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Topic ClosedDick, Vonnegut, Lem
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Poll Question: Favourite of these writers?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
3 [17.65%]
7 [41.18%]
5 [29.41%]
2 [11.76%]
0 [0.00%]
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BaldJean View Drop Down
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 13:57
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Lem by a country mile. since many of his works (some of his best) have not been translated into English yet I am not surprised he does not win.

it's a tossup for second between Vonnegut and Dick for me


I would have thought that almost all of his fiction would have been translated into English, but not so much with his non-fiction works.

By the way, since translation is being discussed, Lem thought Dick a visionary and translated works of Dick's into Polish. Lem wrote an essay on Dick called "Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Amongst Charlatans".   Lem was made an honorary member of The Science Fiction Writers of America and wasn't too popular since he denigrated US sci-fi writers, except Dick who he highly admired. Mentioned it in a another thread, but while Lem admired Dick, paranoid Dick wrote a letter to the FBI claiming Lem was "a communist committee". Yes, Dick, wasn't just claiming he was part of a communist committee, he claimed that Lem was a committee -- a committee acting under the name Stanislaw Lem. Apparently Dick may have been upset about not getting royalties from a Polish edition Of Ubik that Lem had translated and he was upset about Lem's denigration of American author's, since he mentioned that to the FBI. Dick may not have noticed that Lem denigrated others but praised Dick's writings.

http://culture.pl/en/article/philip-k-dick-stanislaw-lem-is-a-communist-committee

"The Astronauts", "The Magellanic Cloud" and "Observation on the Spot" (in my opinion his best novel) have not been translated into English yet.

"Summa Technologiae", a non-fiction work, is absolutely stunning. Lem predicted many of today's technological advances decades ahead in that book. I like the title a lot too; clever pun with Thomas Aquinas.

even though I voted for Lem I like Dick and Vonnegut too, so perhaps I should have put my vote into "I like all three". but I consider Lem to be the best of those three


Edited by BaldJean - March 17 2016 at 13:59


A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
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Logan View Drop Down
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Points: 36929 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 13:14
Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Lem by a country mile. since many of his works (some of his best) have not been translated into English yet I am not surprised he does not win.

it's a tossup for second between Vonnegut and Dick for me


I would have thought that almost all of his fiction would have been translated into English, but not so much with his non-fiction works.

By the way, since translation is being discussed, Lem thought Dick a visionary and translated works of Dick's into Polish. Lem wrote an essay on Dick called "Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Amongst Charlatans".   Lem was made an honorary member of The Science Fiction Writers of America and wasn't too popular since he denigrated US sci-fi writers, except Dick who he highly admired. Mentioned it in a another thread, but while Lem admired Dick, paranoid Dick wrote a letter to the FBI claiming Lem was "a communist committee". Yes, Dick, wasn't just claiming he was part of a communist committee, he claimed that Lem was a committee -- a committee acting under the name Stanislaw Lem. Apparently Dick may have been upset about not getting royalties from a Polish edition Of Ubik that Lem had translated and he was upset about Lem's denigration of American author's, since he mentioned that to the FBI. Dick may not have noticed that Lem denigrated others but praised Dick's writings.

http://culture.pl/en/article/philip-k-dick-stanislaw-lem-is-a-communist-committee

Edited by Logan - March 17 2016 at 13:16
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BaldJean View Drop Down
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 12:59
Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:

Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Lem by a country mile. since many of his works (some of his best) have not been translated into English yet I am not surprised he does not win.

it's a tossup for second between Vonnegut and Dick for me

Just curious...but do you read Lem in Polish or German..?

German. but due to the GDR having been a befriended state of Poland a plethora of his works have been translated into that language


Edited by BaldJean - March 17 2016 at 12:59


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Points: 36929 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 12:54
Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:


I've read all of the Lem and Vonnegut that appeals to me but there are still a few Dick books I haven't read....I might look those up and read them....he was very prolific for many years. Too many good books and too little time to read them all.

btw if you like hard hitting supernatural fiction with a twist I recommend the Sandman Slim series by Kadrey...great fun to read and well written also.


