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Stanislaw Lem

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Author

The Resume

    (September 12, 1921-March 27, 2006)
    Born in Lwow, Poland
    Middle name was Herman
    Author of 'Solaris' (1961),  'The Cyberiad' (1965), 'His Master’s Voice' (1968)
    Other books include 'The Star Diaries' (1957), 'Eden' (1959), 'Return from the Stars,' 'Memoirs Found in a Bathtub' (both 1961),  'The Invincible' (1964), and 'Tales of Pirx the Pilot' (1968)

Why he might be annoying:

    He claimed to have an IQ of 180.
    He primarily wrote science fiction but was extremely critical of the genre.
    His beefing with other sci-fi writers eventually led the Science Fiction Writers of America to oust him in 1976, just three years after granting him an honorary membership.
    He hated both movie adaptations of his book Solaris (1972 and 2002) and eviscerated them both in reviews - despite admitting to not having seen either all the way through.
    His works have proven difficult to translate from the original Polish.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He survived Nazi-occupied Poland despite being born into a Jewish family.
    His first novel was suppressed by the Polish government for eight years.
    His books have been translated into more than 35 languages.
    He is arguably the most widely read science fiction writer in the world.
    Although averse to his contemporaries' work, he singled out Philip K. Dick for praise.
    He made several predictions that came true about modern technology (audiobooks, tablets, the Internet, Futurama apparently).
    His short story 'The Seventh Sally' inspired SimCity.
    A minor planet, 3836 Lem, discovered in 1979, is named in his honor.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying