Summary Solaris
Stanislav Lem
Solaris
In the future – a very distant from us “cosmic future” of mankind – these farewell words are heard: “Kelvin, you fly, all the best!” The psychologist Kelvin, at an incredible distance from the Earth, descends from the spacecraft to the planetary station – this is a huge silver whale floating above the surface of the planet Solaris. The station seems empty, it is strangely littered, no one meets Kelvin, and the first person who saw the psychologist is almost scared to death. The man’s name is Snout, he’s the deputy chief of the Gibaryan station. He wheezes in disgust: “I do not know you, I do not know.” What do you want? ” – although the station was notified of the arrival of Kelvin. And then, recovering himself, he says that Gibaryan, a friend and colleague of Kelvin, committed suicide and that the newcomer should not do anything and should not attack if he sees someone else,
Kelvin decided that he was mad, but he is a psychologist and knows how to make sure of it. He arranges a check and sums it up: “I’m not crazy.” The last hope has disappeared. “
At night, he
This ocean has been occupying the minds of scientists for more than a hundred years. It consists not of water but of protoplasm, strange and monstrously moving, swelling and creating giant – meaningless-looking – structures in the depths of which time changes its course. They were dubbed “city leaders”, “dolguns”, “moy moydami”, “symmetriads”, but no one knew why and why they are created. This living Ocean seems to have a single function: it maintains the optimal orbit of the planet around the double Sun. And now, after the research impact of hard radiation, he began to send phantoms to people, extracting their appearance from the depths of the human subconscious. Kelvin was lucky: he was “gifted” to a woman whom he once loved, while others are sent to their secret erotic desires, not even realized. “Such situations…” says Snout, “you can only think about, and then in a moment of intoxication, fall, madness… And the word becomes flesh.” That’s what Snout believes. He also says that “guest” often appears, while a person sleeps and consciousness is turned off. At this time, the brain regions responsible for memory are more accessible to the unknown rays of the Ocean.
Scientists could leave the station, but Kelvin wants to stay. He thinks: “Perhaps we will not learn anything about the Ocean, but maybe about ourselves…” Next night, Hari appears again, and, as in olden days, they become lovers. And in the morning, Kelvin sees that in the cabin there are two “completely identical white dresses with red buttons” – both cut along the seam. Behind this shock follows another: Hari accidentally remains locked up and with inhuman force, hurting herself, breaks the door. Shocked, Kelvin sees the mutilated hands almost instantly heal. Hary herself is also horrified, because she feels like a normal, normal person…
Trying to understand how “arranged” Hari, Kelvin takes her blood for analysis, but under an electron microscope it is seen that the red bodies do not consist of atoms, but as if from nothing – apparently from a neutrino. However, “neutrino molecules” can not exist outside a particular field… Physicist Sartorius accepts this hypothesis and undertakes to construct an annihilator of neutrino molecules to destroy “guests.” But Calvin, it turns out, does not want this. He has already recovered from shock and loves his newly-found wife – whoever she is. For his part, Hary begins to understand the situation, all of her tragedy. At night, while Kelvin sleeps, she turns on the tape recorder left by Gibaryan for Kelvin, listens to Gibaryan’s story of “guests” and, after learning the truth, tries to commit suicide. Drinks liquid oxygen. Calvin sees her agony, painful vomiting, but… Radiation of the Ocean restores neutrino flesh in a matter of minutes. Revived Hary in despair – now she knows what torments Calvin, “And that the instrument of torture may wish for good and love, I could not imagine it,” she shouts. Kelvin in response says that he loves her, it’s her, not the one, an earthly woman who killed herself out of love for him. This is true, and he is completely at a loss: he has to return to Earth, and the beloved woman can exist only here, in the mysterious field of the Ocean’s radiation. He can not decide anything, but agrees to Sartorius’s proposal to write down the currents of his brain and transmit them in the form of an X-ray beam to the Ocean. Perhaps, having read this message, the liquid monster will stop sending its phantoms to people… The beam beats into the plasma, and as if nothing is happening, only in Kelvin begins agonizing dreams in which it is as if studying, then sorting into atoms, then making up again. “The horror experienced in them can not be compared to anything in the world,” he says. So several weeks pass, Hari and Kelvin become attached to each other more and more, and Sartorius, meanwhile, conducts some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. only at Kelvin begins agonizing dreams in which it is as if they are studying, then sorting into atoms, then composing again. “The horror experienced in them can not be compared to anything in the world,” he says. So several weeks pass, Hari and Kelvin become attached to each other more and more, and Sartorius, meanwhile, conducts some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. only at Kelvin begins agonizing dreams in which it is as if they are studying, then sorting into atoms, then composing again. “The horror experienced in them can not be compared to anything in the world,” he says. So several weeks pass, Hari and Kelvin become attached to each other more and more, and Sartorius, meanwhile, conducts some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. then making up again. “The horror experienced in them can not be compared to anything in the world,” he says. So several weeks pass, Hari and Kelvin become attached to each other more and more, and Sartorius, meanwhile, conducts some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. then making up again. “The horror experienced in them can not be compared to anything in the world,” he says. So several weeks pass, Hari and Kelvin become attached to each other more and more, and Sartorius, meanwhile, conducts some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. Hari and Kelvin are becoming more and more attached to each other, and Sartorius, meanwhile, is conducting some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over. Hari and Kelvin are becoming more and more attached to each other, and Sartorius, meanwhile, is conducting some terrible experiments, trying to get rid of the “guests.” Snout says of him: “Our Faustus is looking for a remedy for immortality on the contrary.” Finally, one night, Hari gives Kelvin a sleeping pill and disappears. Sartorius secretly created a phantom annihilator in secret from Kelvin, and Hary decided to die out of great love for Kelvin – as it was once, a long time ago… Left in oblivion, gone forever, for the invasion of the “guests” was over.
Calvin in the mountain. He dreams of taking revenge on the thinking protoplasm, burning it to the ground, but Snout manages to reassure his comrade. He says that the Ocean did not want anything wrong, on the contrary – he tried to make gifts to people, to give them the most precious, what is deeper hidden in the memory. The ocean could not know what the true meaning of this memory is… Calvin takes this thought and calms down – as if. And in the last scene he sits on the shore of the Ocean, feeling his “gigantic presence, powerful, inexorable silence,” and forgives him everything: “I did not know anything, but still believed that the time of cruel miracles had not yet ended.”
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