Read some little book reviews of the series, and I'm confident it's something I'd really like. Going to see if he can find some of his books to read this weekend (there actually is a great public library where I grew up, and going to go there on Saturday -- library closest to where I now live is terrible unless perhaps you are Punjabi).
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Points: 20649 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 12:52
Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Lem by a country mile. since many of his works (some of his best) have not been translated into English yet I am not surprised he does not win.

it's a tossup for second between Vonnegut and Dick for me

Just curious...but do you read Lem in Polish or German..?
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
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BaldJean View Drop Down
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 11:43
Lem by a country mile. since many of his works (some of his best) have not been translated into English yet I am not surprised he does not win.

it's a tossup for second between Vonnegut and Dick for me


A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
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dr wu23 View Drop Down
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Points: 20649 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2016 at 08:53
I've read all of the Lem and Vonnegut that appeals to me but there are still a few Dick books I haven't read....I might look those up and read them....he was very prolific for many years.
 
Too many good books and too little time to read them all.
btw if you like hard hitting supernatural fiction with a twist I recommend the Sandman Slim series by Kadrey...great fun to read and well written also.
 
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
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Logan View Drop Down
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Points: 36929 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 21:50
Great to see admirers of all three authors posting here. Thanks. I love The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldtritch, great choice (A particular fave of mine that I quite forgot about). Haven't read Maze of Death as local libraries (and I've lived in quite a few places) and bookstores I've checked haven't carried it. I'm in serious need of a Dick fix -- guess I'll order online. Been years since I've ready any new books of his. With Vonnegut, I have more reading to do to, of ones mentioned I haven't read Mother Night that I recall or Galapagos. And with Lem I have lots to catch up on. Love the Investigation and Solaris, and have long wanted to read Memoirs Found in a Bathtub.
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Points: 20649 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 21:22
I like all 3....I suppose P K Dick would be my favorite but that's  because I was lucky enough to receive a letter from him once when I was looking for a copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which became Blade Runner for the film. I wrote his publisher who then referred the letter to him and he was gracious in sending me a letter saying it would be released soon as Blade Runner. I still can't believe he actually wrote me a personal explanation about the renamed story.
Favorites:
Dick- Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
        Ubik
         Maze of Death
         Martian Time Slip
         but all of his books are wonderfully weird....
Lem- The Investigation
         Memoirs Found In A Bathtub
         Solaris
         Chain of Chance
Vonnegut- Sirens of Titan
                Slaughterhouse 5
                 Cats Cradle
 
 
The Lathe of Heaven and The Gods Themselves are two of my favorite sci-fi novels . ( Ihave also read all of the ones you mentioned)
btw...there was a tv mini series done on the Lathe of Heaven that was pretty good.


Edited by dr wu23 - March 16 2016 at 21:27
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Points: 67445 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 21:22
I love Lem in an erotic way.
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Points: 9319 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 20:52
I read a lot of early Vonnegut back in the day.
Some favorites...
Breakfast Of Champions
Slaughterhouse Five
Mother Night
Galapagos
Slapstick
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InstrupsychedeMental View Drop Down
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Points: 75 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 19:49
For me, Stanislaw Lem.
 
Majorly thought-provoking philosophy in his sci-fi.
A couple of years ago I heard an audiobook of Solaris--way better than either movie--and since then I was hooked.  A number of his works have finally been translated into English, just over the past few years.
 
Should add others I've read/heard:
Fiasco
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
Mortal Engines
Peace on Earth--also vg
Return From the Stars--not his best, imo
The Star Diaries
 
 


Edited by InstrupsychedeMental - March 16 2016 at 19:51
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Logan View Drop Down
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Points: 36929 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2016 at 17:27
Three writers that I have always closely associated, and fans of one are often fans of all. Who do you like best? And mention any favourite works by them if you want to.

More importantly, since polls I commonly merely use an an accessory to discussion and exploration, which other authors (and specific works) would you recommend to someone who is into these three? I like Chekhov, and am looking to get Jorge Luis Borges stories. Some other favourite classic novels of mine is the sci-fi or speculative fiction realm include Stranger in a Strange Land (plus more Heinlein), The Martian Chronicles, The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1984 duh, The Lathe of Heaven, a Canticle for Leibowitz, and The Gods Themselves.

I think if I had to choose just two stories of each:
Dick: Dr. Bloodmoney and Ubik.
Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan or Slaughterhouse Five
Lem: Fiasco or The Futurological Congress
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