And the book is, more than anything, a bleak critique of cargo cult science.
In the novel, endless volumes of books and papers are written about the planet Solaris, but the literature has produced not a single scientific insight that goes beyond merely anthropomorphizing; the protagonist himself satirically describes the many, futile attempts at analyzing Solaris, deciding that all the theories are incorrect, then, ironically, proceeds to formulate another anthropomorphic theory himself, which he decides is the correct one.
The movies (Tarkovsky's and Soderbergh's) both retain the basic plot, but go for a somewhat literal, romantic interpretation that Lem never intended. For example, the subplot in the book about the "ghosts" that Solaris manifests is comparatively unimportant in the novel, but takes up most of the screen time in both movies.
Lem touches on this theme in many of his books, especially His Master's Voice, which is also about scientists trying to understand an alien intelligence.
In the novel, endless volumes of books and papers are written about the planet Solaris, but the literature has produced not a single scientific insight that goes beyond merely anthropomorphizing; the protagonist himself satirically describes the many, futile attempts at analyzing Solaris, deciding that all the theories are incorrect, then, ironically, proceeds to formulate another anthropomorphic theory himself, which he decides is the correct one.
The movies (Tarkovsky's and Soderbergh's) both retain the basic plot, but go for a somewhat literal, romantic interpretation that Lem never intended. For example, the subplot in the book about the "ghosts" that Solaris manifests is comparatively unimportant in the novel, but takes up most of the screen time in both movies.
Lem touches on this theme in many of his books, especially His Master's Voice, which is also about scientists trying to understand an alien intelligence.