know thy self." In "Solaris," the planet Solaris is a non-scientific thorn in the side of Science. As people change, so does Science, but Solaris remains as perplexing as ever. To add to this conundrum, men of Reason are sent to the surface where they encounter an almost humanistic entity which doesn't fit into the notions of their discipline. As a side note, the technology which is specifically addressed in "Solaris" is quite dated and usually a poor prediction, but Stanislaw Lem makes the story conciously (and wisely) detach from such crude guesswork.
Rating:
Summary: A great SF novel
Review: This book is definitely science fiction, but unlike most popular SF, it tackles very big questions about intelligence, science, knowledge, and human nature in a very uncompromising fashion. Lem wants to make us think and feel--he's not so interested in providing the sense of wonder or entertainment that most SF offers. If you like philosophical, unconventional SF (Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Vonnegut, later Thomas Disch) or semi-experimental literary fiction (Italo Calvino, Borges), you should give it a try. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Stimulating
Review: Lem's book, Solaris, is a tale of solitude and grandeur. Throughout the novel, the reader is constantly reminded of how inept humans could be when faced with the interaction between intelligences. Lem exploits the weakness of the human mind in his bold literary opus. Human beings have made contact with an entity completely different from anything they could have ever imagined. An entity that covers an entire planet, called Solaris, in the form of a vast and illusional ocean. Kris Kelvin, a roughneck scientist, is commissioned to join three fellow scientists currently stationed on the planet. He doesn't know that one of the scientists has suffered an unexplainable death. The ocean, sometimes stimulated by human interference, spouts enormous walls of matter called symmetriads, asymmetriads, and mymoids. The scientists' main goal is to study the planet and its functions, but that task is put to the side while they deal with their phantom "companions." When Kelvin arrives, he is faced with the mystery of these spontaneously appearing human forms. He attempts to ascertain the meaning of the occurrences, and realizes that each human mind catalyzes an appearance of these phantom forms. Studies have proven that the ocean is "living," and therefore is somehow communicating with its visitors. The ocean "knows" the memory of each of the humans and interacts with them in the form of the phantom beings. Kris's companion is his long dead lover named Rheya. At first, Kelvin resists Rheya, and wishes her dead. As the book progresses, so does their relationship, growing more and more tangible. Their communication deteriorates near the end when Kelvin realizes he cannot take her back to Earth. Snow and Sartorious, the other scientists on the station, don't ask questions about Kelvin's visitor because they have visitors of their own. Strangely, not much is said about the other scientist's visitors, as they are kept a dark secret from both the reader and Kelvin. The struggles of the three scientists are well documented in Lem's haunting science fiction masterpiece. Solaris is a gloriously original and suspenseful work that stimulates the imagination. Lem can be a little over-explanative at times, but nevertheless, Solaris is a great novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A modern tale about communication
Review: Terrians exploring an "intelligent" planet, sort of enormous being, living and going around its two suns. The searchers are trying to enter in communication with the planet; will they manage to do it ? And how will the love story end? The story is told on quite a serious way - not a humour story. This may sound quite hard for certain science-fiction readers, accustomed to other authors - just like me. But at the end of the ends, the thoughts proposed by Lem are deep, interesting. Almost philosophic...
Rating:
Summary: Lem's Most Accessible Book
Review: I recommend this book to friends who have never read any Lem. His other works, like "Memoirs found in a Bathtub," are brilliant but demanding and sometimes offputting. This book is both Lem's most human and one of his most hilarious. It is the perfect example of science fiction's too-often unrealized ability to explore inner space, which in my opinion is ultimately more interesting than outer space.
Rating:
Summary: overwhelming
Review: This book is not only a work of science fiction, but of love and loss with a terrific mixture of pathos, drama and a large scale of suspense. I read this novel during one night, finishing it about six o'clock in the morning. It was unputdownable, absolutely fantastic. The story is not only extremely sharp-written, but dark and scary. The disgust and horror Chris feels after being confronted with his dead wife really gets beneath your skin. This is essential read for everybody who likes fantasy, sci-fi, horror books. The only thing I did not enjoy where the very long passages where Lem torments us with scientific details and boring data about physics and science. Nevertheless this is a five star book for me.
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