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"Humans aren't faced with an incomprehensible reality, we just don't like the reality that we can comprehend". One of those pause, reflect and replay lines, Damien. Thought-stopping narrative! Thank you!

Lem is probably the most underrated science fiction author. at least in the west

Stanisław Lem? On my English speaking channel? Wild.

This is an excellent video essay Damien. I grew up in a very remote, small, poor town in southern Australia. In the immediate post war, our town hosted quite a few survivors of both the Nazi and Soviet repressions. This was in addition to many men of my parents age who were war veterans. On top of that, my mother had worked for a Communist newspaper in New Zealand before she met my dad. He, on the other hand, was a gloomy, authoritarian man who thought the country needed a strong leader, someone like dear Adolf! By the time I was ten or eleven, I felt I needed to know what it was that had ended seven years before I was born. Obviously, I was never going to have a happy, carefree childhood! I quickly realised, even at that young age, that it was not a particular weakness of the Germans which led to all the horror. I began to see proto-fascists living all around me, walking the streets, just waiting for Mr Right to come along and give them permission to do what and to whom. Family life was no picnic, but in time, I came to see that it would have been a lot worse. At least I hadn't been born in Germany in the twenties or thirties. I have no doubt that my dad would have been a high official in AH's administration. Then me and my brothers would truly have had something to regret! One of the major, if not the foremost question for my generation is, why did the Holocaust happen? I'm in the middle of writing a big fat Sci-Fi, set eighty years from now, which among many other things, sets out to explore the origins of this mystery. Not an easy subject to tackle, but hats off to you! You did something really good here!

The author whose range goes from "It truly makes sense to learn such a language-because it constructs philosophers, while ours constructs only philosophies." (translated by Joanna Zylinska) to "Now to make it in the arts, publicize your private parts! Critics say you can't offend 'em with your phallus or pudendum!" (translated by Michael Kandel)

This topic is a niche of a niche, especially since it is on an English-language channel. Respect.

This is your best video yet. I was looking for some kitsch. Instead, I am served a three course meal of beauty in 30 minutes. Thank you

Wow. Excellent piece. May the algorithm be merciful.

I'm very struck by your highlight of Nazism as a triumph of mediocrity. It's so obvious when one stops and thinks about it: Hitler was an almost comically mediocre person, and his movement actively engaged the mediocre while persecuting the exceptional. In hindsight, it seems that Hitler was able to pull a rabbit trick, not only on the German people, but on history, by tapping into archetypal symbols and primitive impulses that were inherently powerful. We continue to be drawn to those symbols, fascinated by the powers of destruction and control he drew from them, and they distract us from the awful truth of the mundane evil beneath it. Thank you for this video, Damien.

Excellent essay. I can see where it would be a distraction to your thesis to cite this, but it is notable that an additional element to the SFWA problems was that the American writer Philip K. Dick (who is sometimes compared to Lem) had an absolute vendetta against Lem, perceiving him as a communist, and actually, a communist fiction - Dick cited the "multiple Lems" not as evidence of creativity but as evidence that Lem was a communist fiction whose works were written by different committees. A fantasy very P. K. Dick ... and very Lem. But. A topic for another day.

Lem is ignored in the Anglosphere primarily because his analysis & critiques cut directly & unapologetically into its religion of ham-fisted "usefulness."

Wow. Serendipity: I'm only now getting around to reading my first Lem book, Solaris. That was a really powerful essay, with real emotional punch, that I had to sit back and reflect on for some time. Going back many years, to high school, I studied modern history and Nazism. I can't help but think that Lem's analysis would have been a brilliant addition to the material and general discussion. Based on your essay here I can't help but feel that Lem is one of the writer's whose work will stay with me long after reading. Time will tell - I'll be on the hunt for his works soon enough. Thank you.

Wow, that was powerful. I have to read Lem now.

Thank you for this brilliant essay. Science fiction is not my favorite genre, but Lem is my favorite science fiction writer, and one of my favorite writers in general. I am surprised that many English-speaking fans of the genre are unfamiliar with Lem, since he has been widely translated, but I'm not surprised that he'd have a limited audience. Satire is a hard sell in any genre, and even the funniest of Lem's stories are intellectual workouts, leaving us with a disquieting uncertainty - rarely the stuff of genre fiction. Still, he may be the most perfect example for an argument that science fiction is "serious" literature.

Watching this video made me think about Victoria Amelina, an acclaimed Ukrainian novelist, born and raised in the same city as Lem, Lviv. Her second and last novel (not counting a children's book) Дім для Дома, rather loosely translated to English as "Dom's Dream Kingdom", is about a family living in the very same apartment where Lem spent his childhood. Victoria will not write any more books. During the current war of Russian aggression, she devoted herself to documenting war crimes by interviewing survivors and witnesses. Until she became a victim herself when on 27 June 2023 a Russian Iskander rocket hit a restaurant in Kramatorsk, where she was. She died a few days later, at age 37. Makes me wonder what Lem would say about it all.

