The Astronauts
First edition
|
|
| Author | Stanisław Lem |
|---|---|
| Original title | Astronauci |
| Illustrator | Bolesław Penciak |
| Cover artist | Jan S.Miklaszewski |
| Country | Poland |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Czytelnik |
|
Publication date
|
1951 |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Hospital of the Transfiguration |
| Followed by | The Magellanic Cloud |
The Astronauts (Polish: Astronauci) is the first science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem published as a book, in 1951.
To write the novel, Lem received advance payment from publishing house Czytelnik (Warsaw). The book became an instant success and was translated into several languages (first into Czech, published in 1956). This success convinced Lem to switch to the career of a science-fiction author.
The Astronauts, written for the youth, is set in the Communist utopian future. To get published under the communist regime in Poland, Lem had to insert frequent references to the ideals of communism. Decades later, Lem declared about The Astronauts:
Everything is so smooth and balanced; among the heroes we have a positive Russian character and a sweet Chinese; naiveté is present on all pages of this book. The hope that in the year 2000 the world would be wonderful is indeed very childish....
The term "cosmonaut", used in countries of Eastern Bloc, was not yet created when the text was written, hence the name Astronauts.
Inability to ever understand alien civilizations, a frequent motive of Lem's future works, appears here for the first time.
The introduction describes the fall of the Tunguska meteorite (1908) and subsequent expedition of Leonid Kulik. The hypothesis about the crash of a spaceship is mentioned.
Fast-forward to the year 2003. Communism has emerged as the worldwide form of government and humankind, freed from oppression and chaos, is engaged in gigantic engineering projects - irrigation of the Sahara, construction of a hydro-energetic plant over the Strait of Gibraltar, and the ability to control the climate. The latest project is to thaw the Antarctic and Arctic regions by artificial nuclear-powered "suns" circling above.
...
Wikipedia