Rating: Summary: "Fables for the cybernetic age" Review: The Cyberiad is more than just "a brilliantly funny collection of stories for the next age," as the back cover claims. The tales within blend philosophy, mathematics, and computer science with cruel kings, pugnacious pirates, and improbable dragons. They chronicle the exploits of the robots Trurl and Klapaucius, renowned constructors who offer their services to the robot kings that rule the robot kingdoms comprising their universe. So great is their knowledge of the universe that they build a royal advisor that never errs, a perfect mechanical poet, a machine that can model anything in existence, and a machine that can fabricate anything beginning with the letter 'n'. Of course, their creations don't always work out quite the way they hope, but in edifying and entertaining ways. This combination of fanciful adventure and academia, often laced with delightfully clever wordplay, makes the Cyberiad well worth reading.
Rating: Summary: Fractured Fables Review: The Cyberiad is the type of book worth reading over and over again, since there's just so much to get out of it. On one level, there's the simple humor of the stories, with the antics of Trurl and the pragmatism of Klapacius; on another level there's a deep moral message that runs throughout all the stories. As always, the Michael Kandel translation is beautiful; I had to wonder just how he reproduced some of the poems and clever wordings in such perfect clarity. Definitely worth buying.
Rating: Summary: Lem good! Review: the Cyderaid is one of the best books I have read I have an afinity for Stanislaw Lem. The cyberaid is typical of the Lem style, in the way that it is unlike anything he has writen. Lem has a way of drawing you in and making you believe a world that is urelated to any books writen in the same genre. Lems knowledge of science fact shows throught inhis science fiction,in the way he can explain something that is a complete improbablity as an everyday posability. To eveyone who loves sci/fi, read Lem and dont stop!
Rating: Summary: If you read one book a year, make this it for your life. Review: There is no book in my mind that covers the whole of the
universe like this. Humans and machines alike are given
a humorous treatment, during which you will be tickled
pink by Lem's ingenuous twists of imagination, and after which you no longer can take humans or machines too seriously. The translation from Polish is a work of art in
its own right - witty, concise, elegant, and fluent.
Lem is a great thinker, and the depth of his writing only hits one after a few moments. Read this book and let its
gentle humor move you. You'll never regret it.
Rating: Summary: Rodin's Science Fiction Review: These tales for the cybernetic age are just as thoughtful and hilarious today as they were in Polish in 1972! The Cyberiad is a collection of short stories including the Seven Sallies of Trurl and Klapaucius. They are two "constructors" who unleash hilarity and destruction across the universe as they attempt to outdo one another in inventiveness.
As I read this book I was amazed that it was originally written in Polish. The translator has done a superb job of rendering it in colloquial English appropriate to the story and the humour. A must read not primarily as science fiction but as humorous social commentary.
Rating: Summary: Intelligent Fantasy With a Weird Sense of Humor Review: This book still remains one of my all-time favorite reads. Lem's clever plots and twisted logic (technological concepts so absurd they almost make sense) make The Cyberiad a journey into sci-fi insanity that will have you laughing out loud. Once you get into it, you won't want to stop until you reach the back cover."I had a little froggy." Now THAT'S good poetry.
Rating: Summary: Watch out, Aesop Review: This is a beautiful book full of brilliant, thoughtful, laugh-out-loud funny, and impassioned tales. Like Klaupacius and Trurl's creations, the book is cleverly, surprisingly structured, interwoven within and between the various stories. Five stars isn't enough. Enjoy.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant Sci-Fi/Philosophical Slapstick und Wordplay Review: Two creator robots travel around the universe providing their services to one despot after another. The writing and translation are of a quality you rarely find in sci-fi, possibly because Lem transcends sci-fi and soars into art. Think Borges meets Hawking meets Python.
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