zlacker

I can't help but read this story as a predecessor of "Solaris", where a contact with a planet-size living entity is actually attempted.

I also see here some characteristic traits of Lem's plots: something we are close to but can't hope really attaining (like personally traveling inside a star), the lack of understanding from well-intentioned lay people, and the idea that there are things we try hard to understand but really can't yet by far, like an ancient Greek, even well-educated, won't understand a quantum-mechanical problem.

This, and great storytelling, as usual. I find this translation quite well made. (I wonder though how would the translators wrestle with Lem's word games, like in "Observations on the spot" or "Futurological congress".)

>>nine_k+(OP)
I was thinking the same thing, but it was at least published after Solaris which came out in '61. Of course, he could have done The Truth before or during the writing of Solaris. It could still be a proto-Solaris. And anyone who's written fiction knows that you produce a lot of material that doesn't make it into the final draft. Maybe The Truth is a bit of Solaris that didn't make the final but Lem liked enough to return to later.

Also, if you feel like more Lem after reading this, I heartily recommend the '72 Solaris film if you haven't seen it. Probably one of the greatest directors (Tarkovsky) of all time filming off of one of the greatest sci-fi authors of all time. Tarkovsky likes long, slow shots the style of which is all but absent from Hollywood today, where they cut like a microtome, so it might seem dull and strange at first, but give yourself a chance to get used to his pacing.