Fiasco

Quinta, the fifth planet of the solar system, is pocked by ugly mounds and covered by a spiderweb-like network draped from spindly poles. It is a dream long dreamed, a kingdom of phantoms and of a beauty afflicted by madness. In stark contrast, the crew of the spaceship Hermes represents a sensitive, knowledge-seeking earth. There is a supercomputer named DEUS; a troubled monk who is a delegate of the Vatican; a Japanese physicist-philosopher; and a young daredevil pilot thrilled at the prospect of meeting the aliens face to face. They all have the best of intentions toward their “brothers in intelligence” as they approach Quinta.But the Quintans are locked in a star-wars escalation gone berserk. They have thrown up a wall of white noise on all wavelengths. They will not answer. They will not show themselves.As the crew is attacked in different and mysterious ways, they find that their responses are determined not by their God-like technology and their self-congratulatory moralizing but by primitive instincts portended in strange images and symbols. A dark poetry takes over and leads them into a nightmare of misunderstanding.Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff BookStanislaw 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 “A stunningly inventive fantasy about cosmic travel” from the Kafka Prize–winning author of Solaris (The New York Times). The Hermes explorer ship represents the epitome of Earth's excellence: a peaceful mission sent forth to make first contact with an alien civilization, and to use the expansive space technology developed by humanity to seek new worlds, friendships, and alliances. But what its crew discovers on the planet Quinta is nothing like they had hoped. Locked in a seemingly endless cold war among themselves, the Quintans are uncommunicative and violent, refusing any discourse—except for the firing of deadly weapons. The crew of the Hermes is determined to accomplish what they had set out to do. But the cost of learning the secrets hidden on the silent surface of Quinta may be grave. Stark, startling, and insightful, Fiasco has been praised by Publishers Weekly as “one of Lem's best novels.” It is classic, thought-provoking hard science fiction, as prescient today as when it was first written. The planet Quinta is pocked by ugly mounds and covered by a spiderweb-like network. It is a kingdom of phantoms and of a beauty afflicted by madness. In stark contrast, the crew of the spaceship Hermes represents a knowledge-seeking Earth. As they approach Quinta, a dark poetry takes over and leads them into a nightmare of misunderstanding. Translated by Michael Kandel. The novel was published in German translation (translated by H. Schumann) in 1986. The Polish text published in 1987, the English translation (by M. Kandel) the same year.

The planet Quinta is pocked by ugly mounds and covered by a spiderweb-like network. It is a kingdom of phantoms and of a beauty afflicted by madness. In stark contrast, the crew of the spaceship Hermes represents a knowledge-seeking Earth. As they approach Quinta, a dark poetry takes over and leads them into a nightmare of misunderstanding. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

"Nice landing," The man who said this was no longer looking at the pilot in the spacesuit with the helmet under his arm.