A Perfect Vacuum (Polish: Doskonała próżnia) is a 1971 book by Polish author Stanisław Lem, the largest and best known collection of Stanisław Lem's fictitious criticism of nonexisting books.[1] It was translated into English by Michael Kandel. Some of the reviews remind the reader of drafts of his science fiction novels, some read like philosophical pieces across scientific topics, from cosmology to the pervasiveness of computers, finally others satirize and parody everything from the nouveau roman to pornography, Ulysses, authorless writing, and Dostoevsky.
Author | Stanisław Lem |
---|---|
Translator | Michael Kandel |
Subject | Fictitious criticism of nonexisting books |
Published | 1971 (Polish) |
Publisher | Czytelnik Publishing House |
The book contains reviews of 16 imaginary books and one real book: itself.
The 2008 edition of the book printed by Agora SA contained a supplement by Jacek Dukaj titled Who Wrote Stanisław Lem?, nominated for the 2009 Janusz A. Zajdel Award.[8][9] It is a faux review of a book published in 2071, the book being a discussion of the activities of artificial intelligences, which simulated Stanisław Lem. In fact, Dukaj maintained a column of faux reviews, Alternative Bookstore ("Księgarnia alternatywna") in Polish magazine Science Fiction (from #14 (04/2002) to #33 (12/2003)). In an interview he claimed that it was not an intended continuation of Lem's work; rather he had a number of ideas he did not have time to develop in full.[10]
The collection Lemistry: A Celebration of the Work of Stanislaw Lem (2011) contains two more tributes to Lem of this kind. "'Every Little Helps' by Frank Cottrell Boyce, reviewed by Stanisław Lem" by Frank Cottrell Boyce is a pretend Lem's review of a nonexistent Boyce's story. "The Apocrypha of Lem by Dan Tukagawa, J. B. Krupsky, and Aaron Orvits, reviewed by Jacek Dukaj" is a faux review of a book about the literary works (and legal wrangles) of three post hominem Lems (postLems), which are three different posthumous computer simulations of Lem based on different principles.[11]