Scientists studying the phenomenon of neutrino radiation suddenly realize that the cosmic emissions are conveying a message for humanity, and the race is on to decode the alien transmission. A novel from the author of "The Star Diaries", "The Cyberiad" and "Return From the Stars".
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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About the Author
Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and he is the author of numerous works, including Solaris.
Michael Kandel (born 1941) is an American translator and author of science fiction. He received a doctorate in Slavistics from Indiana University, and is an editor at the Modern Language Association. Kandel is also a part-time editor at Harcourt, editing (among others) Ursula K. Le Guin's work [1].
Kandel is perhaps best known for his translations of the works of Stanisław Lem from Polish to English. Recently he has also been translating works of other Polish science fiction authors, such as Jacek Dukaj, Marek Huberath and Andrzej Sapkowski. The quality of his translations is considered to be excellent and is especially notable in the case of Lem's writing, which makes heavy use of wordplay and other difficult-to-translate devices. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By chris romano
Format:Paperback
Wow. HIS MASTER'S VOICE, as others have alluded, it's an incredibly intelligent read. Thick in it's diction, it demands your attention, to say the least. Admittedly, I had a difficult time with the first 50 pages or so, but I became completely engrossed by the halfway point.
Told in essentially diary format, HMV tells the story of one scientist's involvement in a secret goverment project established to decipher what appears to be a message from possibly superior, intelligent life. While most scientists spiral their theories into the fantastic, ours manages to poke sensible holes in each assertion...unfortunately escalating the Project's sense of hopelessness and ineptitude along the way.
Somehow, the scientists manage to produce possibly random effects from the recorded signal, but what does it all mean in the grander scheme? It's a wonderful moment when the main character finallly establishes his own theory of the signal, the effect, and his own short-comings.
I loved it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Timothy Zak
Format:Paperback
This book is a confrontations of our limitations, a powerful reminder of cosmic magnitudes. I notice that facets of this book tie into another brilliant work, Fiasco, also by Lem.
The book warns that people expecting action should put the book down. I frankly don't know what he was talking about, I found my palms sweating, I found myself bursting into laughter - this is an exciting book for those willing to engage themselves intellectually.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Nir Levy
Format:Paperback
Not for nothing did Lem named this book, and the Project, HMV. The helplesness of the greatest Human minds against an uhuman message is not at all different from the helplesness of the dog in the face of the gramophone.
A word of causion, though. Altough Lem is depicted as a "Science Fiction" author, _HMV_ is not your regular "Arthur C. Clark"-like book. Dont expect racing starships or multi-handed aliens; it's a book about mankind, and it's failures, and is even more novel then Asimov's _I, Robot_, or Lem's own _Solaris_.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proceed with Caution
HMV is a very heavy read. Not in its weight but in its content.
This story reads more like philosophy than sci-fi so I can understand if people struggle with it. Read more
This story reads more like philosophy than sci-fi so I can understand if people struggle with it. Read more
Published on Nov 26 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Putting "science" in science-fiction.
I cannot be counted among science fictions greatest fans. While I did get my share of fun out of the original Star Trek series in the late sixties and earlier seventies, I still... Read more
Published on Oct 10 2001 by B. Gone
5.0 out of 5 stars
WHAT WILL REALLY HAPPEN IF CONTACT IS EVER MADE
if it hasn't happened all ready... What James Morrow does to Theology in his books, Lem does to Science. The Emperor has no clothes...
Published on Jan 25 2000 by no longer a customer
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