Excellent lunchtime brain food. Thanks Damien.

Hospital of the Transfiguration was the first Lem book I read in college and I’ve been transfixed by everything I read by him since. Well done! I still feel like he doesn’t get enough credit in the US.

Much respect for finally putting that here.❤

This is so well done. It’s nice to hear your thoughts that are so well put together. Thanks!

The Nazis and their ilk were a parody of a real civilization, such as the one that produced Goethe and Beethoven. They were obsessed with art and the law, or rather parodies thereof. I learned so much from my brilliant uncle who barely survived Buchewald and lived to 102 despite needing to take his "Hitler pills" every day. Digestion ruined by starvation. He seemed to remember everything, had some positive recollections of some guards and contempt for allies bombing the trains that carried prisoners to the east. He was well read in many languages, loved astronomy and music, commissioned a fellow survivor, a Jew, to paint a symbolic painting of the Holocaust. He was angry at Norway for not protecting its small Jewish population. His family lost everything twice, in the Russian Revolution and the Nazi occupation of Norway. He was a positive person but had no illusions of what humans can do.

Talk about synchronicity, just started revisiting the cyberiad in audio. Great piece, grew up reading lem without context.

This is a well measured video essay. I completely agree that HMV is the keystone of Lem's work. Even aside from the autobiographical passages.

Excellent essay. And that quote from prof. Gomel that "humanism died in the Eastern Europe" in the last 100 years just hits hard, it is so true. Cheers from Ukraine for amazing content!

The last second of this video: the lip curl of disgust. Well done Damien.

Amazing start to the essay! Hats off

Have a stack of his work to work my way through, and I thank you for this one. I knew very little about this part of his life and it explains a lot. 📚

Wonderful video essay, Damo.

Excellent work! I was surprised by the subject, but it made it even more interesting and striking to watch the entire video.

Thank you for this essay.

Excellent analysis. I started reading Lem for his imagination, truly foreign worlds (Cyberiada). Some of his book ideas are powerful to make us think. His humor makes him more human. Some of his philosophy is a bit superficial, but still great.

Wow. I’m going to be thinking about this, and doing follow up reading, a long time ago thank you.

Other than "Solaris" I've not read any Lem. I need to remedy that condition.

thank you for this. Honestly you have help me make my mind and read Solaris. It also made me learn something new, the epistolar debate with Ursula K Le Guin has some very interesting points that make me respect both authors even more.

Very well put. I need to read more Lem.

Outstanding video

Excellent essay, thank you.

When I saw the announcement on incoming video on Stanisław Lem, I could hardly believe the coincidence - since I considered pointing You to Lem. I first got a hand on Lem's works during high-school - It was an old edition of "The Star Diaries". It almost killed me via asphyxiation due to sheer amount of laughter it induced - even after over 20 years later I still vividly remember gasping for breath. Later I tried "Wizja Lokalna" (EN: "Observation on the Spot") which is an extension of journey fourteen from "Star Diaries". This was, at the time, a bit too heavy on concepts and language (Lem tends to invent a lot of words/terms, it can get pretty dense even for native speaker). It did somewhat put me a bit off regarding more of Lem. Nevertheless, I've read "Bajki Robotów" (EN: "Fables for Robots"), but then came upon "Wielkość Urojona" which put me off due to, most likely, my immaturity and lack of understanding of grander themes in literature. I do not know what this one is called in English... it contains of introductions to non-existing books (similar to reviews of fictional publications You spoke about). Recently I remembered/recalled Lem again and decided to get back to his world. I started with podcasts/lectures from people who interviewed Lem over the years - especially by Stanisław Bereś (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rozmowy_ze_Stanis%C5%82awem_Lemem). Mr. Bereś was unable to get Lem to talk about holocaust for any length - in interviews/lectures given afterwards he always underlines how skilled Lem was in steering the conversation as to avoid/dismiss this topic (imagine a chess game with a grandmaster who thinks 20 moves ahead). Apparently the interviewer was under complete control of the interviewee and he had known this, and has seen no chance of breaking out of this due to sheer power of Lem intellect... I sincerely hope more people get to know Stanisław Lem thanks to Your work.

Thank you for this. Thought provoking indeed.

Thanks for the insights about this terrific writer.

have to hand it to you damien, this was your best and most important one yet. lem is freaking amazing! i can't wait to read provokation, once someone translates it.

Thanks for posting this. I really appreciate finding out where so many seminal Science Fiction concepts and tropes actually come from, and learning a tiny bit of the real story of, "Solarus." Scary AF what this means for myself -- I thought I liked, "Solarus," (and do) as a dystopian love story where George Clooney's character was giving new meaning to aliens, and bridging a gap between us thus allowing them to learn who we are. The idea of reading the source material was too troublesome and daunting due to my A.D.D. But, that I was so fundamentally missing the point of the book, in effect making the comprehensible incomprehensible... I really should read a book sometime, it's been a while.

