Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy (The MIT Press)

Meet Ijon Tichy—a space age adventurer who encounters faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, and other puzzling phenomena—in this collection from a science fiction legend. Memoirs of a Space Traveler follows the adventures of Ijon Tichy, a Gulliver of the space age, who leads readers through strange experiments involving, among other puzzling phenomena, faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, and suicidal potatoes. The scientists Tichy encounters make plans that are grandiose, and strike bargains that are Faustian. They pursue humanity’s greatest and most ancient obsessions: immortality, artificial intelligence, and top-of-the-line consumer items. By turns satirical, philosophical, and absurd, these stories express the most starkly original and prescient notions of a master of speculative fiction. Lem Had Several Characters That He Retuned To Through Several Novels And Many Short Stories. Ijon Tichy, The Narrator And Space Traveler In This Collection Of Stories, Also Appears In The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress, And Peace On Earth. He Is An Explorer And Scientific Authority, Sometimes The Protragonist Of The Story And Sometimes Merely The Narrator Of Events. The Ijon Tichy Stories Usually Take A Scientific Theory Or Process And Spin Out A Ridiculous Series Of Events. In 'the Eighteenth Voyage' Tichy Works To Seed The Big Bang In Such As Way As To 'improve' The Universe And Human Nature (this Goes Badly). 'let Us Save The Universe' Takes The Problem Of Space Pollution And Biohacking To Absurd Extremes. In 'doctor Diagoras' A Scientist Explores Self-organizing Mechanisms And Polymers, Until He Discovers That His 'kybernoids' Are Using Him As A Communication Device. All Of The Stories In This Current Edition Were Published In The 1971 Polish Edition Of The Star Diaries But Were Not Included In The English-language Editions Published In 1976. 'memoirs Of A Space Traveler' Appeared In English In 1982. This Current Edition Includes A Story, 'professor A. Donda' That Was In The Original Polish Edition, Appearing In English For The First Time In The 2017 Pro Auctore Edition. Four Of The Stories Originally Appeared In English In The New Yorker: 'the Eighteenth Voyage,' 'the Twenty-fourth Voyage,' 'the Washing Machine Tragedy,' And 'let Us Save The Universe.'-- Stanisław Lem ; Translated By Joel Stern, Maria Swiecicka-ziemianek, And Antonia Lloyd-jones. "Lem had several characters that he retuned to through several novels and many short stories. Ijon Tichy, the narrator and space traveler in this collection of stories, also appears in The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress, and Peace on Earth. He is an explorer and scientific authority, sometimes the protragonist of the story and sometimes merely the narrator of events. The Ijon Tichy stories usually take a scientific theory or process and spin out a ridiculous series of events. In 'The Eighteenth Voyage' Tichy works to seed the Big Bang in such as way as to 'improve' the universe and human nature (this goes badly). 'Let Us Save the Universe' takes the problem of space pollution and biohacking to absurd extremes. In 'Doctor Diagoras' a scientist explores self-organizing mechanisms and polymers, until he discovers that his 'kybernoids' are using him as a communication device. All of the stories in this current edition were published in the 1971 Polish edition of "The Star Diaries" but were not included in the English-language editions published in 1976. 'Memoirs of a Space Traveler' appeared in English in 1982. This current edition includes a story, 'Professor A. Donda' that was in the original Polish edition, appearing in English for the first time in the 2017 Pro Auctore edition. Four of the stories originally appeared in English in The New Yorker: 'The Eighteenth Voyage,' 'The Twenty-fourth Voyage,' 'The Washing Machine Tragedy,' and 'Let Us Save the Universe.'"-- Provided by publisher The travels of Ijon Tichy, a Gulliver of the space age, who encounters faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, suicidal potatoes, and other puzzling phenomena.Memoirs of a Space Traveler follows the adventures of Ijon Tichy, a Gulliver of the space age, who leads readers through strange experiments involving, among other puzzling phenomena, faulty time machines, intelligent washing machines, and suicidal potatoes. The scientists Tichy encounters make plans that are grandiose, and strike bargains that are Faustian. They pursue humanity's greatest and most ancient obsessions: immortality, artificial intelligence, and top-of-the-line consumer items.By turns satirical, philosophical, and absurd, these stories express the most starkly original and prescient notions of a master of speculative fiction.