This is rather excellent! I knew Lem through Solaris, but was properly exposed when living in Poland. I find the conclusions here deeply unsettling yet highly relevant. Thanks for the video, important work.

An absolutely amazing video, I salute you. I have Provocation in a Spanish translation. Now I must read it.

te czasy wrócą

Excellent video essay, I'm going to see if I can find Provocation at the library this weekend. This use of kitsch is bringing some clarity to something I've found striking as late: the profound mediocrity and sloppiness of Israeli and Israel-aligned genocide propaganda and propagandists.

Just have to count my Lem books - 39.😏

Can you possibly direct us to a translation of Provocation?

thanks from germany. 🙏 23:38 onwards blew my mind Never thought of Nazis as a mob of mediocrity desperate for a transcend purpose.

I love Lem. And Capek.

Well shit….my reading list just got longer. For Lem veterans recommending works for a reader that loves the absurd, what would be your top 3?

This essay on Lem's work, particularly "Provocation", seems highly germane during this "Trump interval", if you will. Trump's obvious mediocrity, the undeniable mendacity, the tedious overweening self-promotion, the pleasure he takes in insulting others far better than he, and the presence of his personally-branded kitsch all fit neatly into Lem's critique. His distaste for American sci-fi comes as a surprise but it's not an unreasonable position to take, in my opinion.

Has Lem said anything about the Jihad? I would like to know his opinion of this.

Only the embracing of suffering can produce beautiful Art.

🎥🕵️

Aktion

As we step into the reality of AI in out real world, maybe Lem has a point about the uncaring being learned by AI, and any AI will struggle to learn balance and humility in these short years.

May i say.. excellent ? At least.

I don't really see what is so mediocre about assorted famous figures of the sort. They were brave, highly intelligent, good at organisation, lots of great scientists, and so on. Carl Schmitt is mediocre? Heidegger is mediocre? Junger? Jung? Hylter? Goebbels? Breker? Orff? Also there is nothing superficial about these symbols or the values they promote. Just because something is not neurotically maudlin and doesn't engage with Christianity doesn't mean it's shallow. As to the Holocaust, why the faux surprise? People dislike middleman minorities. Violence against them is common around the world. Germany had more industrial capabilities and a more modern state, so it engaged in a more systematic backlash against such minorities than what we would see against Armenians in Turkey, Chinese in Malaysia, Jews in Eastern Europe, etc.

I wonder what Stanislaw Lem would say about the Israel-Gaza war

Verity, indeed. How safe is this space? Like, I am curious when the additional three million victims were added, and from, because when I grew up in the 60’s-70’s we heard three million Jews killed. My childhood weekends were filled watching horror of World At War series. I recently listened to Frank Herbert’s 1985 UCLA interview where he mentions this 3m figure, too. We don’t accept the fairy tales we are told, even when we can’t put our fingers on what is false or wrong: we just know somethings are not adding up. Forensic accounting, please. Reminded of the Catholic Church dating claims various Basilica were post-Roman designs just stuck in the past, yet there are no brothels, apartment blocks, or latrines, built when these Great Works were supposedly built. I studied architecture and was taught how pivitol these structures were to affix our civ history - yet Charlemagne’s palace was made with Roman Cement, which was lost to Middle Ages. As church became the Roman empire the cataclysm of our Dark Ages blotting out sun bringing famine had to be dis-associated from God’s Judgement of Christians. Popes{s} had eclipses and cosmic events rewritten to support a timeline-of-miracles jusitfying their rule and complete fraud. Astronomers and mathematicians found the truth, but we already knew something was wrong from all the pedos. Sad how Israeli’s suffer Berlin Syndrome: Never Again Means We Do It Too. Where goes Gaza, so goes our world.

Solaris is great, but he should've kept Ursula's name out of his mouth. I don't know how you read The Dispossessed or Left Hand of Darkness and not come away changed or deeply insightful of your own moral limitations-- even some 50 years after publication

Uh. I wonder what would Lem say about more recent holocaust, say in Palestine

You are a strange bird. Your humor is subtle and dry. It is very Germanic. Your Communist takes give it an East German flair.

The points made here are brutally illustrated by: The Baader-Enslin terrorists professing to hate their elders as Nazis, yet separating Jewish and Israeli passengers from others during the hijackers' sojourn at Entebbe like the Nazis did. Then there is the fact that the Hamas butchers' atrocities on October 7th 2024 led to an widespread outburst of antisemitism rather than sympathy for Jews! And Hamas uses the "Protocols of Zion" in its' "Charter", showing it is not so much anti-Israeli as anti-Jewish. As is its' paymaster Iran, that denies the Shoah!!

The Ethics of Kitsch equals Trumpism?